My 2nd Tang has died. Help me learn from this.

mowens3

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Messages
34
Reaction score
14
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am highly considering a deep blue sterilizer for around $200 bucks this pay
A sterilizer will not solve an outbreak that is currently rampant. Your best bet is to move all the fish to quarantine and treat with general cure then copper to ensure no internal or external parasites are on the fish. Once you are confident your display tank is safe (~79 days) then they can be re-introduced into the tank.
 
OP
OP
L

Lester Verano

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
77
Reaction score
34
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
A sterilizer will not solve an outbreak that is currently rampant. Your best bet is to move all the fish to quarantine and treat with general cure then copper to ensure no internal or external parasites are on the fish. Once you are confident your display tank is safe (~79 days) then they can be re-introduced into the tank.
It was marine velvet. I’m not sure if you still refer to that as a parasite, but it was certainly velvet.
I may try to move things over to another tank this weekend and do just that, but I’m still waiting on some stuff to come in the mail. Namely General Cure, and the I’ll have to make a run and get some copper. Thank you for your reply. It sounds like sage advice and the right way to go about things. I appreciate it. Do you think $200 on a sterilizer is a good idea?
 

2pawsreefer

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 21, 2019
Messages
89
Reaction score
20
Location
Paw paw
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Go to petco get the green killing machine they price match from the internet i paid 30$ for mine
 

mowens3

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Messages
34
Reaction score
14
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I personally run a sterilizer but plumbed into my system. It keeps fish healthy in my experience. I have 2 mated clowns that are over 2 years old. They are in a 50 gallon system with the "SMART UV 18 WATT" at around $350. The small sterilizers I bought early on are all in the trash. I dealt with ich, brooklynella, internal parasites and many other diseases. Eventually I began quarantining properly and put in this sterilizer.

UV may help prevent future outbreaks and overall fish health. However small sterilizers won't be as effective. You need to decrease flow through a small sterilizer to have any impact. I would watch the recent BRS youtube video on it before you make a decision.

Marine velvet is a parasite and has a slightly shorter lifespan than ich. I would assume you are also treating for Ich just to cover both potential outbreaks.

There's also the sticky thread worth reading discussing how some people are using even higher concentrations of copper to kill more resilient strains of marine velvet:
 
OP
OP
L

Lester Verano

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
77
Reaction score
34
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I personally run a sterilizer but plumbed into my system. The cheapest UV I would recommend is the "SMART UV 18 WATT" at around $350. The small ones I bought early on are all in the trash. UV may help prevent future outbreaks and overall fish health. You will really need to decrease flow through a small sterilizer to have any impact. I would watch the recent BRS youvideo on it before you make a decision.

Marine velvet is a parasite and has a slightly shorter lifespan than ich. I would assume you are also treating for Ich just to cover both potential outbreaks.

There's also the sticky thread worth reading discussing how some people are using even higher concentrations of copper to kill more resilient strains of marine velvet:
No I’m not I didn’t have the cash for the kick ich. I guess that’s probably going on too. Does the General Cure work for ich? I think I’m going to spend my money on getting a decent qt tank setup, and seeing as I need a HOB filter for the qt tank I have, I’m just going to get a cheap aquatop with a little uv sterilizer in it. I’m pretty sure I have ich going on as well. What a mess. I’ll take advice on the sterilizer. But for that money it’ll be a while for a good one. And yes I do watch the BRS videos a lot. Sterilizers eradicate problems between 1 and 99% of the time.
 

mowens3

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Messages
34
Reaction score
14
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This thread outlines the quarantine process you should go through:
Instead of the prazipro regiment, you will be using General Cure. They are the same thing but General Cure also helps with internal parasites.

You will still need to go through the copper treatment. I personally use Seachem Cupramine another option is CopperSafe. Your money is much better spent on Copper and a cheap QT setup vs a sterilizer at this time. The treatment process is long and takes alot of patience, but is worth it when your tank is 100% clear and healthy.
 
OP
OP
L

Lester Verano

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
77
Reaction score
34
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This thread outlines the quarantine process you should go through:
Instead of the prazipro regiment, you will be using General Cure. They are the same thing but General Cure also helps with internal parasites.

You will still need to go through the copper treatment. I personally use Seachem Cupramine another option is CopperSafe. Your money is much better spent on Copper and a cheap QT setup vs a sterilizer at this time. The treatment process is long and takes alot of patience, but is worth it when your tank is 100% clear and healthy.
Sounds like a winner. I do like Seachem stuff. I actually have a nice 30 gallon NOS oceanic tank I’m going to make into a permanent QT tank. A little substrate and maybe one nice lava rock and it might actually be aesthetically enjoyable to have my fish in there during quarantine.
Do you think I could or should leave a damsel in the display tank during the 12 week fallow period to keep the nitrogen cycle going?

I run a big canister fx4 filled with BIO balls and Seachem matrix from BRS, and I’m thinking they’ve got a lot of good bacteria that’s gonna die off without any fish in the display. Other than that I’ve got a couple fat snails and a handful of different sized hermit crabs, of which a couple are pretty big.
 
OP
OP
L

Lester Verano

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
77
Reaction score
34
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This thread outlines the quarantine process you should go through:
Instead of the prazipro regiment, you will be using General Cure. They are the same thing but General Cure also helps with internal parasites.

You will still need to go through the copper treatment. I personally use Seachem Cupramine another option is CopperSafe. Your money is much better spent on Copper and a cheap QT setup vs a sterilizer at this time. The treatment process is long and takes alot of patience, but is worth it when your tank is 100% clear and healthy.
reader how to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT) and discuss quarantine protocols. Why quarantine? Setting up a QT does not...
www.reef2reef.com
Instead of the prazipro regiment, you will be using General Cure. They are the same thing but General Cure also helps with internal parasites.

You will still need to go through the copper treatment. I personally use Seachem Cupramine another option is CopperSafe. Your money is much better spent on Copper and a cheap QT setup vs a sterilizer at this time. The treatment process is long and takes alot of patience, but is worth it when your tank is 100% clear and healthy.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a winner. I do like Seachem stuff. I actually have a nice 30 gallon NOS oceanic tank I’m going to make into a permanent QT tank. A little substrate and maybe one nice lava rock and it might actually be aesthetically enjoyable to have my fish in there during quarantine.
Do you think I could or should leave a damsel in the display tank during the 12 week fallow period to keep the nitrogen cycle going?

I run a big canister fx4 filled with BIO balls and Seachem matrix from BRS, and I’m thinking they’ve got a lot of good bacteria that’s gonna die off without any fish in the display. Other than that I’ve got a couple fat snails and a handful of different sized hermit crabs, of which a couple are pretty big.
 

mowens3

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Messages
34
Reaction score
14
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you think I could or should leave a damsel in the display tank during the 12 week fallow period to keep the nitrogen cycle going?

Don't risk something like this. You can always add food to continue simulating a high bioload. The parasites depend on a fish to complete their life cycle. By removing all the fish from the DT, it starves all these parasites to death.

I don't recommend substrate or any live rock in QT. Usually I just put a couple plastic cave structures for the fish. PVC elbows can work. The copper treatments can seep into the substrate or rock. You don't want copper leaching out of those lava rocks in the future. Best practice is to monitor ammonia and do regular water changes during QT. I also use an aquaclear filter on QT and take out the carbon when I begin treatment. That helps keep the ammonia down and houses some of the denitrifying bacteria.

Don't forget to add an air pump too. I've read too many threads about people forgetting to add an air pump when they add General Cure or Prazipro. Make sure QT has alot of oxygen in the water.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
L

Lester Verano

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
77
Reaction score
34
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Don't risk something like this. You can always add food to continue simulating a high bioload. The parasites depend on a fish to complete their life cycle. By removing all the fish from the DT, it starves all these parasites to death.

I don't recommend substrate or any live rock in QT. Usually I just put a couple plastic cave structures for the fish. PVC elbows can work. The copper treatments can seep into the substrate or rock. You don't want copper leaching out of those lava rocks in the future. Best practice is to monitor ammonia and do regular water changes during QT. I also use an aquaclear filter on QT and take out the carbon when I begin treatment. That helps keep the ammonia down and houses some of the denitrifying bacteria.

Don't forget to add an air pump too. I've read too many threads about people forgetting to add an air pump when they add General Cure or Prazipro. Make sure QT has alot of oxygen in the water.
Oxygenation and remove carbon, yes Will do. I did know about carbon removal for medicating already.
I have a spare wavemaker I will use to stimulate the surface for oxygenation. I plan on this tank strictly for qt purpose, so the substrate will never be going into my main tank. I might sacrifice a rock as well so I don’t have an eyesore to look at for 2 months. I might even go 3 months... when I’m done i may leave a damsel or two in the qt tank and keep the qt tank going. But I’ll take advice and go with no fish at all in the display like you said so the parasites can go suck a big one.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
L

Lester Verano

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
77
Reaction score
34
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
On second thought, I did a kittle
YouTubing and see why no rock or sand in the qt tank. It’ll soak up meds and not help fish as much as a full dose. Looks
Like pvc it is. Boring ugh.
 

Merlinstank1

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 16, 2020
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
sacramento
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just bought a Powder Brown Tang and he died in 3 days. He was being bullied by my angel fish and I was feeding every another day. My nitrates were running a little high lately but everything else has been stable. He and the Angel fish seemed to be doing fine aftr 24 hrs but the angel still would not let him under the rocks. I also have File fish, a Chanlink and Snowlflake eels who are doing fine and wrasses somehwere in the sand. I am bummed cause the tang was so cool :(

Should I try a Tang again and feed him more?
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top