Stress

[KrazyKuch]

Is their anyway to make a fish less stressed in your aquarium other then lights off?

I have My new Blonde Naso tang who is haveing a real hard time in my tank, the first night he was fine hiding in a cave but this morning he was laying on the sand breathing very hard, and I thought I was gonna lose him. Since I got home tonight I saw that he had left his cave and went to another cave...still breathing hard and resiting on the rocks, and now he has gone somewere where I can't see him so I can't tell how he is doing..


Is their anything I can do to help him through this, I don't want to lose him cause I have been waiting for a Naso for quite some time now and I don't see them come in very often!

[pat]

This is just an idea
You could try moonglows.

[KrazyKuch]

ummmmm, whats moonglows....I tried to google it but I got nothing related to aquaria

[hqgc]

actinics.....

[KrazyKuch]

Already use them

[BCOrchidGuy]

A QT tank would allow you to observe while allowing the fish to relax.

Doug

[pat]

ummmmm, whats moonglows....I tried to google it but I got nothing related to aquaria

Moon glows are a coralife blue led 3/4w

[KrazyKuch]

The only problem I beileve with putting him in a QT is that he will get stressed from me putting him in a QT tank that is to small for him as he is at least 9" in length, Then I would have to chase him down in the QT tank and throw him in the big tank stressing him out again....I don't see how that would help....

[Dale]

Hi Kevin.
Your tang could be experiencing stress for many reasons, some might be beyond your ability to detect (ammonia damage via shipping, internal parasites, severe mental distress etc...)
A couple of things to check first though:
pH
Salinity
Nitrates
Bully fish

After that think about your rock work. Does it provide ample spaces for the fish to swim behind and "feel" sheltered? If there isn't then the fish may need to flatten against the rock or jam itself into crevices to gain a feeling of safety. It then only has two choices - swim in the open unprotected or jam itself in the rock. Providing arches and back routes allows for a third option - sheltered swimming.

Next, you could try putting a screen in front of the tank, like big plants or something. Most fish become accustomed to looking out the glass at us but it must be a shock to some initially. When we approach the tank and peer in perhaps we look like large predators closing in. If I were a Tang I'd hide in the rocks too.

(This last ones just a guess)
You might try putting something on top of the tank too. I don't know about SW but many FW fish fear predators from above (birds) more than the side. I've noticed a dramatic change in behavior when I floated plants or driftwood on the surface of my FW tanks.
I don't know if any of this helps, just some thoughts.
Good luck with the Tang

[KrazyKuch]

Dale, I have a 230gal tank and I built a huge cavern on the one side for him to hide in and some slightly smaller ones on the other side aswell....It's hard to give him alot of hidden swimming space due to the fact that my tank is visible from both sides.

I have eggcrate on the top of the tank and my lights pretty much sit on top of that.

All my perameters are good...no ammonia, no nitrates, ph is at 8.1 temp is constant at 80 F and a SG of 1.0125

No fish bully him cause of his size....the next closest fish in size is probably 4", they just seem to swim in his cave to say hi and then leave again.

[X-Treme]

a SG of 1.0125


PLEASE tell me that's a typo...

[G1GY]

PLEASE tell me that's a typo...

I'll bet he meant 1.025.

You might want to bring that down to 1.023 or so so that it doesn't go above that when you have evaporation. :)

[KrazyKuch]

I have a auto top off with a 52 gal resevior...I have found that 1.025 is best for my acro's...I have had alot of success with my SG that high...

Yeah that was a typo I meant 1.025

[Dale]

Sounds like a nice set up :smile:
I also agree that a Q tank can be quite stressful as most are kept quite barren in case meds are needed. One advantage though is being able to run it dark (no stress to corals).
It sounds like you have acros but can you reduce your lighting period for a couple of days? Try running it dark when you are around and having the lights on for a short time when you are away. Or stick some cardboard on the the glass for a while (leaving some look through holes of course).
My experience with stressed fish is either they acclimate (sometimes slowly) or they give up the will to live and waste away quickly. The other thing to watch for is ich. It is an opportunistic parasite that can often show up in stressed fish.
A large blonde Naso is a beautiful fish - good luck again with him.

[EmilyB]

Nasos are so hardy and ready to romp. You have a skimmer running and good oxygenation I take it ? Feeding the fish nori, spirulina flake, mysis?

[KrazyKuch]

Yeah I have a huge beckett Skimmer
I feed nori, mysid,brine,krill, spirulina, formula 1, new life spectrum, ocean plankton, blood worms...And i think thats about all that i can think off

[KrazyKuch]

Well thanx all for the suggestions, but he passed away last night! May he rest in peace!

[muck]

:sad: Sorry to hear buddy.

[naesco]

Sorry about your tang.
I have a couple of suggestions for you to ensure you are sucessful the next time.
1. Avoid large naso tangs. Even if it survived it is likely that it would refuse to eat. Choose one around 3 inches. All LFS know this. Why did they sell it to you?
2. Set up a simple quarantine tank now. It is a small investment and will avoid a repeat. In the very likely event that the new tang has ich you can treat it in the quarantine tank. You can keep the lights off to reduce stress in its new home.

Wayne Ryan

[michika]

We do already have a QT tank, although when a fish of that size, ~9" comes around a 20g QT isn't sufficient, or humane.

I have never once heard to avoid large Naso tangs, and I myself did work in the industry for a short amount of time. Where did you hear this? How common is this knowledge, has anyone else heard of this?

[Dale]

I would tend to agree with that in general if the fish is coming from the wild (as opposed to someones trade in). My sense is that adult fish may have their feeding habits set and find it harder to adapt to unrecognizable forms of prepared foods.
Any other thoughts?

[naesco]

I would tend to agree with that in general if the fish is coming from the wild (as opposed to someones trade in). My sense is that adult fish may have their feeding habits set and find it harder to adapt to unrecognizable forms of prepared foods.
Any other thoughts?

It is probably the reason together with the stress of the travel here.

The key with the large adult tangs and angels as well is to SEE them eating at the LFS. (A good practice for buying all fish. Don't believe the LFS if they say they had just fed the fish). Sadly most large adulst tangs and angels wont eat.

Catherine. It is from my own early experience with Naso and other large fish like angels. I have also read it but can't find the cite immediately.
Was the naso eating when you bought it?

Thanks

Wayne Ryan

[michika]

It ate nori, and flake, as well as some nips at the rocks as soon as it was in the tank. It had an appetite, but after lights went on the the first night it found a cave and hid. The next day it stayed in the cave but poked its head out once and while. At the end of the same day it moved across the tank into a different cave system were it stayed after lights out. This morning he was found in the same cave system, his body was still pliable at the time he was removed with no evidence that it had been munched on by our cleaning crew. I would say it died just before 9am today. Nothing physical to indicate why it died, but like it was mentioned sometimes fish just loose their will to live once they are in a tank.

I have had, and still have, larger angels and tangs, and I have never really had a problem before with getting them to eat. Again, could be the exception to the rule, etc. Its too bad, it was a beautiful fish and it looked wonderful in my tank. Hopefully in the future I can aquire another one which is just as beautiful.