Baby Purple tang got stuck in powerhead

Khoi_La

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Hi guys, sorry if i posted this in the wrong forum but idk where to adress the situation. I woke up today and see my purple tang (approx 1.5 in) got sucked into the gyre 1k (random flow, 10%-70%), i have a mesh lid on it luckily so he didnt turn into a milkshake.
Ive had him for 3 weeks now, he always hang out infront of that powerhead nipping algae on it until last night apparently he got sucked in, i dont know how long he was there but he seems rough when i took him out. He has torn fins and just lay on bottom breathing heavily rn, do you guys think he will make it? What can i do for him?

Thank you in advance

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footgal

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Since you have the mesh I should think he’ll be okay. You saw him get sucked onto the powerhead and got him right off?
 
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Khoi_La

Khoi_La

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Man he looks like he had a rough night. Give him some time to walk it off, if he's not seriously injured internally he most likely should make it. Good luck bud, hope it all works out.
He seems to have a bruise on the side and i think his bone is broken as we laid down in c shaped i moved him to my refugium.

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Hincapiej4

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If you have a sump, put him in the sump with the lights on red or completely off. If you have a QT put him there. If neither, just leave him alone in DT, dont touch him, dont bother him. Let him rest, you'll stress him more. Keep an eye on the other fish so they don't pick at him...
 
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Khoi_La

Khoi_La

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If you have a sump, put him in the sump with the lights on red or completely off. If you have a QT put him there. If neither, just leave him alone in DT, dont touch him, dont bother him. Let him rest, you'll stress him more. Keep an eye on the other fish so they don't pick at him...
I have a hob refugium and i just moved him there w no lights. There are algae and tons of pods there he can feeds on, but the situation is not looking great at all atm
 

Karling

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when I had my Cichlid tank years ago I had one fish that was pined behind some falling rock. Not sure how long she was trapped but I removed her in the morning and put her in a smaller tank for feeder fish. I nursed her back to health, and over the course of 6 weeks of her being in that tank we developed a rather good bond. She recognized me right away, would eat from my hand, wound up swimming through my fingers when i put my hand in the tank. A lot like a cat. So, nurse her back to good health. believe it or not, food will help. maybe a bit of banana if she wont eat anything else. If all goes well that may be the best fish in your tank.
 
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Khoi_La

Khoi_La

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when I had my Cichlid tank years ago I had one fish that was pined behind some falling rock. Not sure how long she was trapped but I removed her in the morning and put her in a smaller tank for feeder fish. I nursed her back to health, and over the course of 6 weeks of her being in that tank we developed a rather good bond. She recognized me right away, would eat from my hand, wound up swimming through my fingers when i put my hand in the tank. A lot like a cat. So, nurse her back to good health. believe it or not, food will help. maybe a bit of banana if she wont eat anything else. If all goes well that may be the best fish in your tank.
Reading this give me hopes on my tang healing. Im keeping my fingers crossed and hope that it will able to at least swimming again soon. The refugium i put it in is not quite big but at least there is a constant food source in it . Thank you
 

excell007

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Did you notice anything different on him yesterday, like lethargic or anything like that? In my 15 years of keeping fishes it only happened to me twice, but on both occasions I noticed that they are getting lethargic and just moving with the flow. Your fish seems to still have nice coloration so he may be fine. On the plus side, I think purple tang is the hardiest of all the tangs, I kept one for 13 years and he's already an adult when I got him.
 
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Khoi_La

Khoi_La

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Did you notice anything different on him yesterday, like lethargic or anything like that? In my 15 years of keeping fishes it only happened to me twice, but on both occasions I noticed that they are getting lethargic and just moving with the flow. Your fish seems to still have nice coloration so he may be fine. On the plus side, I think purple tang is the hardiest of all the tangs, I kept one for 13 years and he's already an adult when I got him.
Not as far as i can tell, he still eat twice a day, swim around with my clowns all day and nip at the algae on the powerhead like he usually do everyday. I used to go to the tank around 2 or 3 am to check on everyone, but the one night i decided to sleep in is the day **** happens
 

Jay Hemdal

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To echo what @excell007 said; it is extremely rare for a fish to get caught in the intake of a pump without having some predisposing issue. The rapid breathing could be a sign of a deeper issue.

Edit: I see your new report that the fish is now breathing slowly - so that's a really good sign that there isn't some preexisting weakness that caused this....


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