Dead Quarantine Convict Tang (w/picture). WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!

[jda]

If you suspect cyanide, then you can find a chain of custody of net caught fish, but these often do not go through LA and can cost more. If Hawaii ever gets around to issuing permits, this is a good place to get fish from.

Not all cyanide caught fish die all that fast, so many can go unnoticed if they live 5 years instead of 15.

 

[exnisstech]

This is the closest one can get to a guarantee. I frequent many fish shops, often and when I see a healthy looking convict, I always ask how long they have had it. If I found one that was there 90 days, I'd bring it home. Unfortunately they are always " we just got it in the last week"

I have 2 lfs that specialize in saltwater only. One keeps a lot of fish and they use paint pens to mark the tanks with the date the fish arrived. I've been going there for years so I know the dates on the tanks are legit. I wish more would do that. It just simplifies things, and you don't have an employee just guessing.
This my second convict. My first lasted almost 2 years and just like the OP mine was fine and I woke up one morning and he was dead. Maybe a light case of poisoning that took longer? I dunno.

Here's a quick snap shot of my current one with his buddy Naso. They hardly sleep and cruise the tank together at night.

 

[blecki]

Because the mortality rate isn't 90% within 30 days of capture. Cyanide is almost always fatal for the fish and they do not last long. The fish that last years are rare exceptions, not the norm.

The articles you will see screaming about it will take factoids off wikipedia (for example, wikipedia's claim that 90% of reef fish exported from the Philippines are caught with cyanide) and just... leave the Philippines part off entirely.

Wikipedia's sources are also from the 90s.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Convict tangs are caught in barrier nets, cyanide isn't used on them.

Convicts ARE very sensitive to shipping and handling stress though.

If you suspect cyanide, then you can find a chain of custody of net caught fish, but these often do not go through LA and can cost more. If Hawaii ever gets around to issuing permits, this is a good place to get fish from.

Not all cyanide caught fish die all that fast, so many can go unnoticed if they live 5 years instead of 15.

Net caught fish are very difficult to source now that MAC is defunct. The best way to avoid cyanide fish is through knowing the source country:

Sourcing Marine Fishes and Invertebrates

Sourcing Marine Fishes and Invertebrates Experienced aquarists are aware that fishes from different regions of the world can have different levels of sustainability when acquired for their aquariums. The reasons for these differences may include...

www.reef2reef.com

In my three studies, the mortality from cyanide ended at about 60 days post-importation, and really slowed down after 45 days. It simply does not cause acute mortality years later.

Jay

 

[jda]

As you probably have seen, I was out with coral collector in the coral sea. They said without hesitation that some of the locals out of PNG and Indo used cyanide to collect all of their fish other than the ones that they caught at depth with scuba and rebreathers - higher price and net caught.

I tried to get all of my fish out of Hawaii and had the best of luck - no cyanide, reef strength water and short chain of custody. This is hard now, of course. When Hawaii shut down, I did get the names of a few places in the Red Sea and Indo that they got fish to resell that were supposed net caught - only a few shipments shared among some friends since I don't need 8-10 boxes of fish on the regular, but they were great too with health, not shipping me large fish nor sending subs that we did not order.

You can find net caught fish, but you might need to order yourself and you still are probably taking a large leap of faith that they are telling you the truth.

 

[LgTas]

A good reason to support captive bred.