Naso tang drifted into an anemone!

[Mr. Wiggles]

Hi everyone,

I just received two tangs yesterday from Marine Collectors. Blue tang is doing fine (fantastic, actually). The Naso tang was kind of insensate since adding it, drifting around and not doing much. Even when the established yellow tang came up to bully it, it pretty much had no reaction. Bullying stopped pretty quickly, fwiw. I came in this morning (this aquarium is at my business), to find it had drifted into a maxi mini anemone, tail first. I immediately plucked him out and put him in the sump, but his tail is pretty chewed up and he's just laying against the teeth of the refugium. I have no doubt as to the quality of the quarantine process, as I was waiting for a shipment of red ogo to come in before the order shipped, which meant the fish were delayed in qt for about 2 months. Acclimation was smooth, too. Floated and opened the bag, added some prime to neutralize ammonia, and added cups of water to the bag over about an hour, though the starting salinity wasn't far off from my tank's salinity in the first place.

My question is, where do I go from here? Is this something he can come back from, or should I euthanize? I'm worried about infection or a stress induced disease outbreak. He definitely seems to be suffering, but still able to swim around, albeit unwillingly and unbalanced. QT on my end is not an option, since the tank is in the middle of a food service business and there's not really have a place for one - hence the ordering from Marine Collectors.

Pictures on the way...

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

FYI the things that look like boils on the last picture are tubeworms on the glass.

 

[j.falk]

Poor tang...

 

[ilikefish69]

I am so sorry for your situation that really stinks. The tangs recovery does not look promising. It looks suuuuuuuuper skinny also, most likely malnourished, and of course that is not your doing as you received it this way. I would contact Marine Collectors and let them know the fish did not make it as quicly as possible so they may be able to refund and/or replace the fish. If you choose the euthanization route there are a couple of threads here on how to implement this in a humane manner. Best of luck to you either way.

 

[FishTruck]

I have seen this, colorful, breathing, but apparently brain dead NASO tang acquired at very high price (and allegedly well nourished and treated for all parasites). Exact scenario where the NASO did not respond when challenged by an existing tang... and the existing tang then left it alone - as if realizing it was dealing with a zombie. Mine did not survive more than a day or two after that even in QT.

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

I am so sorry for your situation that really stinks. The tangs recovery does not look promising. It looks suuuuuuuuper skinny also, most likely malnourished, and of course that is not your doing as you received it this way. I would contact Marine Collectors and let them know the fish did not make it as quicly as possible so they may be able to refund and/or replace the fish. If you choose the euthanization route there are a couple of threads here on how to implement this in a humane manner. Best of luck to you either way.

Thanks for the sympathy and help. I will do some digging as to the best way to euthanize and will contact Marine Collectors now.

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

I have seen this, colorful, breathing, but apparently brain dead NASO tang acquired at very high price (and allegedly well nourished and treated for all parasites). Exact scenario where the NASO did not respond when challenged by an existing tang... and the existing tang then left it alone - as if realizing it was dealing with a zombie. Mine did not survive more than a day or two after that even in QT.

So odd. Good to know, though. Makes me think it's best to put it out of its suffering.

 

[Seansea]

They are being collected with poison out of indonesia. They are all dying and dping exactly whst yours did. Not sure who told you ot was in qt for 2 months but i find that suspect. Had one in february that just started withering away after a couple weeks even though it was eatin and seem to look ok. Nthink the poison destroys there insides

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

They are being collected with poison out of indonesia. They are all dying and dping exactly whst yours did. Not sure who told you ot was in qt for 2 months but i find that suspect. Had one in february that just started withering away after a couple weeks even though it was eatin and seem to look ok. Nthink the poison destroys there insides

Naso tangs specifically are poisoned like that? Do you know which tangs do and do not get that treatment?

I know it was in QT that long because I placed the order months ago, and it kept on being delayed by the ogo. Unless Marine Collectors isn't legit, but from everything I've heard they are.

Anyways, sorry to hear yours didn't make it.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

FYI the things that look like boils on the last picture are tubeworms on the glass.

It looks like it’s soft dorsal fin rays are all split, as well as the caudal fin damage. This is usually an indication of tankmate aggression - not sure if the yellow tang continued its attack or what?

Knowing when to euthanize a fish is always tough. Here is a post I made about this topic in case it helps:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

So odd. Good to know, though. Makes me think it's best to put it out of its suffering.

To be exact, there has been for the last few months an array of blonde naso tangs in particular from Sri Lanka hitting stores in poor condition and/or eating or trying to up front and soon shut down and start to decline, getting thin, stop eating, struggle swim and become moribund.
With no confirmation, it is suspected that they are being cyanide caught

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

It looks like it’s soft dorsal fin rays are all split, as well as the caudal fin damage. This is usually an indication of tankmate aggression - not sure if the yellow tang continued its attack or what?

Knowing when to euthanize a fish is always tough. Here is a post I made about this topic in case it helps:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks for the link. The parts of him that were damaged were the parts that were caught in the anemone, so I figured that’s what did it. Any rate, he passed on his own before I could pull the plug

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

To be exact, there has been for the last few months an array of blonde naso tangs in particular from Sri Lanka hitting stores in poor condition and/or eating or trying to up front and soon shut down and start to decline, getting thin, stop eating, struggle swim and become moribund.
With no confirmation, it is suspected that they are being cyanide caught

Jeez, poor fish. Well the upshot of all this is that I’m setting up a QT at my place so I can just buy fish that are fat and happy that I see in person at the LFS. Hopefully that way I can minimize the risk of poisoned fish.