Naso Tangs vs Vortech Mp40

[Matthew Dambra]

Hello all,

Just this week I had a Medium Naso tang approx 4inches die in my 90g tank, found him stuck to the powerhead when i got home from work. Ive never had this issue so i didn't think it was the power head. He had no signs of disease, was eating well, got along with all of the other fish, no marks indicating anyone was beating him up. All parameters are good as none of my LPS, SPS or inverts are showing any sign of distress so i was stumped. In the meantime i bought another Naso tang a little smaller than the previous and I just noticed him get stuck to my MP40. Now i didn't give him time to try to free himself I immediately shut the pump off and the fish swam away. I wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem and if its a "Naso tang thing" in my experience with these pumps only sickly and basically already dead fish get stuck to the mp40 but this seems odd to me to be happening to healthy fish.

Thanks

 

[Lowefx]

I've never had this issue unless they were already dead or too week to swim. Th the mp40 on lagoon mode at 50% nd see wht happens

 

[Daniel85]

i've never had this problem, however i once helped save a yellow tang from an MP40 (maybe an MP60, don't remember) that had gotten itself stuck to the powerhead. it was trying to free itself, however the suction was just too much for it. i think the larger fish that get too close can have this problem if the pump is really up high.

hope that helps provide a little insight

 

[Antics]

Weird. I've never had any fish get stuck to an MP40. How soon after re-introduction are they getting stuck?

 

[Ranjib]

+1 Likely to happen when the fish is sick or injured.

 

[Matthew Dambra]

Thats my normal setting approx 50% power and lagoon however, i work 24hr shifts and have my family feed the fish when I'm at work, when the fish was found it was on constant mode at 50%

The larger Naso tang was in the tank for about a week or so, This new one has only been in the tank for 2 days however he was hiding for a bit because my Chevron was not playing nice

 

[Matthew Dambra]

I agree with everyone that in a sickly fish this is not uncommon but in a healthy, lively tang seems very odd to me but i can't seem to find any other causes of death

 

[Antics]

I've never had it happen but I always run my Vortechs in some variation of a pulse mode with long breaths in between. I'm assuming 2 seconds with the pump off/slowing down would allow any of my fish time to get free if they were caught. I wonder if using the suggested foam covers would help at all? Whenever I use them my fish love to eat off of them so I guess that attention would keep them from swimming right up against the side.

 

[Matthew Dambra]

I've never had it happen but I always run my Vortechs in some variation of a pulse mode with long breaths in between. I'm assuming 2 seconds with the pump off/slowing down would allow any of my fish time to get free if they were caught. I wonder if using the suggested foam covers would help at all? Whenever I use them my fish love to eat off of them so I guess that attention would keep them from swimming right up against the side.

I will look into that thanks

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

You have the sponge guards for the pump?

 

[Matthew Dambra]

You have the sponge guards for the pump?

I will check the boxes but i do not have them currently installed

 

[Matthew Dambra]

Even tho my pumps are 5+years old i kept the boxes and still have the original sponges i will add them to the tank now

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

I didn't know they were included with the pump. But they are good for preventing what you are describing.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vortech-mp20-mp40w-foam-guards-3-pack.html

 

[spiraling]

You have the sponge guards for the pump?

+1
my peppermint shrimp likes to go to them to feed on the stuck food and I don't worry about a nem wondering in. You can get replacement sponges at BRS and probably a lot of other places if you don't have them anymore. A sick fish would just stick to the side rather than getting sucked through the prop.

 

[Matthew Dambra]

Hopefully these sponges and always being in a pulse type mode will solve the issue, thanks for all the help guys

 

[mmatt]

I've lost a healthy manifigent fox face, and a purple tang like this. Ticked me right off. Especially when they were both fat and seemed healthy. But with a hydra. Not my vortrchs.

 

[Zaffor]

I have several fish that congregate near my mp40 and never a casualty. My pumps run up to 90% and not generally pulsing. I have had this happen in qt with an mp10.
I think healthy fish will not get drawn into a powerhead

 

[Zaffor]

I should add that many of the fish are smaller but one is a larger copperband

 

[drawman]

Yeah I would be very suspicious of a quick acting disease like velvet or something else. Was this fish quarantined?

 

[Matthew Dambra]

Yeah I would be very suspicious of a quick acting disease like velvet or something else. Was this fish quarantined?

My LFS quarantines all fish for 2 weeks before you are able to bring them home, you can go buy them but they won't let you take them home until they pass their quarantine process