Yellow mimic tangs and cyanide poisoning

[Jonathan lee]

I wanna get a yellow mimic tang for my fowlr but i read that many people have no luck keeping them cause they drop dead from cyanide poisoning. Particularly the ones from the Philippines. How do i know if the fish was caught using cyanide? Will they show signs of cyanide poisoning in the lfs? What should i look out for?

 

[Spare time]

@Jay Hemdal Thoughts?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Some open water tangs are caught in barrier nets. (Like Naso). Others, especially juvenile hepatus tangs are caught with cyanide. Mimic tangs could go either way - depends on the collector.
Overall, as long as they don’t arrive overly thin, I’ve not seen major issues with mimic tangs, except really small ones.

Jay

 

[Jonathan lee]

Some open water tangs are caught in barrier nets. (Like Naso). Others, especially juvenile hepatus tangs are caught with cyanide. Mimic tangs could go either way - depends on the collector.
Overall, as long as they don’t arrive overly thin, I’ve not seen major issues with mimic tangs, except really small ones.

Jay

Thanks. I wanted to get one from one of my lfs today so i texted the owner asking if they had any left from the mimic tang shipment exactly 1 month ago. He told me theres 2 left but he wont sell them cause they dont look stable. So i was wondering if its cause of cyanide poisoning. They’ve been there a month and started to not look good. I did see them at the time they came they looked ok.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

If you can get a MAC certified mimic tang than it shouldn't have been caught with cyanide and should be good.

 

[Jonathan lee]

If you can get a MAC certified mimic tang than it shouldn't have been caught with cyanide and should be good.

i will ask the lfs owner about this. He has been honest with me for years so he prob wont lie if i ask him if the fish are mac certified. Do u think the distributors know if the fish were caught with cyanide?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If you can get a MAC certified mimic tang than it shouldn't have been caught with cyanide and should be good.

MAC has been defunct for many years. Some people still say they sell “MAC certified”, but that’s impossible. Better options are to buy fish from regions where cyanide is not used:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/sourcing-marine-fishes-and-invertebrates.875/
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks. I wanted to get one from one of my lfs today so i texted the owner asking if they had any left from the mimic tang shipment exactly 1 month ago. He told me theres 2 left but he wont sell them cause they dont look stable. So i was wondering if its cause of cyanide poisoning. They’ve been there a month and started to not look good. I did see them at the time they came they looked ok.

My advice is to never buy a marine fish that isn’t close to 100% in apparent health. Too many hidden issues make things tough, and the LFS holding them back is a good sign they won’t thrive.