Fish problems

[adam-silver]

Hi All

Since the addidtion of my baby regal tang over a month ago I seem to have had nothing but problems. The regal is getting whitespots all over it one day then gone the next, now its covered in little black & white marks!! Also tonight just noticed that my gramma has moved away from its normal hideaway and has lots of tiny tiny white spots on his fins and also his fins are either rotting or they are being bitten.

Not sure what to do? Im half tempted to get rid of the regal and get my water right! :-)

I hope somebody can help as it was all going well since the addition of my regal!!!

[Tangman]

Hi Adam if the fins are rotting it sounds like you have a secondary bacterial problems which follows WS, i would suggest you take the fish out into a QT tank and drop the salt level to 1009 making sure your water quality stays good. Take the salt down in about 2 stages to a final level of 1009 keeping it like this for a few weeks, the fish can survive like this then when they look better take the salt level up very slowly like 1 point a day upto 1025. This is the only trouble with keeping Tangs especially Regals as they are WS magnets and cause no end of trouble. Keep the main tank bare of fish for at least 8 weeks to allow the WS parasite to die off.Twiggy

[adam-silver]

Thanks for the advice Eric, that does seem a lot of hassle but if it has to be done then it has to be done!! How do I set up a QT tank? how big does it need to be? Im skint after xmas how much do u reckon it will cost to set up? is there any other way to sort this problem? Should I get rid of the regal?

[Tangman]

Thanks for the advice Eric, that does seem a lot of hassle but if it has to be done then it has to be done!! How do I set up a QT tank? how big does it need to be? Im skint after xmas how much do u reckon it will cost to set up? is there any other way to sort this problem? Should I get rid of the regal?
Hi Adam all you need is a tank about 2x1x1 ft with a small filter in and some Ocean Rock for the fish to hide in. It will take time to mature though and should not cost a lot maybe someone has one they will give you just stick a ad up asking for one. I would take the Regal back to the LFS you got it from and leave the others in the QT tank. Twiggy

[adam-silver]

What filter do I need? If I add some cured rock and put that in how long will it take before I can add the fish? How much flow do they need? Will my LFS give me a refund?

[Tangman]

Hi Adam you need a internal filter with sponge in to create bacteria, dont put live rock in as it will die when you lower the salt. You will have to wait a whaile for the filter to mature but some good water changes with the old water out of your tank will help. If he his a decent LFS he should give you a credit note at least for the fish. Twiggy