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MarkD40
04/19/2006, 11:02 AM
I have a real dilemma and I need some opinions on what I should do. It is a problem we all have had or will have. What to do with a fish you no longer want in your tank.

I have a purple and yellow tang that have been in my tank for 5 years. About 1 year ago they developed Lateral line disease and lost their dorsal and ventral fins. Their pectoral fins and tails are nearly gone. I searched for a cause of the HLLE and was going crazy trying to figure it out. I bought a new swing arm hydrometer and was shocked when it told me my salinity was......1.042! My old dyslexic swing arm was reading 1.024. So stupid. I bought a refractometer and gradually lower my salinity to 1.025.

I was hoping that the fish would regenerate their fins. The head lesions have completely healed but there is scarring present that really makes them look awful. I have recently spent much time and money on upgrading my display, pumps, lights etc, and have added a number of corals and my tank looks gorgeous! Unfortunately all anyone sees are my deformed tangs.

I would love to have some beautiful fish swimming around my reef. There is no one who would take these ugly but otherwise healthy fish. I thought about putting them in my 75 gallon sump but they would need separate feedings and my sump is in my basement. Also they would be an additional bio-load limiting my ability to add new fish.

I feel really guilty because it was my fault they got this way, unintentional as it was. They have been good fish for 5 years and I feel a responsibility to them but I am considering sending the to fish heaven. Does this make me a bad person?

Considering the amount of time and money I have invested in my set-up, it makes me crazy to look at those deformed fish. I would like your opinions pease.

jgoodrich71
04/19/2006, 11:20 AM
Try asking the ol' LFS if they want them. Never found any that would reject free fish.

reeferkid
04/19/2006, 12:28 PM
give em to an lfs or give them away at a local reef club meeting but dont kill them

Kabong
04/19/2006, 12:33 PM
IMO you did it to them. By accident yes, But killing them just cause there ugly would be a pretty crappy thing to do. You should either find them a good home to live out there live or accept your responsibility and care for them for there life span.

sean_w_mcgrath
04/19/2006, 12:42 PM
Try to give them away, and if that doesn't work, I'd say just live with them. It isn't fair to end their lives.

Try getting a fish that will catch your eye in attempts to take it away from the deformed tangs.

MarkD40
04/19/2006, 01:03 PM
I could see an LFS taking a healthy fish that was a pest or grew too large for your tank, but not fish with no fins that they would never be able to sell. I was hoping their fins would regenerate but after 6 months....nothing.

They eat like pigs and are very healthy. They have trouble negotiating the current in my display since I upgraded my pumps, but they seem content. I have strong feelings about the responsibility one has to animals you care for. But when I look at these fish I think about all of the animals that are raised and killed to provide food for us to eat and I wonder what the difference is. I mean, I go fishing and eat the fish I catch. I don't want to get into a whole PITA discussion here, but I do feel guilty about killing them, even though it would be fast and painless.

jgoodrich71
04/19/2006, 01:04 PM
Like I said, never seen a LFS refuse anything that was free.

BTTRFLYGRL
04/19/2006, 01:22 PM
OMG! Don't kill them! Have you tried vitamins such as Vita Chem? What are you feeding them? The fins WILL grow back, it takes time!
Fish develop this condition for a number of reasons-poor nutrition, poor water quality, Stray current, carbon is said to also be a possibility but most of the time this condition can be reversed!
What's to say this won't happen to your next fish? Contact your local Aquarium society, maybe some good person will take them
I would stay away from Tangs and Angels if I were you, they are very susceptible to this condition and if you can't own up to your mistakes, don't repeat them!

CrystalAZ
04/19/2006, 01:44 PM
Definitely don't kill them!!! :(

Six months isn't really that long to wait for healing. My dentist's office has a really nice orange shoulder tang and they had a mean wrasse who nipped at its tail until it had no tail. We removed that wrasse over a year ago and its tail is just starting to look normal again. It still isn't back to a regular tail shape, but isn't noticeably ugly anymore. I would think it would take much longer to regenerate all your fins.

If I were you, I would keep them, make sure to give them lots of nori or algae sheets, and give them some time to regenerate. Rather than look at them as ugly fish, try to view them as animals who survived horrible conditions and pulled through.

Crystal

fishfreak2407
04/19/2006, 01:59 PM
I totaly agree about having some crappy lookin fish in any aqaurium, granted you are responsible for ANY condition that a fish is in thats under your care good or bad. but we (I) dont set up these aqauriums to look at deformed sickly fish, dont kill them but definetly remove them and give them to someone(lfs, craigslist ect who can care for them) but dont feel that you have to keep them because ..........you dont.......just my 2 cents.

davocean
04/19/2006, 02:18 PM
Give to LFS or quarantine w/ meds
A good LFS will QT w/ med

cfarrow2
04/19/2006, 02:44 PM
I concur. Their fins will grow back, it'll just take a while. I have a CB that lost its fins, but they grew back. How long have you given them to recover? I'd say wait it out, I think you'll be happy you did. If you have your heart set on getting rid of them, do them the favor of trying to find them a new home. Good luck.

MarkD40
04/19/2006, 03:43 PM
I am feeding them brine shrimp and mysis soaked in Selcon as well as flake. There is always an algae sheet or lettuce in the tank which is a challenge because they eat it so fast. I have decided to give them another 6 months at least and see what happens.

Thanks for all of the input! Thanks especially to fishfreak who understands where I am coming from and said what many of you were thinking but were afraid to say.

fishfreak2407
04/19/2006, 04:13 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7208363#post7208363 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarkD40
I am feeding them brine shrimp and mysis soaked in Selcon as well as flake. There is always an algae sheet or lettuce in the tank which is a challenge because they eat it so fast. I have decided to give them another 6 months at least and see what happens.

Thanks for all of the input! Thanks especially to fishfreak who understands where I am coming from and said what many of you were thinking but were afraid to say.

:D

CrystalAZ
04/19/2006, 04:15 PM
Yes but even fishfreak said to find someone to give them to - not kill them. As long as the fish get to live, I don't care if you keep them or give them to someone else. :)

Crystal

jpeloveseoy
04/19/2006, 04:28 PM
I have a view that you should keep or find the fish a good home. I am a softy...in my goldfish tank (yes, the ultimate sin...goldfish/trash fish) I still have two of my starter 10 cent (live or die )fish. I felt guilty getting rid/uthinizing perfectly healthy fish. I have found that they have become great editions to my tank. They have changed from black and orange fish to solid orange...one has a fan like tails. I am glad that I kept them...Your tangs may or may not grow from ugly ducklings...you may however get a different view on the situation over time.

Sk8r
04/19/2006, 04:46 PM
You might ask a sympathetic vet, curiously enough, whether reduction of a fin to a point before the injury might allow it to regrow straight, and whether he might be able to treat same. He might also be able to treat the facial scarring, though I gather that's less an issue than the fins. I had a goldfish whose lateral fin had absolutely knotted into a useless and difficult club, and by recising it before the point of injury, I was able to get a straighter, more useable fin, not unscarred, but basically straight...but I'd advise getting a vet to do it. Tangs can defend themselves; and a vet might know a way to do this safely in a house call, if you or someone in your club knows somebody who is both vet and hobbyist.

BTTRFLYGRL
04/20/2006, 07:37 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7208363#post7208363 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarkD40
I am feeding them brine shrimp and mysis soaked in Selcon as well as flake. There is always an algae sheet or lettuce in the tank which is a challenge because they eat it so fast. I have decided to give them another 6 months at least and see what happens.

Thanks for all of the input! Thanks especially to fishfreak who understands where I am coming from and said what many of you were thinking but were afraid to say.




Brine shrimp has NO nutritional value whatsoever! Selcon is not a vitamin, try Vitachem
You need to feed your fish a variety..I feed frozen Mysis, Marine cuisine, Prime Reef, Formulas one and two, Emerald entree, Krill . Algae strips everyday. Your fish WILL NEVER improve with the foods you are providing..The only Brine Shrimp I buy is enriched Brine or Brine Shrimp plus...Brine isn't the main ingredient

BTTRFLYGRL
04/20/2006, 07:39 AM
Please read this. I am sure by six months, if you try, you can get your fish presentable


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=785228

kau_cinta_ku
04/20/2006, 09:01 AM
i agree do not kill them as in time they will heal. otherwise send them to me and i will care for them:D i have a tank already for them:p

fishfreak2407
04/20/2006, 10:16 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7212911#post7212911 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kau_cinta_ku
i agree do not kill them as in time they will heal. otherwise send them to me and i will care for them:D i have a tank already for them:p

there we go,a win win situation:cool:

mmd
04/20/2006, 11:19 AM
Add garlic and oil, and fry for 2 minutes each side.
Problem solved.

MarkD40
04/20/2006, 02:51 PM
Thanks for the kick in the pants Buttrflygrl! I needed it. I really haven't paid sufficient attention to really balanced nutrition for my Tangs. I am stopping on my way home tonight at my LFS to stock up on nutritious but foul smelling foods for my fishes. Hopefully this will lead to regeneration of their fins! :fish1:

dbacksrat
04/20/2006, 03:05 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7207152#post7207152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kabong
killing them just cause there ugly would be a pretty crappy thing to do.
Just think about it: if you could kill someone because they're ugly, then we're all screwed.

MarkD40
04/20/2006, 03:15 PM
Thanks Kau... I may take you up on your kind offer. I had decided to give them some more time with more attention paid to their nutrition. My sailfin is a fat 6" pig and looks fine except for no dorsal or ventral 'sails". My LFS said he would take him and see if he can sell him at a reduced price to a good home. He was a bad choice for my 110 gallon to begin with as he will eventually get too big, so I might as well remove him now if I can catch the sucker! (I bought him as a newbie and did not realize that they grow big.)

MarkD40
04/20/2006, 03:19 PM
Not a bad idea mmd........but would I risk developing head and lateral line disease? And if I did, would I think about killing myself every time I looked in the mirror because I was ugly? Risky. Risky.

fishfreak2407
04/20/2006, 03:36 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7215531#post7215531 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarkD40
Not a bad idea mmd........but would I risk developing head and lateral line disease? And if I did, would I think about killing myself every time I looked in the mirror because I was ugly? Risky. Risky.


:jester: :lmao:

Richard parry
04/20/2006, 04:06 PM
You could always eat them. They would then be dying for a good cause. If you eat fish there should be no problem with that should there?
I could take them off your hands if you like.
ps any good batter recipes?
yum yum

MarkD40
04/21/2006, 07:37 AM
:beer: Add some chips and beer. I know how you Brits love your fish and chips!

kau_cinta_ku
04/21/2006, 08:10 AM
well whatever you decide i am sure you will do the right thing. good luck:)