The Home for Wayward Fish

hnnhflns · 11/28/2015, 01:18 AM

As many people know, Chris and I take in many fish in order to give them as good of a home as we can. We have taken in 2 foot long eels just so they have room to stretch out in a larger tank.

Today we made the rounds at all the LFS in Sacramento. We got a convict tang, a 6 line wrasse, and an algae blenny at Your Reef (hopefully we can get the algae problem in my dad's tank cleared up now and maybe train the convict to eat fish food). We got some algae and a new decorator crab at Aquarium Depot (our last ones died after over 3 years in our tanks), and Jeff was awesome enough to gift us a broken skimmer that Chris was eyeing (he wants to fix it because he doesn't have enough projects to work on in this tiny apartment). Our last stop of the day was at Aqua Life. We picked out a new mini acro colony and some algae while we were in there before we went to check out the fish.

Now, I want to be very clear: the gentlemen at Aqua Life were very hesitant to sell us these fish because they wanted to ensure that we knew what we were getting into and they wanted to make sure that they went to good home. This is not a complaint about their store.

In the back we found a little yellow tang and mimic lemon peel that were not very well off. The mimic has head and lateral line erosion, and both have torn up fins. We have healed head and lateral line erosion in a couple other tangs before (to a certain extent, they will always have slight scarring afterwards), so we wanted them to both have a good home where they can heal up well and be fat and happy again.

We also found a beautiful large powder blue tang, just absolutely stunning. But something wasn't quite right with him. He had a spotted discoloration in one of his eyes that neither of us had ever seen before. It was obviously not pop-eye or some type of bacterial infection, and we could see that it was obviously favoring one side to see out of its tank. We asked, and found out that when it was first brought into the shop it was bitten on the eye by a trigger and was likely permanently blind in the one eye, so it had been in the shop for months and never sold. Other than the eye, the powder blue was extremely healthy, so we decided that we would give him a home too.

I am not sure if the powder blue tang's eye will ever heal, but we will certainly give it our all. With lots of time, patience, and the right food the head and lateral line erosion on the mimic lemon peel will heal until it is just a slight scar along its lateral line. And we have had amazing luck with healing torn up fins before, so we think that everyone will make full recoveries.

Thank you to the gentlemen at Aqua Life tonight for being so cautious with the fish! We know that many people will buy sick fish that are at a lower price and then become angry at the store when the fish die.

We will keep everyone updated with the fishes' progress. We think they stand a pretty good chance in our care.

tcoral · 11/28/2015, 11:22 AM

whatever you do quarantine and don't have anybody in your family name the fish...
I have fatalities only when my kids give them names, LOL, kiss of death...

Jet Black · 11/28/2015, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcoral

whatever you do quarantine and don't have anybody in your family name the fish...
I have fatalities only when my kids give them names, LOL, kiss of death...

First thing I told my roommates was not to name them or else they'll die. Lasted all of about ten minutes and sure enough a few days later they died.

hnnhflns · 11/28/2015, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcoral

whatever you do quarantine.

All the fish are quarantined and they have started eating some mysis and the New Era Algae Grazers that we offered last night (it's just a tidier way of getting food into the tank for them without having to turn off the filtration). Even the mimic and the yellow are eating. Everyone is still swimming around. The Powder Blue already seems fairly relaxed and isn't only swimming with the non-injured eye facing out of the tank.

hnnhflns · 11/29/2015, 09:00 PM

Just a quick update:
We just got back from a weekend away and all three fish are doing very well!

The powder blue has calmed down quite a bit, and just swims in lazy circles. I don't think she is fully blind in the bad eye because she will now watch us walk past from both eyes now. (They are in a QT tank on our kitchen counter, so she sees us all the time)

The mimic and the yellow are still kicking. They aren't completely emaciated now, and the mimic is getting a little more bold and isn't hiding constantly. The yellow doesn't come out unless we are feeding.

They're getting the algae grazers, mysis, flakes, and some very yummy macro algae that Chris has kindly taken from his collection in our sump.

11/28/2015, 01:18 AM	#1
hnnhflns Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 292	The Home for Wayward Fish As many people know, Chris and I take in many fish in order to give them as good of a home as we can. We have taken in 2 foot long eels just so they have room to stretch out in a larger tank. Today we made the rounds at all the LFS in Sacramento. We got a convict tang, a 6 line wrasse, and an algae blenny at Your Reef (hopefully we can get the algae problem in my dad's tank cleared up now and maybe train the convict to eat fish food). We got some algae and a new decorator crab at Aquarium Depot (our last ones died after over 3 years in our tanks), and Jeff was awesome enough to gift us a broken skimmer that Chris was eyeing (he wants to fix it because he doesn't have enough projects to work on in this tiny apartment). Our last stop of the day was at Aqua Life. We picked out a new mini acro colony and some algae while we were in there before we went to check out the fish. Now, I want to be very clear: the gentlemen at Aqua Life were very hesitant to sell us these fish because they wanted to ensure that we knew what we were getting into and they wanted to make sure that they went to good home. This is not a complaint about their store. In the back we found a little yellow tang and mimic lemon peel that were not very well off. The mimic has head and lateral line erosion, and both have torn up fins. We have healed head and lateral line erosion in a couple other tangs before (to a certain extent, they will always have slight scarring afterwards), so we wanted them to both have a good home where they can heal up well and be fat and happy again. We also found a beautiful large powder blue tang, just absolutely stunning. But something wasn't quite right with him. He had a spotted discoloration in one of his eyes that neither of us had ever seen before. It was obviously not pop-eye or some type of bacterial infection, and we could see that it was obviously favoring one side to see out of its tank. We asked, and found out that when it was first brought into the shop it was bitten on the eye by a trigger and was likely permanently blind in the one eye, so it had been in the shop for months and never sold. Other than the eye, the powder blue was extremely healthy, so we decided that we would give him a home too. I am not sure if the powder blue tang's eye will ever heal, but we will certainly give it our all. With lots of time, patience, and the right food the head and lateral line erosion on the mimic lemon peel will heal until it is just a slight scar along its lateral line. And we have had amazing luck with healing torn up fins before, so we think that everyone will make full recoveries. Thank you to the gentlemen at Aqua Life tonight for being so cautious with the fish! We know that many people will buy sick fish that are at a lower price and then become angry at the store when the fish die. We will keep everyone updated with the fishes' progress. We think they stand a pretty good chance in our care.

11/28/2015, 11:22 AM	#2
tcoral Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 4,893	whatever you do quarantine and don't have anybody in your family name the fish... I have fatalities only when my kids give them names, LOL, kiss of death... __________________ ~ Tina ~ The sound of silence... Current Tank Info: 180 gallon tank- gone to better things

11/29/2015, 09:00 PM	#5
hnnhflns Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 292	Just a quick update: We just got back from a weekend away and all three fish are doing very well! The powder blue has calmed down quite a bit, and just swims in lazy circles. I don't think she is fully blind in the bad eye because she will now watch us walk past from both eyes now. (They are in a QT tank on our kitchen counter, so she sees us all the time) The mimic and the yellow are still kicking. They aren't completely emaciated now, and the mimic is getting a little more bold and isn't hiding constantly. The yellow doesn't come out unless we are feeding. They're getting the algae grazers, mysis, flakes, and some very yummy macro algae that Chris has kindly taken from his collection in our sump.