New PBT QT

[cham]

I respect some long time members like SDguy and some others. I did some google research and I've found many many people that have kept difficult fish like PBT, Moorish Idols and others on NLS alone.

What shocks me is that I've been reefing for over 5 years and I've heard rumblings of NLS from time to time but from what I've been reading they need their own forum. After hours of searching I've not found anyone that has anything bad to say about it. I read that the makers of NLS say that it has enough veggies to feed a tang exclusively. I thought that to be impossible and just empty self promotion but I've found several tang keepers that keep PBT's and Archilles with NLS feedings alone. With that, I promptly removed the nori clip that was going unused and I'm counting on my NLS to get my PBT fat in the coming week or two before introduction to my DT.

In the past I've fed mostly mysis. Two weeks ago I started using Roggers (I had a chance to meet one of my idol tank owners 143gadets, he highly reccomended it) and I just bought NLS for the first time last week. Moving forward I'm going to start feeding NLS to my DT twice a day (via auto feeder) and Roggers Reef Food at night when I get home.

I've had semi pale SPS colors for a long time, I'm wondering if my almost exclusive mysis diet was to blame.

[SDguy]

Originally Posted by cham

Best belly shot I could get

Belly looks great. Visible spine, not so much, but knowing you dewormed the fish makes me confident that over time, she will fill out nicely. Mine showed a slight spine when I first got it too.

[cham]

Originally Posted by SDguy

Belly looks great. Visible spine, not so much, but knowing you dewormed the fish makes me confident that over time, she will fill out nicely. Mine showed a slight spine when I first got it too.

That's great news, thank you SDguy. I'm going to give her one to two more weeks (or more) in QT with NLS four times a day. When she starts to fatten up I'll put her in the DT.

She destroys the NLS pellets when I put them in. Even if it's only been an hour since her last feeding she acts like it's been weeks. That makes me hopeful that she will fatten up.

[SDguy]

Be careful, I've gotten so excited about how well a fish in QT is eating, that I've thrown tons of food in, forgetting how it can impact water quality . Keep a close eye on ammonia.

[cham]

Originally Posted by SDguy

Belly looks great. Visible spine, not so much, but knowing you dewormed the fish makes me confident that over time, she will fill out nicely. Mine showed a slight spine when I first got it too.

Advice question


Not sure if you read the whole thread but I not only gave her two rounds of prazi but a 50 minute bath in full strenght formalin before she went into QT. I thought about one more formalin bath as I acclimate her to my DT just to "make sure". Good idea or bad idea?

[cham]

Originally Posted by SDguy

Be careful, I've gotten so excited about how well a fish in QT is eating, that I've thrown tons of food in, forgetting how it can impact water quality . Keep a close eye on ammonia.

I may be guilty of this

[SDguy]

Originally Posted by cham

Advice question


Not sure if you read the whole thread but I not only gave her two rounds of prazi but a 50 minute bath in full strength formalin before she went into QT. I thought about one more formalin bath as I acclimate her to my DT just to "make sure". Good idea or bad idea?

At this point I wouldn't do any more prophylactic treatments.

[cham]

Originally Posted by SDguy

At this point I wouldn't do any more prophylactic treatments.

Ok thanks

[thelostrican]

I would do a freshwater bath with conditioned tap water for 5 minutes...and inspect the water afterwards, if the water looks good, I would proced to keep him a little longer in qt, to fat him up a little more...his eyes look funny, keep the water clean.

When you transfer him to your main, count his pellets up, a little ich should could present itself, in my opinion as long as his eating and strong he should beat it...in my opinion ich is always present...if by one week he still has ich, change the pellets to another brands, I always have spectrum and formula pellets...my powder blue eats 23 to 25 pellets in the morning and brine at night....

Always qt...

[cham]

I learned the QT, like many hobbiests, the hard way. The LFS that you trust that swears they dipped them, run prazi in their tanks and treated with copper have often the same diseases that everyone else has.

I agree that ich is common and usually found in unhappy fish that are malnurished, given the wrong environment or just not fit for captivity. Given the right place ich isn't the ultimate enemy but parasites can be.

[geaux xman]

do you have any other tangs in your DT?

[cham]

Update:

I'm feeding 100% NLS and she seems to be gaining weight. I'm feeding 5 times a day and she is a very hungry fish. I'll give her another week or more in QT to fatten up and watch for parasites. At that point she will have been in QT for right at a month.

[SDguy]

Sounds like things are going well!

[cham]

Originally Posted by SDguy

Sounds like things are going well!

I hope so. I took some pictures this morning. It seems like the spine is no longer visible towards the front of the fish but still visible towards the tail. I'm impressed at the level of recovery so far, she seems to be putting fat on quite quickly if you compare pics earlier in this thread where the spine is clearly visible nose to tail










The main purpose of this thread is to document a recovery of a sick delicate fish and to get help & advice from other experienced reefers. I hope some of this information is helpful to others. I know I've learned a few new things one of the biggest is the use of NLS pellets. I had never used them before in my DT or QT and they are now a big part of the diet of my fish.

[scuzy]

i feed my fish NLS occasionally and they go at it. But i mainly feed mysis and formula 1/2/prime reef often. So far all my tangs are fat like pigs.

[cham]

Originally Posted by scuzy

i feed my fish NLS occasionally and they go at it. But i mainly feed mysis and formula 1/2/prime reef often. So far all my tangs are fat like pigs.

I've been feeding mysis as a large part of my fish diet for a number of years. I started researching NLS and I read some articles where people have kept difficult fish like archillies, PBT's and some others on NLS exclusively. I looked at that with a skeptical eye but after replacing the mysis in my DT as the primary food source with NLS along with Roggers I've noticed brighter colors in my fish that I've had for years as well as this PBT that I have in QT gaining weight very quicklly on NLS alone.

My experience is far from scientific but I certianly have seen results in my opinion that have made me a believer. However, I am a big fan of diversity in foods so I will not feed NLS exclusively but I will make it a large part of my fish's diet moving forward.

[scuzy]

btw awesome powder Blue. Here is mine that i just added to my DT after 3 weeks in QT under cupramine

[anbosu]

NLS is a great food to put weight on tangs, especially ones that are a bit finicky like PBTs.

[cham]

Great looking PB scuzy

[gweston]

Great job so far on the PB. She's looking super healthy. Someday I'd like to get one... but have been hesitant so far due to their disease sensitivity and potential for aggression.

But.. eventually when I think I am ready, I'll get one and follow a path similar to you. A good sized QT with a slow methodical regimen.

[cham]

Here he is acclimating to my DT

It was hard to get a shot but this fish went from skin and bones to fat in 6 weeks using only NLS pellets. She refused to eat nori after I started using NLS and as soon as those pellets hit the water she goes crazy for them.

[cham]

Here he is in my DT, still has some cloudy stuff that comes and goes on her fins only. I can't remember the name of the stuff but it's common and not known to be deadly to fish and goes away with time. As far as his body goes she has not had anything visible for many weeks. Instead of her spine sticking out it's now a indention. She has really fattened up.

[D5HP]

Fish looks fantastic...nice job getting her healthy.

I love NLS pellets...big part of all my fishes diets if they'll eat them.

[cham]

Originally Posted by D5HP

Fish looks fantastic...nice job getting her healthy.

I love NLS pellets...big part of all my fishes diets if they'll eat them.

Thank you

I've been anti pellet food my entire reefing life, this fish forced me to buy them because of her eating habbits. I was and am completely blown away at the results. I've never seen a fish color up or fatten up so fast. This fish literally went from anemic to lardo in 4 or 5 weeks (first couple weeks I was doing nori).

When I fed it to my DT where I've had clowns for a couple of years I was shocked. They both had quite a bit of black on them, mostly the tops of them. After 3 weeks of NLS pellets the black turned a bright orange along with the rest of their body going a very bright orange.


Not to oversell it, but NLS appears to be the "snake oil" food that actually performs as advertised. I'm a big fan.

[curlykid]

he looks amazing! haven't seen a fat one like that in a while. Your QT procedure was amazing, quite nurturing. It gives me joy to see fat fish! haha