A traumatic event

masterswimmer · #1 10/08/2005, 11:09 PM

I had a very unfortunate occurance in my tank today. My powerhead is pointed at the back of my rocks, basically deflecting the flow to various areas. I was examining the tank, like everybody else here does, when I noticed through a space in the rocks a big yellow 'thing'. Wondering what it was, I looked around the tank and noticed my yellow tang missing.

The tang was being pinned against the rock by the flow of the powerhead. I have to tell you, this was one of my first fish and I've had him well over a year now. I've always prided myself on how really nice he always looked.

I have no idea how long he was trapped in that position. I proceeded to move the rock blocking his passage. He immediately blew out the newly formed opening. He was still alive. Very very beaten up though. He had these white rings around each eye, the backside of his dorsal fin is all torn apart (similar to the way a pressure washer would tear through a piece of wood if directed at it continuously), and tonight I noticed a small patch of cottony stuff on his head. He went into the corner and slowly started swimming in circles as if totally disoriented.

I shut off the daylights and left the actinics on to try to lessen the stress. I waited about 1 hour and fed the tank some marine algae, his favorite. He ate. The torn apart rear of his dorsal fin is falling off though. He definitely doesn't look right. I'm unsure whether he'll make it.

My tank is now a year and a half young and this is the first time anything like this has happened. I haven't changed any rockwork since the original setup, so the fish are all accustomed to the flow in the tank. I can't imagine what happened. Just crossing my fingers and hoping at the moment. My biggest fear right now is the cottony patch on his head. I also know YT's can stress pretty easily. We all know what stress can do to a fish. I don't want any outbreaks of any disease.

Wish my little guy luck. He's gonna need it.

Russ

cwbroden · #2 10/08/2005, 11:21 PM

I wish you luck with him. Hope he makes it. Post an update soon.

kass03 · #3 10/08/2005, 11:38 PM

I had a blue hippo once get sucked up on my power head.
It looked awefull and I thought it's stomache was crushed the poor thing. It;s stomache was all sucked in.
It did end up living in my tank for 8 years until it jumped out 1 day which was really sad.
I put baskets on my power heads so that doesnt happen again.
I have glass covers on the tank but always kept them open in the hot summer months never thinking that fish would jump out it was so big.

Good Luck! I hope he makes it like my blue one did.

kass

143gadgets · #4 10/08/2005, 11:40 PM

Please give an update. Be sure to feed him. If he is eating I think that he will make a recovery. HTH Good luck.

NicoleRM · #5 10/08/2005, 11:54 PM

As long as your water is clean and he keeps eating, he'll probably be fine. Maybe give him some extra food or soak with Selcon for good measure?

My scopas tang got sucked onto the intake for my closed loop about a month back. I'm not sure how long she was stuck there, but it couldn't have been too long. I got her loose and she was visibly stressed, but is alright now, despite the grill marks on that one side from the screen I used to cover the intake. The intake now wears a very large mesh box to keep critters safely away.

Daecrist · #6 10/09/2005, 01:01 AM

I had something similar happen, only it was a turbo snail that got sucked into the powerhead intake. That wasn't pretty when I powered down the system. The good thing is fish are a lot more hardy than snails, and from what I've seen and heard yellow tangs are pretty hard to kill no matter what.

masterswimmer · #7 10/09/2005, 01:03 AM

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. At this time, lights are out and it seems he's in his normal sleeping location. A nice positive sign.

Don't want to get too excited about that yet. I'm encouraged to see his overnight progress/regression. Crossing my fingers for progress.

kass03, thanx for the kind words and great story about your blue hippo, made my night.

143gadgets, bacon and eggs for breakfast. He's getting seconds if he eats. Thanks

NicoleRM, was actually inspecting the tank just before getting ready to do a water change when I saw the situation. I'll be doing that change tomorrow. Never more than a week for a change so I should be in good shape. Great news about your Scopas. Glad all worked out.

Update tomorrow,
Russ