Chevron Tang...ich magnet?

Canarygirl · #1 07/30/2007, 09:14 PM

Hi

My LFS has a juvenile Chevron tang and they told me it would not be prone to ich. However my Marine Fishes book says "like other tangs, is prone to ich." It doesn't give that description for any of the other tangs (like powder blue or hippo).

Now I'm worried because I specifically told my LFS that I did not want an "ich magnet" in my tank.

Opinions or advice?

Juggler · #2 07/30/2007, 09:20 PM

what size is it?

is the tank the 130?

as long as the tank is well established, and you dont have something to bully and stress him, there would be no reason for ich. in my exp, you either get ich the first week or never see it again. did you QT?

CarlC · #3 07/30/2007, 09:21 PM

Put it in QT and watch it for a month. If ich shows up treat according. If no ich after the month you should still have a ich free tank unless you didn't QT the other fish when you bought them.

Carl

JM68 · #4 07/30/2007, 09:32 PM

Nope not at all. The bristletoothed tangs are some of the toughest. Chevron, Kole, Convict are all pretty tough and some of the smaller tangs out there. I have a juvi that i bought a few months ago when he was about the size of a quarter.(i got him for half price because he was so small and the other fish in the tank at the store were beating him up, they didnt expect him to make it after being abused so much at such a small size, but he pulled through and is doing great) He's grown a lot already and has never had ick. He is in my 120g with a male flame wrasse, copperband butterfly and juvi sargassum trigger. Until a few weeks ago there was a female crosshatch trigger in the tank that was about 5" and fairly aggressive and the tang could have cared less. It goes about its business grazing on the diatoms on the LR and glass. It is actually pretty social with the other fish often swimming along side the wrasse for several laps around the tank. I would strongly recommend this fish to anybody wanting a tang and is willing to pay fairly high price.

Powder Blues and Browns, Sohals and Clowns and others like these are a different story, stay away from them.

Canarygirl · #5 07/30/2007, 09:54 PM

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

The Chevron is still at the LFS. I bought it but haven't brought it home yet. They have had it for about 10 days. The tang is ~2.5, maybe 3 inches long.

My tank is the 120, it is 60" long and 20" wide, lots of LR. As far as bullies in the tank, I have a 5" sailfin tang that does enjoy chasing her buddy the 5" foxface, but the foxface just shows his spines and it's all over. I also have a young adult clarkii clown that's pretty territorial and chases other fish (but doesn't bite).

If I get this chevron, will it be okay to keep it in a 10 gallon QT for the 6 weeks or do I need a bigger tank? I have a 20 gallon long I could set up for it instead.

CarlC · #6 07/30/2007, 10:11 PM

The 20 long would provide more swimming room so I'd go with the 20.

Carl

jnc914 · #7 07/30/2007, 11:23 PM

I lost my Chevron during a tank upgrade, the stress did him in, and ich attacked an already weakened tang. Canarygirl, i hate to be a downer, but your Sailfin will be relentless. You may need to change live rock and break up established territories. I wish you nothing but luck. I had to give away my 5" Sailfin due to his aggression.

Canarygirl · #8 07/30/2007, 11:31 PM

hmmm....I don't want that to happen. Is my 120 too small for a sailfin plus another tang, then? Or are sailfins known to be agressive? I thought they were peaceful tangs but I could be confused.

I may not want to take this risk.

jnc914 · #9 07/30/2007, 11:37 PM

In a 120, your sailfin will be aggressive to another tang. I don;t know of too many tang species i would label as peaceful. tangs ideally do well if added at the same time. Chevrons are pretty docile and won't put up much of a fight. Can you switch up your live rock?

tmz · #10 07/30/2007, 11:47 PM

Give it some structure to hide/sleep in in your qt tank. I would use the 20 or larger.

Peter Eichler · #11 07/30/2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JM68
Nope not at all. The bristletoothed tangs are some of the toughest. Chevron, Kole, Convict are all pretty tough and some of the smaller tangs out there. I have a juvi that i bought a few months ago when he was about the size of a quarter.(i got him for half price because he was so small and the other fish in the tank at the store were beating him up, they didnt expect him to make it after being abused so much at such a small size, but he pulled through and is doing great) He's grown a lot already and has never had ick. He is in my 120g with a male flame wrasse, copperband butterfly and juvi sargassum trigger. Until a few weeks ago there was a female crosshatch trigger in the tank that was about 5" and fairly aggressive and the tang could have cared less. It goes about its business grazing on the diatoms on the LR and glass. It is actually pretty social with the other fish often swimming along side the wrasse for several laps around the tank. I would strongly recommend this fish to anybody wanting a tang and is willing to pay fairly high price.

Powder Blues and Browns, Sohals and Clowns and others like these are a different story, stay away from them.

Overall Ctenochaetus are quite hardy, but the Chevron is an exception IMO. I've seen many dead in wholesaler tanks and have seen plenty not fare well at the LFS and home aquaria. Also, despite the Bristletooths being hardy they're still quite prone to parasites. In fact, after P. hepatus the Kole would probably rank second on the fish I've seen most commonly afflicted with ich. I'm happy your fish is doing well, but your story isn't the norm. I'm not saying these are impossible to keep by any means, but I feel they're about on par with a Powder Blue in terms of hardiness. Lastly, while the Sohal is quite mean, I would not group it in with those other tangs. Sohals are one of the hardiest tangs IMO.

Canarygirl, it's hard to say how your Sailfin will react to the Chevron, it could be war or it could be a little aggression for a couple days and then they'll live peacefully. If they're not close in size you will have better luck IME. Another thing to consider is that these fish consume large amounts of detritus (more than algal matter according to gut analysis), so if you're very particular about keeping detritus out of your tank you may want to reconsider. The detritus isn't a deal breaker, but combined with the problems that may arise with your Sailfin it may be best to look at ome other fish.

mattyice · #12 07/31/2007, 08:16 AM

IME sohals are tougher then nails, i am having a slight ich breakout in my tank that i am treating and the sohal has no ich, its quite active, and actually is still a baby at only 2" long, my last sohal was the same way but i had to get rid of him as he got too aggressive and i was too new to the hobby to understand that i cant add anything after a 4-5" sohal went in the tank

chevron's can be very good additions to your tank, but with a large sailfin already in the tank its hard to say what will happen, i would have to say i would much rather not take a chance with a smaller more expensive fish as there can be a good chance that the sailfin would tear it apart, but IME i have a vlamingii tang thats about 3.5" now and i just added a 2-3" sohal and they fought for 10 minutes and now they are the best of buds, so you never know what could happen

Canarygirl · #13 07/31/2007, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Another thing to consider is that these fish consume large amounts of detritus (more than algal matter according to gut analysis), so if you're very particular about keeping detritus out of your tank you may want to reconsider.

Tangs consume large amounts of detritus? I thought you were going to say they produce large amounts of detritus. This is news to me.

In fact, I am planning to try the Zeovit method in the near future so algae will be reduced except for what I add to the tank. I don't know what the effect will be on detritus per say but logic tells me that will be reduced as well. My sailfin does get a bit cranky and picks on the foxface more readily when it is hungry, so maybe it's not such a good idea to add another tang.

As for moving my rocks around, my tank is only 20" wide and as it is, every time I do simple maintenance I am knocking corals loose and having to reglue them. It drives me insane! Last weekend's water change....4 corals needing to be reglued.

So until such time as I upgrade my tank, I don't have a lot of options with my rockwork. Sump is too crowded to add any rock to it, also.

Peter Eichler · #14 07/31/2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Canarygirl
Tangs consume large amounts of detritus? I thought you were going to say they produce large amounts of detritus. This is news to me.

In fact, I am planning to try the Zeovit method in the near future so algae will be reduced except for what I add to the tank. I don't know what the effect will be on detritus per say but logic tells me that will be reduced as well. My sailfin does get a bit cranky and picks on the foxface more readily when it is hungry, so maybe it's not such a good idea to add another tang.

As for moving my rocks around, my tank is only 20" wide and as it is, every time I do simple maintenance I am knocking corals loose and having to reglue them. It drives me insane! Last weekend's water change....4 corals needing to be reglued. So until such time as I upgrade my tank, I don't have a lot of options with my rockwork. Sump is too crowded to add any rock to it, also.

Tangs of the genus Ctenochaetus consume large amounts of detritus, not tangs as a whole.

mike89t · #15 07/31/2007, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CarlC
The 20 long would provide more swimming room so I'd go with the 20.

Carl

That's what I used for my Cheveron. He did fine in there for the entier QT process. Just make sure to do frequent water changes. Here is a photo of him in the QT a few days after I got him:

JM68 · #16 07/31/2007, 05:50 PM

Here's a couple pics of my little guy shortly after he got healthy and all his fins grew grew back, you can still see a small piece missing from the top of his tail. It took about 3 weeks for everything to grow back.

edwing206 · #17 07/31/2007, 05:57 PM

Hey Jan!

Canarygirl · #18 07/31/2007, 06:11 PM

Hey, Louis!

Bret61081 · #19 07/31/2007, 07:32 PM

When I first got my Chevron, it kept getting ich and was hardly putting on weight. After I treated for flukes, it has never had ich again...and this was almost a year ago! Great fish, mine is very passive.

Juggler · #20 07/31/2007, 08:38 PM

yeah im so sorry, but that sailfin is going to give you
H E double hockey sticks
lol

its going to just destroy that tang.
i have a yellow eye in my 180 and already rules the tank.
but you know chevrons arent that pretty when they grow up. someone brought a big one to my LFS and i was like, ok. lol

Peter Eichler · #21 07/31/2007, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Juggler
yeah im so sorry, but that sailfin is going to give you
H E double hockey sticks
lol

its going to just destroy that tang.
i have a yellow eye in my 180 and already rules the tank.
but you know chevrons arent that pretty when they grow up. someone brought a big one to my LFS and i was like, ok. lol

I don't think that the case but if you want to err on the side of caution it's best to skip the Chevron. I think they're different enough in shape, and hopefully size that there's a decent chance they would get along. Also, I diagree about the adults, I think they're gorgeous, they're just not garish like many other marine fish.

JM68 · #22 07/31/2007, 09:33 PM

I also think the adults are awsome looking. Under good actinic lighting the stripes r actually an iridescent green which has a nice contrast to the dark body color.

Canarygirl · #23 07/31/2007, 10:14 PM

I like the look of the adults, too. But I have decided to err on the side of caution and pass on this fish. I don't have a very high tolerance for aquarium stress.

Thanks everybody for your opinions; it helped me figure out what to do. If/when I upgrade to a wider tank, that would be the perfect opportunity to add 1-2 new tangs.

reefer4eva · #24 08/01/2007, 01:39 PM

very true

chromafi · #25 08/01/2007, 02:34 PM

FYI - you should not quarantine tangs in a tank smaller than 100 gallons. Putting a chevron in a 20g for a month is practically a death sentence.
Do a freshwater dip for 1-2min when you bring a fish home to kill any cysts. Everyone thinks you should quarantine fish, but very few people are setup to do it properly.

If you keep your fish healthy, you dont need to worry about ich.