Black Tang Project?

nickrobertson87

Well-Known Member
BRS Member
Hey everyone,

I wondering what people's input was on taking on the project of a black tang that I saw at an LFS who needs some TLC...

I saw the tang last Thursday in a tank with a couple of passive fish (fairy wrasse and a firefish goby). He was about 3.5-4inches with some beat up fins and pretty apparent HLLE. The owner of the store told me he came in a few weeks ago and had mistakenly put him in a tank with a pair of large tomato clowns that laid down a beating before separating them. The fish was mislabeled as a Scopas Tang ($29.99)!

I have had lots of success with tangs in the past, and have a large enough system for him (5ft 125gal tank) that is free of other tangs or aggressive tankmates, and doesn't utilize activated carbon. So my question is what are people thoughts/experiences on healing or improving HLLE? Have there been some success stories, or would this be a losing battle? Thanks in advance for the input.

Nick
 
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Keep stress to a minimum. Keep him well fed. You can dip some frozen food in selcon which has a lot of vitamins. That would be my suggestion
 
Thanks for the input, much appreciated! I should clarify that I have not purchased the fish. I wanted to gather the useful feedback of the group here, before making a decision.
 
I find a lot of health issue with tangs is due to improper nutrition. Feed lots and lots of nori(raw seaweed)!
 
i say grab it .
and depends how big is your sump or refugium if you have one and acclimate him there alone . no new tank mates or anything until he get use to your water parameters and your system . it work for me in the past i save a cleaner shrimp the was leg up when got to my house . and couple beat up fish .
also if you need nori i can hook you up with like a open bag with like 25 big sheets so you feed the new fella .
good luck !
 
For that price a rescue is always worth a shot, and for such a cool fish I'd try too
 
Are you sure it is not a scopas tang?
Some Scopas tang looks like black tang with black body.
I have one for matter of fact.
I don't think a LFS owner will mislabel a black tang as scopas, it is a day and night difference in his book.
 
Are you sure it is not a scopas tang?
Some Scopas tang looks like black tang with black body.
I have one for matter of fact.
I don't think a LFS owner will mislabel a black tang as scopas, it is a day and night difference in his book.
Those were my thoughts as well. My guess is it is a Scopas Tang as labeled, mostly due to the price they would have paid if it was a Black Tang.

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Those were my thoughts as well. My guess is it is a Scopas Tang as labeled, mostly due to the price they would have paid if it was a Black Tang.

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Dong/Marshall that was my first thought. Then I spent some time really looking at the fish. Two things made the judgment call easier:
1. the tang did not have any small spots/striations down the body like you see on the scopas, just a solid matte black color and the HLLE around the gills/eyes
2. The snout was particularly long, not the more truncated look of the scopas.

...Plus the store has a bit of history with mislabeling, to the customer's benefit (ie mislabeling dejardini v. standard sailfin tang, and Australian v. Indonesian harlequin tuskfish)
 
Well the bottom line is that you have the room and the fish needs a good owner. For that price, it's not like you are getting a bad deal if it is a Scopas. And if it is a Black Tang, even better!

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Well the bottom line is that you have the room and the fish needs a good owner. For that price, it's not like you are getting a bad deal if it is a Scopas. And if it is a Black Tang, even better!

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Haha I like the way you think! Thanks everyone for the comments/suggestions. I appreciate the feedback!
 
If the store is a Petco, I think the chance of mis-shipped fish is high. If it is a LFS, I think if that is a black tang, the owner bought it as a scopas.
 
Anyway, by giving it a good home, you save its life.
 
Where is this fish located. If you don't buy it I will go take a look see if it is a black tang. If it is I'll rescue it. Having a 60x60x24 tank built in the spring. He would do alright in my 60g frag tank till then
 
Update ? Pic ?
Di you get the tang ?

Yes I did get the tang. Sorry it's a been a crazy week leading up to being in two weddings in two days this weekend. I will try to update will status and pics sometime next week. He's doing well now. He has a monstrous appetite and goes nuts for nori.
 
My local Petco has a black colored tang also that's labeled a kole yellow eye. He's quite large and clearly not a kole.
 
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