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Need Help (No Info 'Need To Read) --
06/13/10 Tangs Dying 8/16/07 I am having trouble keeping Yellow Tangs alive. The water quality is good, all other fish are thriving. <What other species? Often a good clue...> Tangs settle into tank well for the first 2 - 3 weeks, eat well and look happy. After 3 weeks they suddenly start to behave erratically, diving all over the tank, head first into the sand and appear to have a fit. This behaviour continues for the next 2-3 days until they wedge themselves tight under a rock and die. I am lost as to a solution, all other fish thrive except the Tangs. Thanks Sharon <Something toxic here... likely biological... some sort/species of algae probably... poisoning the Surgeons... I would try placing these Zebrasoma in another system for now... and try this system some months later to see if succession/aging brings about the demise of this deleterious "algae", likely a Cyanobacteria. The Tangs are likely consuming it... Bob Fenner> Poor Tang Health....diet is to blame I have a yellow tang that I see eating but is extremely skinny. His skin is tight around his bones with no fat what so ever. I feed him frozen brine shrimp and he eats <Ahh...here we are, brine shrimp is virtually devoid of any nutrition....no protein...basically just water, like your or me eating popcorn or crackerjacks or whatever it is the devil kids eat these days (I'm only 20 but that's not a kid ok?). For protein try something of a marine origin, mysids.....krill, etc. . Furthermore surgeons rely on vegetable matter to make up most of their diet, try some sushi Nori. We need more variety my friend.> No other signs of disease. Tank set up for over 1 year. I have a snowflake eel, striped damsel, yellow tale damsel and misc. cleaning crew. Haven't witnessed it getting attacked or chased by anything else in tank. Worried it might starve to death. What would cause an eating fish to be so skinny (looks like Nicole Ritchie!). <Ooh....that's a good one....> thanks <Anytime, Adam_J.> Question regarding a sick tang 12/23/06 Hello WWM Crew <Cole> Hopefully you can help me with the following problem. I'm getting pretty desperate and I'm worried sick about my tang. I went on vacation for a week and had someone look after my tanks. When I came home I noticed my orange shoulder tang kept hiding and didn't eat anymore. <Unusual for such a bold species once acclimated> The person who looked after the tank told me that the tang stopped eating 3 days after I left. We usually feed them twice a day but when we were away, he only got fed once a day. I've been home for a week and he's still not eating. He hides in a cave all day and only comes out when the lights go off. He swims around and it almost seems like he can't see well and he keeps swimming into things. I put my hand in the tank and he bumped into it. He spends a lot of time swimming up and down in one corner. All the levels are normal and none of the other fishes are sick. (He shares the tank with Anthias, a flame angel, a coral beauty, several cardinals etc) All the SPS and LPS corals and a sea star are doing ok. I've had him for over year and a half and he's been very healthy until now. He used to like eating from my hand and interacting with me daily. He was always more like a puppy than a fish. I can't see any visible marks/fungus or spots on him. He's not scratching or twitching and his balance seems ok. I don't think his eyes are cloudy either. He doesn't seem to have any HLLE symptoms either. I could take him out and put him in a separate tank and treat him but I'm not sure what to treat him with. I understand sometimes tangs get stressed out and get sick. Is it possible that someone else looking after the tank caused him to get stressed out? <Mmm, no> What could cause his illness? <Most likely a nutritional deficiency... possibly a pathogenic disease... internal... specific to this one fish> Anything I can do? I added a new ChemiPure, a PolyFilter and did a partial water change already and been over skimming for several days. <All good moves> I haven't moved him as I'm worried about stressing him out even more. What could I treat him with? Thank you in advance for any help and advice. Cole in Vancouver, Canada <I would add a vitamin supplement both to offered foods and to the water directly. Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/nutrdisf.htm Bob Fenner> Blonde Naso Tang problem
9/2/06 Hello, I hope you can give me some advice. I have
a blonde Naso tang that I've cared for since April
2000. He is about 25 cm long, full-bodied, and up until this
morning, healthy. "Blondie" usually eats from my hand,
however today will not eat anything. He has a bulge about
half way down his right side. <One sided I'll take it> There
is no outward ulceration, however he does have several little nips on
his underbelly, I presume from the engineer gobies at feeding
time. These little markings have been around for quite some
time. He has no outward signs of disease (no redness on
gills, no torn fins, his eyes seem clear, etc.), except he's acting
different. Instead of eating, he swims up to the glass with
his bulge towards me and works his mouth, almost as if he is gasping.
Blondie shares a 75 gal. <Too small> tank with a brown sailfin
tang, 2 engineer gobies (about 20cm each), 2 clown fish, 2 cleaner
shrimp and a brittle star fish. Everyone else seems fine. Thank you for
your time; I really hope you can help me. Best regards, Sue Kavelman
<Mmm... it may be that this Naso has "just" swallowed too
much gravel (they do this, analogous to the "crop" of
chickens) and is suffering some sort of gut blockage... Perhaps
addition of Epsom Salt (see WWM re) will help move this. Otherwise,
offering of algae (on a feeding clip is best, so you can monitor, keep
it from the Pholodichthys...). In the longer term (if there is one),
this fish needs much larger quarters... at least a six foot length
run/world. Bob Fenner>
Tang In Trouble? (Getting Tang To Eat Post-Copper Treatment) 7/22/05 Greetings, <Hi there! Scott F. with you today!> Help, my Yellow Tang is in grave trouble. Three weeks ago I noticed Ich pustules on the fins of my Yellow Tang and Purple Pseudochromis in my 60gal reef. I followed the recommendations I found on this site and quickly set-up a 20gal bare-bottom hospital tank, administered fresh water dip, and transferred all my fish to it (Yellow Tang, Purple Pseudochromis, Three-stripe Damsel, pair of Ocellaris clowns). <Good moves..> I treated the hospital tank for 2 weeks with SeaChem Cupramine (at 82F), and after that I started biological/carbon filtration with Penguin 100 bio-wheel filter and daily 10-20% water changes using fresh RO/DI water mixed with IO. The main tank has been running fallow at 84F. After 3 weeks, all the fish except the Yellow Tang appear healthy and active. The Tang looks wafer-thin and has stopped eating. He will not touch sea-weed, and is barely moving. Just stays in the corner and looks miserable. What should I do? <Hmm.. tough one. Although copper treatments can be used with many fishes, including Tangs, not all of them take it well. They have digestive fauna that enable them to process food which, if damaged-can result in the fish having difficulty eating. Collateral damage, if you will. In the case of this fish, I'd operate under the assumption that either copper may have affected his digestive tract, or that some sort of secondary infection has occurred. Discontinuing the copper treatment was a good call on your part. I would continue with regular water changes and increased filtration/aeration. Before returning this fish to the display, I'd make sure that he is eating. If he cannot be tempted with foods such as Nori and the conventional frozen foods, I would try to get some fresh macroalgae (my choice would be Gracilaria, aka "Ogo", which you can get from e-tailers such as Indo Pacific Sea Farms and others)-any macroalgae at this point...In fact, getting a fresh live rock with some microalgae attached would also be a good idea. Anything to stimulate him to "graze" again.> It's been 3 weeks exactly and I'm tempted to put him back in the main reef tank. He looks like he could drop from starvation at any time. I realize that minimum 30 days is required to keep the Ich from coming back, but I just worry that if I don't put him back into his familiar reef where he can graze on algae, he will not make it. What should I do? Thank you for your help - Rob <Well, Rob- as indicated above- I'd rather "bring the reef to him" by dropping in some rocks and fresh macroalgae to help nurse him through this tough period. Although the situation may be critical, these fishes can go a remarkably long time without eating. Be sure that all of the copper is removed from the water (use a good copper test kit, like Seachem's), and use copper removing media such as Poly Filter or Seachem's product (the name escapes me at the moment) if you still have residual copper readings. Also, consider the use of some liquid vitamins (such as Boyd Vita Chem) administered directly to the water (fish do drink) to provide at least a possibility of supplemental nourishment for him. Hang in there...stay with him, and don't give up. I've seen this before, and these guys CAN recover. Good luck! Regards, Scott F.>
Sailfin Tang/HLLE Hello, <<And hello
to you, JasonC at your service...>> My Sailfin tang has developed
a pretty serious case of HLLE. Most of its face is worn away, and his
lateral line is worn away too. Is there any way to cure this. He has
been living with this for a long time now and is doing fine. It is just
ugly looking. I have vitamins, and iodine. I also have one of those
metal rods that remove extra electricity from the tank. Is there any
way to cure this? <<HLLE is typically caused by nutritional
deficiencies. What are you feeding? I'd begin here. Do also read
through the HLLE faq on our site:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hllefaqs.htm Cheers, J --
>> Tangs/HLLE I have a blue regal and a yellow eyed tang in two different aquariums, both have had HLLE for quite some time now. I have asked many different people on how to help clear this up and have gotten a variety of answers, most stating water quality, diet, live rock, electrical current in the water and vitamins. <many theories yes... none definitive. Diet is at least contributory... electricity is a weak argument. Live rock with lush macroalgae is clearly a help. Natural sunlight is perhaps the best solution of all> I have tried just about everything I've been told to help clear them up. The blue regal has shown some improvement, however the yellow eyed has gotten much worse. (All of my other fish are in excellent health) They are both very healthy looking otherwise and are veracious eaters. <what kind of diet?> I saw on your Q & A page about the use of baby vitamins, iodide and vitamin prep s. I have never heard this, what dosage would you use for the baby vitamins? I have 90 and 70 gallon tank. As for the iodide and vitamin prep s, I'm not sure what they are, where they can be found or what dosage to use. Is there anything else besides this that I can do? I try to do the best I can for my pets and any advice will be greatly appreciated, Thanks, Georgia <the best way to dose vitamin supplements is in a prepared recipe to be ingested (much better than putting in the water). I like using the baby vitamins and Selcon (HUFA supplement... an aquarium product). Do use the Google search tool on this site and beyond to discover fish food recipes that suit your fish load (mostly herbivorous fishes). Making your own fish food is a great way to save money and offer high quality food to your fishes. Kindly> Mr. Fenner, Recently, Richard Stratton answered a
letter in his TFH column Salt Solutions, concerning tang diets. I am
currently conducting research on this topic. In his answer, he briefly
mentioned the microfauna found in their guts. I mailed Mr. Stratton
concerning his references for information about this microfauna and he
replied that the most immediate source that he had was your book, The
Conscientious Marine Aquarist. Since I do not own a copy of your book,
could you mail me any possible references that you have on this topic.
I have found a lot of articles that talk about this topic but none that
contain research findings or any references to research. Thanks for any
information that you can give me. Tony Moore, M.Sc. Aquarium Biologist
The Living Seas/Epcot <I have often mentioned the loss of gut
microfauna of Acanthuroids as a consequence of exposure to copper,
other chemical "remedies"... Stemming from work I am
associated with from the early 1980s, testing anti-fouling paints
(organo-tins, copper...) in San Diego (a related lab in Kaneohe Bay,
Oahu)... for the US military. Don't know if in writing for
ornamental aquatics literature if this is specifically cited. My
coverage of these groups and bibliographies can be found:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/tangs,.htm and beyond... but I would go to a
large/college library, or if you have access to the Zoological
Record/BIOSIS at your facility, search the literature under the key
terms. Bob Fenner> Black tang w/ intestinal blockage? Hi Bob, I
am e-mailing you as a last resort, because I believe my black tang has
an intestinal blockage. The tang is about 3" and has been in my
reef tank about six months. The tang has always been a voracious eater
of Nori, lettuce, live macro algae, Mysis shrimp, and formula one, so I
believe it isn't linked to a bad diet. The tang looks perfect on
the outside, except that in the bottom "stomach" are of the
fish, the front section is swollen and the back section is emaciated.
The tang is breathing a little bit harder then normal, but not super
fast. I have read that Epsom salt can be used as a laxative for fish,
but will it work for a marine fish? <Yes... as a dip/bath (not
in the main tank of course), about a tablespoon per gallon, just in pH
adjusted, dechloraminated freshwater... for ten minutes or so> Thank
you for any input you may have on the situation, or if it is indeed a
blockage. Thanks, Ethan Fisher <Good luck to you and your tang my
friend. Bob Fenner>
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