FAQs about Yellow Tang Disease/Health
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FAQs on Yellow Tang Disease: Disease 1, Disease 2, Disease 3, Disease 4, Disease 5, Disease 6, Disease
7, Yellow Tang Disease 9, Yellow Tang Disease 10, Yellow Tang Disease 11,
Yellow Tang
Disease 12, Yellow Tang
Disease 13, Yellow Tang
Disease 14, Yellow Tang
Disease , & Paravortex/Black Spot
Disease,
FAQs on Yellow Tang Disease by Category:
Diagnosis,
Environmental, Nutritional,
Trauma,
Pathogenic (infectious, parasitic),
Social, Genetic,
Treatments
Related Articles: Yellow
Tangs,
Related FAQs: Best Yellow Tang FAQs, Yellow Tangs 1, Yellow Tangs 2, Yellow Tangs 3, Yellow Tangs 4, & Yellow Tang FAQs:
Identification, Behavior, Tang
Behavior, Compatibility,
Selection, Systems, Feeding, Reproduction, & Purple Tangs, Striped Sailfin Tangs, Zebrasoma Tangs, Zebrasoma Identification, Zebrasoma Behavior, Zebrasoma Compatibility, Zebrasoma Selection, Zebrasoma Systems, Zebrasoma Feeding, Zebrasoma Disease, Zebrasoma Reproduction, Surgeons In General, Tang
ID, Selection,
Compatibility,
Systems, Feeding, Disease, Fish Worms Diseases,
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Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
New eBook on Amazon: Available here
New Print Book on Create Space: Available
here
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
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Yellow Tang Distress 10/22/08 Hi, I am
relatively new to marine aquariums, I bought a 65 gallon tank in June.
It currently has around 50 pounds of live rock and I use a protein
skimmer. I have had my yellow tang since the beginning of July and he
has done wonderfully until a week ago. Last week he began scrapping up
against the live rock and red blotches began appearing on his side. A
few days later he was still doing this and the red began to spread from
the areas he was hitting with the rock (around his tail) to the front
of his body. He has now stopped eating which is my biggest concern.
Other inhabitants of the tank are two clown fish, a porcupine puffer,
<Misplaced here... needs much more room... may indeed be a
factor> a blue damsel, and a cleaner shrimp. Any advise would be
very much appreciated, the store where I have been getting all my
supplies and fish was not very helpful with this. Thank you. -Beth
<Mmm, there could be a few things amiss, but given that you
don't report troubles with the other fish life, the root issue here
is very likely environmental... Either social, with some of the other
fish present bothering the Tang, metabolite accumulation (NO3 as a
measure) or it ill-reacting to its own reflection. Read here please:
http://wetwebmedia.com/ytangdisfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob
Fenner>
My Yellow Tang, hlth., env.
10/3/08 Hi! Ted K Here Thank everything that's wet
your site exists. The problem is my wife think I read to much
now. LOL I have been reading so many FAQs, and have come close to
finding a description of the problem. I still haven't found
the answer??? My tank is 110g tall 120lbs of LR, w/ inverts and
fish. Water parameters are all good and have been for a year or
so. I have a Yellow Tang that has been in the tank from the
beginning and in the last few weeks he has been breathing very
rapidly. His mouth looks like its stuck open he stopped eating
and there are little red soars around his entire mouth. <I see
this in your excellent photo> The soars resemble little red
lines. I have attached a pic. If you need more info please reply.
I hope you can help!!! Thanks in advance Ted <The reddening is
termed "septicemia"... "dirty blood"...
evidence of something/s not right water quality wise in this
system... Perhaps other life poisoning this fish, maybe simply
metabolite accumulation. I would be testing your water, changing
a good deal of it, cleaning up your skimmer... Perhaps looking
into long-term ways of making the system more stable, optimized.
Please peruse WWM re: http://wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm
Bob Fenner>
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Black string like object on yellow tang
9/6/08 Hi guys hope you can help, I have a yellow tang that
has a black string like object coming out of its anus. The fish is
otherwise healthy and behaviour is normal. Although some weight loss
seems to have occurred. It began growing yesterday and is now about 4cm
long. Is this intestinal worms? <Mmm, might be... but could also
likely be just something the fish ate, is passing... I wouldn't
panic... would wait a few days... Bob Fenner>
Re: Black string like object on yellow tang
9/10/08 thanks heaps for your help, you were right. The tang
passed it the next day and is doing fine. Thanks again <Ah, good.
Thank you for this follow-up. BobF>
Yellow Tang banging against glass, env.-chemically burned, pH
8.8 8/16/08 Hello Crew, <Cielo> I
have a 5 inch yellow tang that I picked out on Mother's day 08 from
our LFS. Up until now all my fishes have been healthy. A little
background on my tank: I have a 55 gallon tank <Not really
sufficient space...> with 60lbs of live sand and 30lbs of live rock,
a protein skimmer, and a whisper filter. Three days ago I made a 20
gallon water change. 2 Mornings after that change I woke up to a noise
and found that it was my yellow tang banging himself against the light
hood of the tank, almost like he wanted to get out. <Mmmm> Then
he began darting against the glass and hitting himself against it. I
noticed that he had red or pink on the inside of his lips and also
across his body. The next day he stopped eating. I checked my levels
and they read: Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, but my PH was 8.8
<Yeeikes! Caustic> so I went to the LFS and purchased a buffer. I
was told I should quarantine <?> him so that I wouldn't need
to medicate the whole tank as the other fish are fine. The medication I
purchased is the Myracid Two. <... Maracyn... Minocycline... of no
use here> I only had a 5 gallon tank <Much too small...>
available to make a QT out of, and so that is where I placed my Tang.
Right now he's on his side at the bottom of the tank, he is hardly
breathing. <...> At least in the display tank he was still
swimming around. Should I place him back in the display tank? I need
your advice. ~L from PA <YES, now! Bob Fenner>
Re: Yellow Tang
banging against glass... using WWM 8/16/08 Hi Bob,
<Cielo> Thanks for responding. I went ahead and placed him back
in the tank and he swam around. But within a half hour he passed away.
I feel horrible. I'm in the process of purchasing a 100 gallon tank
to transfer the rest of my fish into. I don't want to lose anymore
of my fishes, so I have a couple of questions: do I need to cycle the
new tank if I'm transferring my rock, sand, and the water? Or
should I just start fresh? <... please, follow instructions...
Search, read (on WWM) before writing us. All this, and the issues with
high pH, environmental diseases as such... are posted/archived.> I
have a chocolate chip star fish and I know they don't do well in
newly set up tanks, so how should I go about his transfer into the new
tank? <... posted... along with much other ancillary/useful material
you'll encounter in the process.> Your advice is truly
appreciated. Thanks, L from PA <Do the directions for using the
search tool and indices make sense to you? Please use them.
BobF>
Yellow Tang Black Spot, 8/14/08 Hello,
<Hi> Just a quick question about "Black Spot" disease.
I have a fairly new Yellow Tang, and have noticed the small black spots
on him (I would say around a dozen right now). I was surprised to read
about black spot disease/Ich as I was unaware of this condition.
<http://www.wetwebmedia.com/parasiti.htm> In the past, if a fish
in my main display reef gets Ich, I do my best to treat with garlic. I
do my best to keep the fish healthy by eating and I use plenty of
garlic to resolve the problem. <No scientific data that suggests
garlic is anything more than an appetite stimulant.> The thought is
that Ich hates garlic causing them to abandon the fish, and as long as
the fish is eating the garlic, the Ich has no host and eventually dies
off. <Again, I would not rely on garlic.> It can be difficult for
me to catch the infected fish, so depending on severity of the
condition of the fish, I will however set a trap to catch the fish if
necessary for treatment as a last resort. <All the more reason to QT
all fish.> I have had good success in the past ridding Ich as long
as fish are eating. My question is does black spot behave the same as
garden variety Ich, or are they completely different? <Completely
different, is a flatworm, Paravortex.> Will my process of feeding
plenty of garlic help rid this parasite? <I do not believe it will
rid any fish of any parasite, the science is just not there. But for
Paravortex, a pH and temperature adjusted fresh water dip usually does
the trick.> Thanks. -Chris <Welcome>
<Chris>
Red on Yellow Tang, 8/13/08 Hi, <Hello> I have read
your resource pages regarding Red spots and streaks on Yellow
Tangs and have gained some great knowledge; however, I can't
seem to get my tang better. We have a 55 gallon tank which we
recently upgraded from a 33 gallon (4 months ago). <Still too
small for a tang.> The aquarium is completely cycled and the
parameters are near ideal and I have also had them checked at our
LFS. <Near ideal? Numbers please.> We have 20 lbs. of live
rock. We have a 2 clowns and the tang. We have had the tang for
approx. 3 months. About 3 weeks ago she started having red
showing on her face, lateral line and starting to spread on her
dorsal and tail fin. We thought it was diet so increased the
seaweed in her diet and added vitamins to the water. <This is
almost always associated with poor water quality.> The redness
continued to spread and the owner of the LFS thought she had a
bacterial infection. We put her in a QT and treated her with
Erythromycin for 4 days, doing water changes every other day.
<Did it improve?> We transferred her back to the large
aquarium on day 5 and everything seemed fine. About 4 days later
the redness was returning, but this time more severe. <Good
water quality in the QT and the fish is fine, back to the main
and symptoms improve, think there is a link there.> Back to
the LFS where it was recommended to put her back into the QT and
treat with Erythromycin for 7 days. 24 hours ago, we put her back
in the large aquarium and the red is back. You can almost see it
spreading. I have already moved her back to the QT but have not
added any medication. The redness disappears quickly when she is
put into the QT. <Water quality.> She is eating normally,
but her activity seems to slow down after she is in the large
aquarium. The two clowns are absolutely fine. <More resilient,
tolerate of environmental issues.> I am at a loss to know what
to do now. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Lisa
<When was the last time you changed the water in the main
tank? If not recent I would give it a 20% water change
immediately.> <Chris>
Re: Red on Yellow Tang, 8/13/08 Hi Chris, <Hello>
pH 8.1, SG 1.020, <I would raise this slowly to more natural
levels of 1.025.> Ammonia 0, Temp 80, Nitrite 0.1, <This
may be the problem, nitrite is still very toxic, needs to be
0.> PO4 0. <Nitrates?> The redness did improve after 4
doses of erythromycin but returned about 5 days after placing her
back in the large aquarium. It disappeared again in the QT with 7
doses of Erythromycin. We use R/O water and do water changes and
complete cleaning of all the equipment every 3 - 4 weeks. <How
complete, can do too much and damage your biofilter.> It has
been 2 1/2 weeks since the last water change. I will do it again
today. I put the tang back in the QT last night and today the red
is gone. The water in the QT is water siphoned out of the large
aquarium. Thanks, Lisa <Do you have any anemones or aggressive
corals that it could be coming in contact with. Typically
bacterial infections do not manifest themselves is this manner,
at least without some outside influence.> <Chris>
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Possible Intestinal Blockage +Epsom Salt In Main Display,
Artemia cyst involvement? 8/8/08 Hi,
Bob & gang. This is a follow-up to my earlier question about
my yellow Tang that suddenly stopped eating. After doing more
searches throughout your site, I believe my Yellow Tang has some
sort of intestinal blockage. <Not actually all that
uncommon... Like most Surgeonfishes, Zebrasomas consume goodly
amounts of hard material... thought to aid in nutrition... that
can clog...> The front of his stomach is very bloated while
the back (near the tail) is emaciated. I'm afraid it may have
been caused by him swallowing some unhatched brine shrimp cysts
that were accidentally mixed into the tank a few days ago.
<Would have to be a bunch, but these can really be a source of
trouble here> After thinking back to when this started
happening, it's too coincidental that the Tang stopped eating
the day after I fed them brine shrimp (and accidentally included
some unhatched cysts (!)). I'm definitely going to
decapsulate my brine shrimp eggs before hatching them in the
future! <Highly recommended> Per your advice in the FAQ
section, I want to try dosing with Epsom salt to try and get the
Tang to pass out whatever's blocking his intestines. However,
I'm having a VERY TOUGH time trying to catch him. I tried for
the best part of 2 hours trying to catch him. <Do use,
practice with two nets...> Since my tank has many live rock
caves, it's close to impossible to catch him without severely
stressing him out. So, rather than stress him and all the other
inhabitants out, I'd like to try adding the Epsom salt
directly into my main tank. <Can be done> Your original
advice to another guy with the same problem was to apply a dip of
1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in 1 gallon of ph-buffered &
dechloraminated freshwater. Since I'm not able to
successfully catch him, can I just add the Epsom salt directly
into the display tank? <Yes> I have a Coral Beauty, 2 true
percula clowns, a lawnmower blenny, a Flame Hawk, Black-Cap
Basslet plus a Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp in the tank. It also
contains some soft corals plus a couple of snails. <... may
obviously affect the invertebrates...> I understand it's
safe to add the Epsom salt if it's no more than 1 tbsp per 5
gallon of water. This is much lower than your original
prescription. Should I stick to the "safe level" or
your original prescribed amount? <Yes> Please help since I
REALLY want to save the Tang while protecting all my other tank
inhabitants. Thank you very much! Charles Tang (yeah, I'm a
"Tang" too ;-)) <Neat! I would go ahead as you
state... Very likely "This too shall pass". Cheers, Bob
Fenner>
Possible Intestinal Blockage +Epsom Salt In Main
Display 8/20/08 Hi, Bob & gang. I just want to write this
e-mail to thank you and your wonderful team for providing such a
great resource. My yellow Tang finally started eating again after
two treatments of 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt per 5 gallons of
water. It's starting to regain its "plumpness"
again. Thank you once again for your wonderful advice. I just
bought some Tang Heaven from IPSF.com and most of my more
herbivorous fish are absolutely loving it! Thank you very much!
Charles Tang (I'm a Happy Tang now... :-)) <You're
Welcome from everyone here at WWM, Good luck with tang :),
IanB>
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Yellow Tang Not Eating 8/5/08 Hey, guys. Thanks for your
great resource. I've learnt A LOT from spending many hours reading
through the many FAQs. Saying that though, I've tried searching
through the site but haven't found a direct answer to my problem.
<OK> I have a 35 gallon tank and have a lawnmower blenny,
Flame Hawk, <Needs a larger tank> Yellow Sailfin Tang, <Also
needs a larger tank.> Coral Beauty, <larger tank...> Blackcap
Basslet, two True Percula Clowns and a couple of cleaner snails and
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. The tank inhabitants are all pretty
happy. I've had them for more than a year now. The Yellow
Tang's normally the "boss" and eats almost everything.
However, it has stopped eating for close to a week. I normally feed it
baby brine shrimp, Tetra flake food, tiny blood worms, red seaweed and
also romaine lettuce. <Not really good foods for this fish, needs
vegetable foods of marine origin.> Not all at once, of course. :-).
I've stopped feeding romaine lettuce and give more Nori now...
<Good> The Tang is no longer eating anything at all. It's
still pretty active but now seems to rush against the aquarium glass
like it's trying to break through it. <Results of the cramped
quarters.> There is a faint whitish stripe along its body, even with
lights on. <Stress markings.> There aren't any red streaks or
anything, though. Its belly also looks a little bloated with bumps all
over it. It looks like it ate a bunch of little rocks or something! It
extends its fin every now and again... <Could be a result of the
diet, or an infection, difficult to say.> What could possibly be
happening? <Too small of a tank, inappropriate diet takes it
toll.> I've grown very attached to all my tank inhabitants and
would absolutely hate it if anything happened to the Tang. What do you
suggest I do? <Get it into a larger tank, change its diet to
something more appropriate.> Thanks for your help. Charles Tang
<Welcome> <Chris> <<Obviously has NOT done a lot of
reading... on WWM. RMF>>
Yellow Tang... hlth., env. 6/23/08 Hello WWM Crew,
I have a question, my yellow tang has been acting strange and I'm a
little worried. I have had him for about 3 weeks now, and up until
about three days ago he had been eating normally and swimming around
normally. For the most part he still has most of his color (fading
occasionally for reasons unknown). The problem is he seems out of
sorts, staying close to the bottom sometimes listing to one side. On a
couple of occasions I found him laying on his side but then after a
while he gets up and stays in one place next to the bottom. He does not
seem interested in food. The only thing that has changed in the tank
lately is that I put in 5 green Chromis all about 1 1/2 to 2 inches
long. My tank is a 75 gallon bow front with approx 85 lbs of live rock.
From what I've read on your website is that this tank is too small
for the tang. This will be remedied at a later date. There is a
scribbled rabbit fish that seems to be ok and a four stripe damsel in
the tank as well. water parameters are good accept for the pH which
fluctuates from 8.2 to 7.8. <Mmm, this is actually a huge
fluctuation> I am constantly trying to get the pH up and stable and
I'm buffering the water every day. <Do read on WWM re pH,
alkalinity...> My corals seem very good, all of the leathers
<Oh!> are fully extended along with the xenia, Kenya trees and my
slipper coral. Back to my tang, he also seems to be scratching every
once in a while, and there looks to be some rust colored spots on his
face. My question is, did I stress the tang out by adding the Chromis?
<This may have added to stress> They seem to have taken over
where he used to sleep, ( one of the Chromis actually nipped at the
tang once that I observed ). I am at a loss on what to do. Please help.
Best Regards, Steve Harris <I would "spiff up your
skimmer", try to be patient here... I suspect that there is
nothing "overt" or pathogenic going on here, but an additive
accumulation of stress... from being new, the Chromis as you state, and
generalized poisoning from Cnidarian interaction here... Should
normalize in time... Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm Bob Fenner>
A Sad Little Tang -6/13/08 Hello WWM Crew: <Hello!
Benjamin here today.> I have a question for you and it may be
somewhat odd but it has saddened me very deeply. I know all of you
encourage the conservation of our marine wildlife and I know why.
<If I may wax poetic, I believe it was the great William Blake who
said "For everything which lives is holy; life delights in
life."> Especially recently, as you will understand. I have
been dealing with our local live fish store over the past year and have
seen conditions continue to deteriorate during that time, especially in
their saltwater fish department. I have seen fish stricken with Ich,
rubbing, flashing breathing hard, and starving, living in too cramped
conditions. I have seen dyed anemones, rose anemones kept in under-lit
tanks, and corals too close together in same said tank. <Common
conditions, and sometimes an unfortunately necessary evil- though
hopefully we will continue to see changes in the habits and techniques
used by retailers.> Here is my question and it all started with a
little yellow tang. About 3 months ago I ventured into the store to
pick up the usual salt, buffer etc. and of course had to wander over to
the tanks to take a peek like I always do (have to have a look,
don't need anymore, mine are all fat and happy). There was a 2 inch
yellow tang that looked like he perhaps had velvet, and I thought to
myself he would probably not be long for this world. <Certainly the
case, if it had velvet.> A couple of weeks passed and I decided to
purchase my first Zoa frag from same live fish store, and saw the same
yellow tang, still alive but noticeably thinner and still in poor
health. Went today purchased another frag, and was amazed that the same
tang was there now so thin that it is almost transparent, and moving
very little. <Unfortunate. Either poor nutrition or perhaps copper
or cyanide have harmed this fish's digestive
endosymbionts/commensals.> Since I have one of my own I know this is
atypical behavior. I thought to myself I ought to tell the guys to let
me take him home for na-da. So here's my question. I'm sure the
little guy would probably not survive the transfer but I don't know
what would be worse. Dying during transfer or starving to death in an
overcrowded tank. What are your thoughts? <My thought is that
sometimes there just isn't anything we can do. If you want to give
it a try, make sure you keep it quarantined at your home; this fish
will most likely bring/acquire disease. I suspect it has very limited
time, however. To have purchased it early on would have supported this
store; to wait until it is sick enough they give it away is to doom the
fish- but better that one fish should die in the store than to support
poor practices. The needs of many outweigh the needs of few, in this
case.> By the way, if it were to survive, there is a large marine
aquarium in our town it could have been given to. <Make sure they
would want it. Yellow tangs are much more desirable to the average
hobbyist than to an aquarium. Isn't it unfortunate in our hobby how
well we delight in life, but how rarely we observe the first part of
that couplet? Benjamin>
Yellow tang with redness around eyes and "nose"
5/6/08 Hoping you could give me some helpful info as what I need to
do with my tangs. First of all, all parameters are relatively normal
and salinity fluctuates between 32 - 35 ppm. First started having
problems with my tangs not eating very well. Had them isolated into two
separate tanks sharing same water, it's a 300 gal tank.. One set
would eat Nori algal sheets, Mysis and a gel diet but the others would
not or very little. Eating habits dwindled down to practically not
eating at all for one tank. Put some copper <A poor idea> on the
system and did a 50 % water change and put them together. Isolated 3
that were fresh water dipped. One other dipped died the next day. They
seem to be eating better and have not lost any since. <Likely the
water change...> Today I noticed that they have this redness around
the eyes and a bit going towards the lat line on some. <Another
clue> Their eyes, on some, are darkened on the upper and lower part
of the pupil which makes them look very dilated. <Good observations,
descriptions> They are fed a diet of enriched flake food, Nori algal
sheets, Mysis and a omnivorous gel diet. Since they started eating
better I have been alternating soaking their food in ALGA-MAC
enrichment supplement enhanced and High Vite for added nutrition.
<Unfamiliar with these products> What else can you recommend I do
for my fish. Thanks in advance for all your help. Nat <... Please
read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/fishindex3.htm scroll down to the
tray on Tangs/Acanthuroids... re Health/Disease in general, the genera,
species involved... Something is amiss here environmentally...
poisoning likely of some sort... Polyfilter may disclose the nature...
Bob Fenner>
Yellow Tang Disease ID 5/1/08
Hello WWM crew. <Hi Julio, Mac here> This is
truly an awesome site. The information found here is extremely
valuable to us all and I'd like to thank you for that. Attached
to this email are 2 pictures of a medium sized yellow tang I
purchased 2 weeks ago and was wondering if you can help me ID what
is growing on this tang's top fin. When I brought him home, I
made sure that I acclimated him with the drip system for about 2
hours before introducing him to the tank. The next day, I noticed
about 3 small white growths growing on the top edge of his top fin
but cannot ID the exact disease and wish to find a solution to his
problem. As soon as he was introduced to the tank, he immediately
began eating everything I fed the tank including Mysis shrimp,
brine shrimp and Cyclop-eeze. I have also added a veggie clip but he
seems to ignore it and only wants meaty foods. He appears to be in
perfect health other than the white growths he has on the fin and
shows no signs of discoloration, Ich or heavy breathing. He has a
ferocious appetite and swims around the tank normally. My tank
description and water parameters are as follows. 90 gallon tech
tank with 30 gallon sump, CoraLife Aqualite pro lighting, AquaC EV
180 skimmer, 4" deep sand bed, and 110 pounds live rock.
Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all zero, PH 8.4, salinity 1026, and
calcium is 470. I would greatly appreciate your recommendations as
to what to do with this fish. <Honestly looks like Lymphocystis
to me. The good news is that this is a viral disease that usually
will clear up on its own in good tank conditions. Good luck,
Mac> Thank you! |
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Brown spots, Yellow Tang,
stress, more reading and grammar checking 4/30/08
Hello Crew
<Terris> I have spent hours reading your web site great
stuff it should be organized into a hard cover encyclopedia.
<Run on sentence> I am new at this, but we have to start
somewhere right. <A statement?> I have a 110 gallon tank
with a small community 4 clown (one is a tomato), 1 Yellow Tang a
flame angel fish, coral beauty, a dog face puffer and a beta,
<Not this> all living very happy. <Happily> With
acceptable water conditions tank is fully cycled and is growing
live rock very fast (up till yesterday) I have two sick fish the
puffer and the yellow tang have these brown spots. <... in a
word, from "stress"> I added quick cure 24 hours ago
<An exceedingly poor idea/move... you've poisoned your
system... with formalin> and I do not know now what action
should be taken now since the fish still have the spots on them.
I have added a picture of the tang. The puffer fish fins are
starting to look better, but the tang is still not looking like
there is any improvement. Terris Cooper <Keep reading...
Likely the Tomato is harassing the Zebrasoma... could be
nutritional, some aspect of water quality... Bob
Fenner>
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Yellow Tang Ill? Reading
4/27/08 Hi, I have a question about my
yellow tang. He has been in my tank about two weeks. Yesterday he was
eating and acting as normal, very active, and ate 'dinner' with
all the others (1 blue and yellow damsel and 2 clown fish). This
morning he was not out as usual after searching I found him in the back
of the tank (30gal) <This volume is too small for a Zebrasoma (or
for that matter any) Tang> behind my live rock (25 lbs.). He has
since been sitting there all day, propped up against a rock. He will
move if I wiggle a rock or coax him with my finger. His color is bright
and breathing is normal. I just noticed a brown "string"-like
line coming out of his side behind his fin. <?!> I tried to
gently pull it off thinking it was hair algae stuck to him, but it
appears to be attached!? I called my LFS and they could not tell over
the phone and they close in 10 minutes. I attempted to take a picture
but it's hard to see it. It looks like fish "poop" for
lack of a better term. Any ideas? Thanks! JB <... Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/YellowTang.htm and the linked files above.
Return this fish... it won't live long under the present
circumstances. Bob Fenner>
Help with Strange Yellow Tang Problem Please 4/9/08 Hey
Guys- <Brian> I have had 2 mini reef tanks for several
years and recently consolidated them into a 90 gallon. There is
approximately 90 lbs of live rock which half I've had for 3
years and 60 lbs. of live sand. For filtration there is a protein
skimmer and a wet dry. I've just ordered a refugium. Water
parameters are where they should be: ammonia= 0, nitrites=0,
nitrates=0, PH=8.2, Phosphates=0, salinity= 1.024. I have
recently purchased 3 yellow tangs for my tank. <Mmm... too
likely to actually fight here rather than get along... Zebrasoma
of all species have a mix of territorial behaviors... the
dynamics of their stocking... can be complex> The LFS where I
buy my fish is a good store as their stock is usually in great
shape. The LFS is adding new display tanks in their store and the
tank that the tangs where in was not lit with light properly due
to their construction. When I got them home I noticed they had
the beginning of HLLE. One of the tangs had a weird white spot on
his dorsal fin that looked like a wound. It is not ick. In the
last week these white spots have appeared on the other 2 tangs
and the one with the original spot has a few more. They are in
the same location and do not seem to get any better only
spreading slowly, meaning they never fall off. The spots are also
larger than ick spots and look fleshy. The spots are also raised-
similar to ick. I have caught some fresh water fish fishing that
had something like this on them. I'm sorry but I can not get
a picture of it. The fish are very active and have huge
appetites. They are very nervous and spooky. Unfortunately I did
not quarantine them and I'm paying for it now. They are the
only other fish I've added since the consolidation.
<Sounds/reads like either subdermal encrusting worms or
perhaps a type of Sporidean protozoan. Have seen such in
aquariums and the wild on many occasions, having dived hundreds
of times in Hawai'i> For fish I have the 3 juv. 3
1/2" tangs, 2 1" onyx clowns, 1 2.5" yellow
wrasse, 1 2" six line wrasse, and 1 yellow clown goby. None
of the other fish have this or any other problem. <And not
likely to "contract" the stated symptoms> I feed
them prime reef frozen and flake, dried seaweed and algae,
formula 2, frozen Mysis, and Spirulina brine. I'm going out
to buy Nori and Selcon today as well as a cleaner shrimp. <Ah,
good> I have been researching this site and goggle for a few
days with no results and need your assistance please. Thank you
for your help and the service you provide! Brian <Adding the
refugium, the other food/supplement and cleaner will help a great
deal... but do keep a watchful eye on the Tangs interactions...
it may be that definitely one will be "the odd fish
out" and in time only one be happy-enough in this volume,
size setting to suit you and it/themselves. Cheers, Bob
Fenner>
Re: Help with Strange Yellow Tang Problem
Please -04/11/08 Thanks you for your
help. I have caught them out of my main tank and setup a hospital
tank which is ten gallons. I returned 2 of the tangs and am going
to keep just one. <Ah, good... I had notions of modifying,
adding a further note to our prev. corr. re this... Is best> After catching them I did a 3 minute freshwater dip- I know it
wasn't long enough as now I've read the correct way to do
it. <This is about as long as any good can/will be done> I
was able to get a few pics of the problem which I have attached
to this email. I have started him on Mardel CopperSafe as per
instructions. What do you think? <I would not... See here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/fishindex3.htm the areas on Tangs,
Disease, Copper... No good to come of exposing this Zebrasoma to
such for what is going on here... Just better care,
environment...> Thank you again! Brian <Welcome.
BobF>
Re: saltwater tank infection
5/5/08 Thanks Bob. The yellow tang
seems to be improving, he's eating much better and is out and
about more. His color seems to be starting to come back as well.
Hopefully he pulls through, thanks for the help. <Ah, thank
you for this upbeat update! BobF>
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Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
New eBook on Amazon: Available here
New Print Book on Create Space: Available
here
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
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