Sick pacific blue tang

[trob]

Here are some pics of my gf's sick blue tang. I have searched around but haven't been able to find any sickness that looks the same. Can anyone identify the problem and provide a method of treatment.

 

Some of the conditions which may be hard to see in the pics:

Tail fin deteriorating

Small spots/dimples below mouth & gill area

Eye area skin loosing color

Rear top fin and bottom fin deteriorating from back

 

The tank water is really good, water changes regularly, pH, salinity, calcium, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, temp, all good and have been stable for a long time. Also the Tang has been in this condition for at least six months now. The condition seems to be getting a little worse, tail deteriorating, more spots, etc.

 

Please help! and TIA to anyone who can provide assistance.

 

 

[Mizer67]

It's hard to say. I have seen hippo tangs with "freckles" on their cheeks before. As to the rest, what else (other than the perc) is in the tank? Anything that might be nipping his fins? How big is the tank? (I am not the tang police, but size might matter) What is "really good" for your water parameters? What do you feed him? How often? I know that vitamin deficency can cause problems with fin rot, LLE etc. Wish I could help out some more. The more details we get, the more likely someone might spot the problem.

[Xpistos]

you have him in a 10g here come the tang police

[trob]

It's hard to say. I have seen hippo tangs with "freckles" on their cheeks before. As to the rest, what else (other than the perc) is in the tank? Anything that might be nipping his fins? How big is the tank? (I am not the tang police, but size might matter) What is "really good" for your water parameters? What do you feed him? How often? I know that vitamin deficency can cause problems with fin rot, LLE etc. Wish I could help out some more. The more details we get, the more likely someone might spot the problem.

 

The tank is 20g. Ok before you call in an APB we are in the process of moving to a 40g tank. As for when the condition started there was 2 false-percs, a cleaner shrimp , a yellow watchman goby and shrimp. There are some hermit and snails on the cleanup crew. The cleaner shrimp has been missing for about a month now (I guess you know what that means...) and it seems that the condition has continued to deteriorate even after its dismiss. I don't think its foul play based on no apparent markings or cuts.

 

The "freckles"/spots/dimples whatever started out just bein two or three per side, now there are about 10 per side. Its a condition that seems to be getting worse.

 

Water parameters:

A,N,N close to 0, below 0.2ppm

pH 8.2

Salinity 1.025

Calcium 450

temp 78

 

Fed daily something with brine shrimp and algae. Just recently been hanging seaweed too. I will post what food later.

I believe we have tried some vitamines and meds but no progress. I know some garlic mix but I will have to ask my gf for more details on the rest. I will post that info later too.

[proraptor2]

20 gallon tank...lol

[trob]

20 gallon tank...lol

Your welcome for the chuckle. Based on the intelligence of some of your previous post, I guess that's the best advice you could offer.

[mels95yj]

With all joking aside, I'd say he's stressed from such a small space. I would dare to say the bare minimum size tank for a Hippo Tang would be a 75g. I doubt he'll get much better until he gets a home that is suitable for him. Just my $.02.

 

Mel

[bradarmi]

Aside from the stress issue, which is important, I would say that you should look up some lateral-line errosion type illnesses. I have heard/read that overuse of Carbon and stress can contribute to the lateral line errosion starting at the head and progressing down the lateral line over time. Also, freshwater discus also get a condition called "hole-in-the head" where a similar condition manifests itself. I am not sure of the exact cause but an excellant book is Dieter Uttingasser's Handbook of Fish Diseases. I would start there

 

Good luck

 

I am not familiar with the tail problems, but you may have 2 active infections.

[trob]

Aside from the stress issue, which is important, I would say that you should look up some lateral-line errosion type illnesses. I have heard/read that overuse of Carbon and stress can contribute to the lateral line errosion starting at the head and progressing down the lateral line over time. Also, freshwater discus also get a condition called "hole-in-the head" where a similar condition manifests itself. I am not sure of the exact cause but an excellant book is Dieter Uttingasser's Handbook of Fish Diseases. I would start there

 

Good luck

 

I am not familiar with the tail problems, but you may have 2 active infections.

 

It doesn't appear to be showing any signs of lateral-line disease, however hole-in-the-head may be a closer match. However the meds given to the tang was metronidazole which treats several diseases including HIH.

 

The food is San Francisco Bay brand frozen food.

[ezcompany]

just move him to a larger tank asap. problem solved.

[Six]

well, the fish's diet is bad.

 

hepatus tangs are planktonivores. brine shrimp are not nutritional and algae will only add some needed vitamins into the diet. try feeding cyclopeeze, freeze dried plankton soaked in selcon to clear the HLLD (which is evidently showing the beginning stages with the fin errosion and poor head coloration), and frozen mixed foods. these fish also need to be fed numberous times a day. they are not a beginner fish because of this and thus are not a nano fish. they eat and deficate more than most people think.

 

move him on up to a bigger tank and feed healthier, andvaried foods and the issue should stop and hopefully he can regrow his finnage.

 

gl

[trob]

well, the fish's diet is bad.

 

hepatus tangs are planktonivores. brine shrimp are not nutritional and algae will only add some needed vitamins into the diet. try feeding cyclopeeze, freeze dried plankton soaked in selcon to clear the HLLD (which is evidently showing the beginning stages with the fin errosion and poor head coloration), and frozen mixed foods. these fish also need to be fed numberous times a day. they are not a beginner fish because of this and thus are not a nano fish. they eat and deficate more than most people think.

 

move him on up to a bigger tank and feed healthier, andvaried foods and the issue should stop and hopefully he can regrow his finnage.

 

gl

 

Thanks for the help Six. I know the frozen food we are using has plankton in it but maybe not enough, I'll check out the cyclopeeze. Hopefully we will get him into a bigger tank soon too.

[trob]

After doing a little more research I deceided to check the tank for stray voltage which can also cause HLLD. It appears the tank has 2V traveling through it, I'm not sure if this is much to a fish but we added a grounding probe which dropped the voltage. Also still working on the move to the new tank.

[proraptor2]

Your welcome for the chuckle. Based on the intelligence of some of your previous post, I guess that's the best advice you could offer.

 

I could have went into what your tang has and what you should do to cure him but there is no point when you have him in that 20 gallon jail that you have him in....

 

My blue tang is doing awesome BTW...

[Eternal420]

I love when people are so quick to attack over the internet

 

 

 

brave soldiers behind the keyboard!

[proraptor2]

I always invite people over to meet me in person...I dont hide behind the board with keys on it...

[DementedLullaby]

He hides behind the gun instead

 

Anyway even his "chuckle post" was actually helpful. 20 gallon tank is lol which=bad.

 

Even a 40g is to small for the fellow! Please do more research. I would also say the problem is stress from a cramped environment in which other fish live as well. He's obviously fairly small and small tangs don't often do very well. With those other fish in there what are your nitrate levels???

[TikiJosh]

A 20 gallon tank is definitely too small for one of these guys. Your plan to move to a 40 is better, but IMO, that's still too small for one of these guys. I think someone else said, and I agree, a 75 is probably the min size for one of these.

Best thing to do, humane-wise, is to take good care of the fish, and then when the fin rot and other problems start to get better, you can return him to a LFS for credit. Either that or upgrade to something bigger than 40 gallons.

A lot of people are tricked when they see a little tiny blue tang that's only a few inches big and think they can keep them in their tanks at home. Blues like a lot of swimming space, so even small ones need relatively large tanks.

The diet you're giving it, despite the fact that it contains plankton and seaweed, is probably not nutritious enough.

The suggestion to use cyclopeeze food is good since that's enriched a bit, and a selcon-enriched food is not a bad idea either. Feeding dried seaweed is good for filler, which blue tangs need, but it's not enough. You're going to want to feed this guy very regularly, and try to fatten him up. Even in the pic, I can tell, the ventral side looks compressed, like he's pretty skinny. Even if you can get away with feeding the rest of your tank once a week, the tang needs to eat every day. It's better to feed a little less at a time, and feed more frequently. Your tang will fatten up, and hopefully many of your problems will go away. The extra feedings might make your water a little more nutrient rich, too, so watch out.

Based on the photo, I think your problem right now is probably more diet than space. It looks like you've got a pretty small fish, so while it may be cramped, it's not like a sardine in a can. You can probably at least get it looking a little better before trying to move it or return it or whatever.

 

I had a blue for a while that I finally just got rid of this year. I was feeding her a mixture of both green and purple dried seaweeds. The purple seemed to be better nutritionally, and the fish liked it more. It also made more of a mess, so I didn't like using it all the time. I was also feeding Formula 1 flakes, a little frozen food once in a while, that kind of thing. Once they fatten up, the color will get better, too.

 

Blues are also very prone to ich and other infections, so be on guard for that too. With as stressed as your fish probably is right now, an outbreak of ich is not unlikely. A quarantine of some type would be a good idea to have ready, just in case.

Good luck!

[nano-paul]

I had one in my 75g and it still stressed him out and there was only one other fish in there with him. This fish is just difficult to keep healthy and alive IMO.