lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 About two weeks ago I purchased a Kole Tang for my 85. Everything was great. Healthy, eating, the store I purchased from had him in his own tank (each tank is a separate system to itself) for 3 weeks, so this guy has been fine for a month. He was shy, but not anything terrible and the last few days he was out and swimming when other folks were in the room and eating at feed time (he had only been eating nori prior, the pumps turning off would startle him). Yesterday when I went to bed, I noticed he was not in his normal sleeping spot and was laying/leaning on a rock. I was a little concerned, but thought "I've never seen him sleep, so maybe he's resting" This morning I found him between my mandarin box and a rock. I thought he was stuck, but after removing the box, he stayed. Eventually he moved behind a rock and has been laying on his side ever since. The weird thing is his respiration rate looks normal, there are no ich spots. He seemed a little spastic in his behavior (going over the same 1 ft spot in the tank again and again for 10 or 20 minutes at a time). Idon't know if thats normal for these guys or not. All of my parameters are where they should be. Maybe cyanide poisoning? Idon't know. I was reading a lot of folks just freeze them at this point... At one point is there no hope and I should put him down and is there anything I can do to help him? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Got a pic? Usually cyanide leads to bright coloring on the fish and pinched bellies. Link to comment
andrewkw Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 The store has each fish in its own system? Fish must be super expensive there...As for your guy not really sure what to suggest, did you treat him for anything? Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 no bright coloring. He has large white splotches (I moved him so I could see him better) that look like when you rub against something dusty. I read tangs can get that when they're stressed, which clearly he is. I'll try and get a picture. The store has each fish in its own system? Fish must be super expensive there... As for your guy not really sure what to suggest, did you treat him for anything? The tanks are not plumbed together. No communal sump or anything. They focus more on coral, so the fish systems are manageable since they don't keep a lot of fish. I started treating with metroplex yesterday because my clowns were pooping white stringy stuff, so I figured they might have an internal parasite. I using that with focus and dosing through their food. but the tang didn't eat much of it yesterday. He mainly prefers nori, and occassionally would eat mysis. His breathing is labored now. Not that I am surprised. He can't flip himself upright. Untitled by lkoechle, on Flickr Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 I moved him to a speciman tank with in the tank so he doesn't get pushed around by the pumps and I can see him more easily. When I was moving him, he did pop himself back upright, but now he's upside down again. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 It might be a swim bladder issue. Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 It might be a swim bladder issue. Is there anything I can do to help him with that? Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 On a related note, should I go ahead and dose metroplex (viafood) as if it were a bacterial or parasite infection just in case? For ich, they reccommend dosing for 6 weeks (y'know, life cycle and such). He doesn't look like he has ich, and all the other fish are fine and healthy... so far... Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 His breathing has appeared to return to normal. I'm assuming the labored breathing due to the stress of not being able to get away from me when moving him. Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 I am in the process of setting up our 10 gallon hospital tank. If he does better in the next few days, we'll set up our 20 for him to continue to recover in. I'd set up the 20 but we don't have a stand for it, so we'll use the 10 to see if he makes it and figure out a table/stand for the 20 in the meantime. I have read metroplex can be effective in swim bladder issues. So I'll be dosing the tank with that since he will be in QT I don't have to worry about coral. He can't eat right now, so getting him to ingest it won't help at the moment... Any other suggestions? Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Well, never mind. The tang just passed away. I really liked him too. I will probably get another one, but I'm going to watch the tank for a few weeks and make sure nothing else is going on first. Really disappointing though. I wish I could have done more for him. It sucks losing a new a fish and not knowing the cause. Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Sorry to hear that man. I had the same thing happen to a naso tang. He was doing fine one day then the day he was just as you described, even with all the other fish acting normal. I did everything I could to save him but in the end he died. Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Sorry to hear that man. I had the same thing happen to a naso tang. He was doing fine one day then the day he was just as you described, even with all the other fish acting normal. I did everything I could to save him but in the end he died. Did you have an idea on what did it? I've been googling, and from the forums it seems like tangs have a habit of doing this... I don't want to sound heartless, but I would probably be more broken up over a losing a naso. Those are my favorite tangs. Great personalities too. Link to comment
Halo_003 Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I don't want to sound heartless, but I would probably be more broken up over a losing a naso. Those are my favorite tangs. Great personalities too. No idea what happened to your poor tang, sorry for the loss. Just wanted to chip in here, I somehow (cause u know, maybe oxygen levels) suffocated my Pygmy angelfish and nearly killed my clown too. Tank had no surface disturbance when I moved them to it, about 10 hours later (early next morning, think 6AM, mom came up panicking that something was wrong with the clownfish. Got downstairs to find the tiny angelfish body sunk in the bottom and the clown at the surface gasping and lethargic. I captured the clown and transferred her to her old tank with a triple dose of prime, she ended up living thank god. I know how you feel when you say it feels heartless, honestly I really would have been absolutely heartbroken if my clown had died, I've had her about 9 months and she is my baby, she hosts my fingers and let's me pet her, she was also about $200 and the angel was $25. So I think it's okay and even natural to have favorites. Link to comment
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