blotch and discoloration on my Sohal Tang

[africangrey]

I aquired him about 1 month ago and since day 3 he started to develop dime size discoloration on the top and bottom of body on both sides and some of the discoloration has swallen a bit, and he rubs himself on the sand and rock from time to time.
The situation has only gotten worse and seems like his front head has blotching spot also now.
Can anyone of you expert help me to identify the disease and plan a treament.

 

[leebca]

"Experts?" Here?

A photo would be helpful for us. I know the Sohal though and getting it to 'pose' would be a challenge.

The Sohal and many other tangs have skin issues. Their physiology is different than many reef fishes, when it comes to their skin.

For the above reason, the fish must be kept in water of perfect parameters and cleanliness and fed the perfect diet. Anything short of this allows common aquarium bacteria to cause it a problem. For this reason a stable, old, large aquarium (300+ gallons) is its best captive home.

Without visual signs of microbes, I'd treat the condition as a bad bacterial infection. This would require moving the fish to a hospital tank and treating with strong (and multiple) antibiotics.

The fish could have brought something with it, which is a very good reason to hold tangs in quarantine before releasing them into your display. This has good info on that:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.htm

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I'm not a good enough 'expert!'

 

[africangrey]

Please rescue him, he is getting worse, and his mouth isn't able to close, here are the pics

 

[leebca]

I'm unable to see the pictures. I get a pop-up asking me to start a Passport Account, which I have no inclination to do.

 

[africangrey]

How about now

 

[leebca]

Same pop up. I'm asked for a password, but the picture shows up in another window.

 

[leebca]

I see a few lesions on the fish. They are round. I have never seen this before on an aquarium fish. In the wild, I've seen a similar mark left on a fish that was attacked by a leech.

If no one else can post here with an identification, then you can follow my best 'guess.'

IF this is the only fish affected, then I would discount a bacterial cause, but a bacterial infection could be secondary.

I would move the fish to a hospital tank where you'll have easy access and it will be alone. Treatment would include freshwater dip and a series of formalin dips, ending up with antibiotic treatment. If the fish isn't eating, it will probably not make it through this regime.

If you want details on doing the above treatments check out:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/freshwaterdips.html
and
http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/formaldehyde_friend_or_foe.html

 

[TerryB]

The rubbing sounds like a parasite problem. I am wondering if it could be uronema. I would not give the fish a freshwater dip, because this can damage cells and cause fluid loss if there are any open wounds. I would try a series of formalin dips, but watch closely for signs of extreme stress. Be sure to aerate the dips. I would then use a good antibiotic or two. Nitrofurazone would be my first choice because it can help with uronema. You can combine it with neomycin for a powerful one, two punch. The combo will wipe of the biofilter so treat only in a quarantine tank. I would also reduce the salinity way down to relieve osmotic pressure because the fish will have difficulty with osmoregulation with so many compromises to the mucus/scale/skin barrier. It would be a good idea to add Beta glucan to the food for a week or more to enhance immune function.

HTH,
Terry B