I have a small regal tang, I am little concerned there is small purple dots on one side of the tang and one eye has a small bubbe around it. I am new at this so I hired a local guy who serivces about 50 tank a month to come and do the first water change and just make sure my setup was good. He gave me a thumbs up on all test except phosphates were a little high. If this is ICH which I am afraid it is and popeye what should I do. I do not have QT tank so any suggestions will help. Also the tang only eats formula two frozen, I have fresh caluprea that it wont touch.
Blue regal tang
- Thread starter Raland271
- Start date
If it was Marine Ich caused by Crytpocaryon irritans the spots would be white and about the size of table salt.
If they are dark or even black, then it is most likely Black Ich. Take a look here for info and a photo of fish with Black Ich and see if it is what you are seeing:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/blackich.html
Move the fish to a hospital tank for treatment if you decide upon Black Ich as the diagnosis.
But remember that regal tangs that are not given a good diet or overly stressed often develop spots around their eyes and 'face.' This more along the lines of lateral line erosion. So diagnose carefully.
If you show us a clear, close-up photo we can help you better.
Regarding Popeye:
Popeye is sometimes mis-diagnosed. Is the whole eye really popped out from its socket, or is it just swollen in parts or areas around the eye?
Some known causes for the eye swelling include injury (scratched, netting injury, hitting aquarium decor, fight with another fish, etc.) which leads to swelling and may go on to a minor bacterial infection.
Popeye though has three main causes - bacterial, fungal, gas: Usually the Popeye is an outward symptom of an internal, ocular infection either bacterial or fungal in nature. It can be brought on by trauma, bad water quality, and/or a decline of the fish's immune system (e.g., poor nutrition over time) -- the same underlying causes of other symptoms like cloudy eye(s) and even swelling of the eye. Only this infection has affected the ocular area, and goes beyond just a scratched eye or eye surface condition.
The gas condition is rare but does occur. It is essentially when the atmospheric pressure is below the gas pressure in the water. If the aquarium setup doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t guarantee a fast gas exchange, then there is too much gas in the water compared to the atmosphere around the tank and gas bubbles can form inside fish tissue. The most common event is when you have a pump or device operating (accidently) like a venturi, drawing a lot of air into and mixing with the aquarium water, and that gas is not escaping the water fast enough. Another (albeit rare) phenomena is when a weather front quickly moves in to your area and the barometric pressure drops quickly, and for a short time there is more gas pressure in your aquarium water than in the atmosphere around it and the gas again starts coming out in your fishââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s tissues. These are both unusual and rare conditions in a small home aquarium systems, but. . .it can happen. What keeps the gas exchange moving along at the optimal rate? It is making sure your tank water surface is moving around so that surface tension doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t hold back gas exchange. So if you check your equipment and verify you have good water surface movement and a good gas exchange going on, you can forget this one.
Since the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“true Popeyeââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ can kill, the fish should be moved to a QT and given antibiotics that will go inside the fish. One such is Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. For Popeye, it should be dosed at TWICE the recommended dosages. If this doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t work, switch the meds to an anti-fungal cure (e.g., Nifurpirinol).
If the eye is swollen, scratched or suffered an injury, I would perform a large water change and monitor the fish closely. If the fish is getting proper nutrition:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=785228
AND the water quality and environment is super, the fish should heal on its own. If there are any signs of it not healing or if it gets worse, move it to a hospital tank and begin treatment with an antibiotic (the same as mentioned above).
Since the Popeye is usually an internal bacterial problem, this doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t spread to your other fish, unless the water quality, environment or nutrition is off.
Now, having written all this, I am concerned about the age of your tank. A home marine aquarium is best to run a few months before you put any fish into it. After the tank cycles you want to introduce a clean-up crew and let the tank run with crew for a couple of months, then introduce hearty inverts/corals and then later still, some fishes.
Good luck!
If they are dark or even black, then it is most likely Black Ich. Take a look here for info and a photo of fish with Black Ich and see if it is what you are seeing:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/blackich.html
Move the fish to a hospital tank for treatment if you decide upon Black Ich as the diagnosis.
But remember that regal tangs that are not given a good diet or overly stressed often develop spots around their eyes and 'face.' This more along the lines of lateral line erosion. So diagnose carefully.
If you show us a clear, close-up photo we can help you better.
Regarding Popeye:
Popeye is sometimes mis-diagnosed. Is the whole eye really popped out from its socket, or is it just swollen in parts or areas around the eye?
Some known causes for the eye swelling include injury (scratched, netting injury, hitting aquarium decor, fight with another fish, etc.) which leads to swelling and may go on to a minor bacterial infection.
Popeye though has three main causes - bacterial, fungal, gas: Usually the Popeye is an outward symptom of an internal, ocular infection either bacterial or fungal in nature. It can be brought on by trauma, bad water quality, and/or a decline of the fish's immune system (e.g., poor nutrition over time) -- the same underlying causes of other symptoms like cloudy eye(s) and even swelling of the eye. Only this infection has affected the ocular area, and goes beyond just a scratched eye or eye surface condition.
The gas condition is rare but does occur. It is essentially when the atmospheric pressure is below the gas pressure in the water. If the aquarium setup doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t guarantee a fast gas exchange, then there is too much gas in the water compared to the atmosphere around the tank and gas bubbles can form inside fish tissue. The most common event is when you have a pump or device operating (accidently) like a venturi, drawing a lot of air into and mixing with the aquarium water, and that gas is not escaping the water fast enough. Another (albeit rare) phenomena is when a weather front quickly moves in to your area and the barometric pressure drops quickly, and for a short time there is more gas pressure in your aquarium water than in the atmosphere around it and the gas again starts coming out in your fishââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s tissues. These are both unusual and rare conditions in a small home aquarium systems, but. . .it can happen. What keeps the gas exchange moving along at the optimal rate? It is making sure your tank water surface is moving around so that surface tension doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t hold back gas exchange. So if you check your equipment and verify you have good water surface movement and a good gas exchange going on, you can forget this one.
Since the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“true Popeyeââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ can kill, the fish should be moved to a QT and given antibiotics that will go inside the fish. One such is Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. For Popeye, it should be dosed at TWICE the recommended dosages. If this doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t work, switch the meds to an anti-fungal cure (e.g., Nifurpirinol).
If the eye is swollen, scratched or suffered an injury, I would perform a large water change and monitor the fish closely. If the fish is getting proper nutrition:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=785228
AND the water quality and environment is super, the fish should heal on its own. If there are any signs of it not healing or if it gets worse, move it to a hospital tank and begin treatment with an antibiotic (the same as mentioned above).
Since the Popeye is usually an internal bacterial problem, this doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t spread to your other fish, unless the water quality, environment or nutrition is off.
Now, having written all this, I am concerned about the age of your tank. A home marine aquarium is best to run a few months before you put any fish into it. After the tank cycles you want to introduce a clean-up crew and let the tank run with crew for a couple of months, then introduce hearty inverts/corals and then later still, some fishes.
Good luck!
Blue regal tang
I think you are right about the length of time my tank has been established. It is up and running for 7 weeks today. I dont want to add any other fish until I see that everything is going to cycle properly. So would you say just hang out where I am for another six to ten weeks. I have a tomatoe clown and two damsels that are doing great eating good. Flake only I tried frozen formula one and they were not thrilled about it. I dont think the tang has popeye after that explanation. I will try and get a pick on for your opionion. Thanks so much.
I think you are right about the length of time my tank has been established. It is up and running for 7 weeks today. I dont want to add any other fish until I see that everything is going to cycle properly. So would you say just hang out where I am for another six to ten weeks. I have a tomatoe clown and two damsels that are doing great eating good. Flake only I tried frozen formula one and they were not thrilled about it. I dont think the tang has popeye after that explanation. I will try and get a pick on for your opionion. Thanks so much.
Assuming we're talking about the 100 gallon tank you have, then that is a nice sized tank. It will likely provide good stability once it matures.
I'm concerned about the fish being in there right now. I know it's a lot of trouble, but I would get them out of there.
Besides cycling with ammonia and nitrites, the tank has to cycle with organics, bacteria populations that will come and go and then eventually settle down. During this cycling time your fish are not likely to do well with the changes. Some are likely to get bacterial infections or have other problems with the changing tank conditions. Some may just die. But, the choice is yours. It depends upon what you care about most.
After the nitrogen cycle settles in, comes the time of maturing the tank. That is when it is undergoing biological and chemical changes, sometimes very large swings in water quality. We say a tank has matured when these changes occur less frequently and less dramatically. A mature tank is one you want to begin stocking with fish.
You use the maturation time to get into your maintenance schedules of cleaning and changing water, testing the water and making chemical adjustments to the water. You practice holding these things as steadily as you can and in a way, you too mature with the tank!
The time this takes can range from 4 to 8 months with 6 being average. Don't dispair though. There are plenty of things to keep you busy in the meantime, along with a host of clean-up crew animals and inverts to keep you entertained.
:rollface:
I'm concerned about the fish being in there right now. I know it's a lot of trouble, but I would get them out of there.
Besides cycling with ammonia and nitrites, the tank has to cycle with organics, bacteria populations that will come and go and then eventually settle down. During this cycling time your fish are not likely to do well with the changes. Some are likely to get bacterial infections or have other problems with the changing tank conditions. Some may just die. But, the choice is yours. It depends upon what you care about most.
After the nitrogen cycle settles in, comes the time of maturing the tank. That is when it is undergoing biological and chemical changes, sometimes very large swings in water quality. We say a tank has matured when these changes occur less frequently and less dramatically. A mature tank is one you want to begin stocking with fish.
You use the maturation time to get into your maintenance schedules of cleaning and changing water, testing the water and making chemical adjustments to the water. You practice holding these things as steadily as you can and in a way, you too mature with the tank!
The time this takes can range from 4 to 8 months with 6 being average. Don't dispair though. There are plenty of things to keep you busy in the meantime, along with a host of clean-up crew animals and inverts to keep you entertained.
:rollface:
Add the crew after the tank has gone through its nitrogen cycle. Since the tank won't contain any food for the crew to eat, you'll want to feed them. This will mean you start putting foods into the tank and begin the other bacterial activity and the tank 'learns' to handle the incoming pollution from foods and wastes from life forms.
For crew you can choose from many different creatures. I would just recommend avoiding hermit crabs.
Here are some links regarding snails and such:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=543520
3 articles on snails:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rs/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rs/index.htm
Cleanup crew thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=516823
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rs/index.htm
Nassarius Snails as Scavengers in Reef Aquaria Article
http://web.archive.org/web/20010410...ibrary/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=166
For crew you can choose from many different creatures. I would just recommend avoiding hermit crabs.
Here are some links regarding snails and such:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=543520
3 articles on snails:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rs/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rs/index.htm
Cleanup crew thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=516823
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rs/index.htm
Nassarius Snails as Scavengers in Reef Aquaria Article
http://web.archive.org/web/20010410...ibrary/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=166
