Choclate Tang and Redness

[Tigger240]

my choclate tang has red/orange thick line that is verticle right behind his two side fins and just behind his gills also. i have had the fish for about two months, and honestly its been there for a little while now. at first i thought it was possibly a coloration, and or something that may pass on its own with healty feedings. it has not.

i went into a pet shop the other day and noticed the exact same red/orange lines behind the gills of a choclate tang however on this fish on one side the red went into the side fin. upon intensive questioning they said it was either cyanide or a gill infection and that cyanide was irreversible. they said if it was a gill infection that melafix and primafix in combonation was the only way to go. any ideas?

thanks in advance !

 

[Steven Pro]

Do you have a picture?

 

[Tigger240]

i can get one - i dont own a camera but i can borrow one.

- ill be able to post it later, but i thought the problem would be self explaintory - ie cyanide poisioning looks like xx or the only type of gill diesease that has redness is xx-

thanks and ill post a pic tonight

 

[Steven Pro]

Cyanide caught fish don't have a definite look to them. Some people think they look brighter, almost as if they glow. But, that has not been proven conclusively. See here to read more about cyanide,
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-01/sp/index.php

 

[Steven Pro]

As to gill infection, that means nothing to me. There are a great number of things that could infect the gills, most all parasitic. MelaFix and PimaFix are alleged to treat bacterial and fungal infections respectively.

 

[Tigger240]

you know my yellow tang isnt the most photogentic fish out there but my patience paid off and i got a really nice pic of him! thanks for all of your speedie replys steve!

i saw a new stickie also but im unsure of what to make of the situation because they said good water quality and hes had that for a while and has not gotten any better. i do 30 gal water changes per week on my 180 w/30 gal sump. i think my total water volume is like 180 gallons.

its hard to see in detail but the red streak is ONLY in the body, it never ever was in his fins. it goes from where upper gill slit starts down to where his side fin protrusion ends - at the bottom. (does that make any sense?...) like ive said hes been this way for over 3 months. i feed mysid and nori and hes eating and excreting well. also in the begining when i got him, he had black spots on his fins and id come home to see his fins fryed. at the time i couldnt deal with it because i had one week to vacate my old apartment (moving a partially filled 180 - no not fun) and after i got settled in here (read: like a month) the blackness has passed. i thought that the red maybe coloration but after seeing that other fish with the red in the side fin also - i got nervous

thanks for all the help!

 

[Steven Pro]

Is that red mark on both sides or just one?

 

[Tigger240]

it is on both sides, in the same fashion also. i think the picture does not show it all that well, in person it looks much more defined and brighter in color.

i read the cyanide link and also the red blotches and streaks sticky. im not sure but i dont believe that the articles are discussing what my fish has. the fish eats and swims well, excretes well (afik) and the redness is not over any other part of the body (nor ever has been - its only been in the spot pictured). i think the black spots before could have been black ick, but as before they have gone away. the fish does not get bullied from what i have seen, and stays in the open.

upon close examination last night the red has seemed to lessen somewhat, but has been blood red in coloration, not orange. (This is when i felt that it was not normal - and it looked like a vein that was about 5-10 mm in length and stopped where i descirbed earlier - top opening slit of gills and bottom of his side fin appendage. it was in the reddest spot of the pic traveling verticle).

i have not come home in a while (greater than two months) to find any frayed fins on him. my lights come on at my lunch time, and i have not seen him with frayed fins at that time either. he swimms and breathes completly normal. he hasnt lost coloration either.

initially when i got him his fins frayed alot, and had black developed also.

Steve even if this stumps you - i really do apperciate the help. thanks again for speedy replys! if you would like other pictures just let me know - i have the camera for a while now.

 

[Steven Pro]

If the marks are the same on both sides, I am more inclined to believe it is part of its coloration. It is hard for me to believe that the fish would scratch itself in the exact same spot on both sides. And, usually a bacterial infection (as in the red blotches sticky) would have a random distribution all over. You might see mirror red lines along the lateral line, but this is not the case here.

 

[Tigger240]

humm that is very interesting - i thank you again for all of your time! i will be keeping a close eye on him however and if anything changes i will post again. im kinda surprised no one chimed in and was like my choclate tang had the same streaks when he was little too .. ill keep researching and post my findings.