Foxface Tang Advice

[cnctech]

I have had a foxface tang for the last 6 years in a 125 tank. He is right at 6" long and has been healthy with no problems.
Last Friday he went crazy for about 20 seconds doing a loop at the surface of the tank splashing everywhere. After he had calmed down we noticed 2 scratches down the side of him.
This morning I came into the office and immediately noticed he looked rough, the flukes on his dorsal were grey at the end and his bright yellow has worn off in some places - his nose looks raw (no skin). I fed the fish and he didn't move to the food at all - he appears to be swimming normally - not being chased by any fish....he just looks sick. The scratches look better and can be slightly seen on his left side, but as mentioned the yellow scales seem to be gone (photo is not great).

I have a 20 gallon sump pump but with no lights. I don't know if I should quarantine him - treat him, if so with what?

Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted

Thanks
Bob

 

[pinnatus]

Can you see tiny black spots on him by chance? Looks like maybe it is black ick possibly, hard to tell from pictures. He definitely looks bad. Another possibility is uronema.

And just FYI, Foxfaces are not tangs. They are in the rabbitfish family. They have venomous dorsal spines. Tangs do not, but the do have a scalpel at the base of their tail, while rabbitfish do not.

 

[cnctech]

Thanks for the info - I honestly thought my tank maint guy called it a tang, maybe my mistake.
Regarding black spots , I can see 3 small black marks on his upper left side and one slightly lower, but they are not raised in any way - (see photo), but they could be where he got scratched - right side is nothing.
Does this look like black ick spots - if so how do I treat and does it affect other fish?

thanks for the help

 

[pinnatus]

Doesn't look like black ick. You would see a lot of tiny black spots on it, probably not just 3 and they would be smaller.

Maybe uronema. I had that and treated with choroquine phosphate. Cleared it right up. I'd try and get some other opinions, though. Maybe this thread needs to be moved to the disease forum and you will get other answers. Ask a mod to do this.

 

[cnctech]

ok will do - thanks for the assistance

 

[dendrite]

I really don't know much about fish pathology but he looks septic with surface petechial hemmhorages perhaps secondary to being injured or perhaps attacked by something else in the tank. I would take the above suggestion to post on fish disease forum , isolate the fish and treat the isolation tank with some broad spectrum antibiotic like augmentin or cephalexin.

 

[Jdub968]

Let's start with the basics water quality ammonia nitrite and nitrate readings.
Have you made any additions to the tank recently corals inverts fish or anything wet?
And finally you said you didn't see any aggression you did see flashing, how about scratching heavy respiration swimming into the flow of a power head or return pump?
And from the pics I'm gonna say your probably going to need a qt set up from the looks of this fish antibiotics are probably gonna be needed. Do you have Kanaplex , furan2 , or metronidazole on hand?

 

[JustinM]

This is black ich and to me, it looks like what you have. I would also say it looks like a bacterial infection in the works and I would treat with the trifecta of antibiotics(furan 2, metroplex, and kanaplex) for 10 days followed by 2 rounds of prazi to rid of the black ich. Move your fish to a qt to treat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cnctech]

Jdub thanks for the response. Amonia is safe or 0.
Nothing at all added to tank in last 6 months - partial water change 2 weeks ago.
I have seen normal interactions between the fish, as mentioned foxface just went crazy the other day splashing on the surface for 10-20 seconds, did a loop around the tank splashing like crazy, then we noticed some shallow scratches on his side (just removing the yellow scales) not deep. Only have 2 clowns, 6 line wrasse, harlequin star, hippo tang and 6" emperor angelfish.
No heavy respiration and no aiming into powerheads - if anything slightly more hiding under rocks, but maybe 10-20% more, or maybe just because I am constantly watching.
I dont have a QT or meds so going to have to set something up.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[cnctech]

Thanks - seems like the QT is the way to go. Fish looks pretty sick for only 3 small black dots. The way it acted crazy sure seems more like an injury to me and the spots could be coincidence.
thanks for the assist.

 

[Jdub968]

The tank looked like it had some corals in it from the pics you posted, I'm thinking it's possible the black spots are coral stings and with nothing being added for 6 months I'm not to worried about parasites however without a qt the trifecta treatment mentioned is not reef safe. I would give the fish a fresh water dip in a colored container this helps to see any flukes or parasites that fall off the fish also I would give an Acriflavin bath this product is an anticeptic it can be found in ruby reef rally and Acriflavine ms to name a few you Lfs may have one of these paraguard is another option it also has anticeptic qualities.
Finally if you see any flukes or parasites in the fresh water dip container dose prazipro to your tank this is reef safe and it will also treat black ick like Justinm mentioned.
A qt is needed and bacterial infections can kill very fast so I would encourage you to get a qt running it dosent need to be anything fancy you could use a sterillite or Rubbermaid container or brute trash can. With a heater and a sponge filter. Good luck

 

[cnctech]

OK no problem, I can do that today. Thanks for the advice once again.

 

[JustinM]

Good call Jdub on the hyper-melanization. It's quite possible he is being stung by the nem or some LPS. This will cause brown spots on fish.

Looking at the picture, his nose looks really messed up and beat up. The acriflavine bath will help but I would definitely keep an eye out for infection. Infections can move very quickly.

 

[6044jason]

Follow up

Follow up

Hi, my Foxface has damaged his nose in the same way. Did yours ever heal properly?

 

[cnctech]

No unfortunately not, died within 3 days. From what I can tell from the advice I received it was an infection and he went down hill rapidly. Purchased a quarantine tank and dosed him, but not quickly enough I guess.
Hope you have far better luck.

 

[6044jason]

Sorry to hear that, think mine has banged it against the glass