Injured fish from AC

dowtish

dowtish

New member
I ended up getting a Kole and Yellow Tang the night of the meeting. I thought they both looked great. I didnt get them home til 9pm or so, and my lights were out, except for my lunar LED's.

I got home from work yesterday and the Kole Tang's mouth is seriously injured! I don't know how I didnt notice this! I want to assume that it is from being held in a tank with crushed coral and nothing else. He is nipping at the sand and biting and spitting the food out so far. So it's not so bad that it isnt eating or wanting to, but I'm not certain that it is just injury or some sort of disease. He is showing all signs of being healthy other than the appearance of it's mouth. And he isn't picking on the rocks like they usually do. Is there something that I can do, other than soak my food in selcon? Or any other suggestions?? Should I call AC???

Can't seem to get a clear pic....sorry. And sorry for the long post.
 
Add Garlic Guard or Fresh Chopped Garlic to all food that you feed the Fish until it heals.
And you can call Chris but I do not think they would knowingly sell you a sick or Damaged fish, Do you have any other Fish that it may have fought with when added to your tank as Tangs are Notorious for Fighting at first then settle down after a couple of days. JMO
Bill
 
I do add garlic to my food already, so I will keep doing so.

I have nothing in there that did this to the fish. I added the yellow and kole at the same time to avoid aggression, and they were my last fish to add to the tank.

I have all smaller fish in there. The largest one until the tangs is a midas blenny, and all the other fish seem intimidated by the tangs, being that they are larger than anything else.
 
Did the yellow and kole come from the same tank? I saw the kole at the critter he seemed like he wanted to stay up by the return flow when I was checking him out, I couldn't remember if there were any yellows in there with him as they had more than one for sale.......yellows are notorious for being bullies....I would be willing to bet the yellow did it shortly after introduction as all the kole I looked at had no visible mouth damage.....how much mouth damage are you talking about?

For those of you reefers about to "rock"- we salute you ;)
 
The Kole was all alone in it's tank, and it was doing the same thing when I would check him out. Going up to the overflow. I didn't notice it's mouth being like that at the time, but then again I was really just looking at it's color and fins.

Since introducing them they have been best buds. They swim together all over the place. I really don't think this was an injury caused by another fish.

It's lips are are white, and there is no defined coloration or shape to its mouth because of it. I mean they have big lips already but the white is much more apparent than any specified shape of the lip. (if that makes sense) I have even seen a small chunk of flesh kinda seperated from it's mouth kinda on the side and has since fallen off.

It makes me think that it could be some sort of disease, but it's not showing any visible signs of stress. It's super active and looks great other than the mouth. But it is still not eating. I'm worried it's going to starve, but hopefully it will heal up.
 
Call Chris and Tell him what is going on before something happens to the Fish. It always better to bring a fish back alive than already dead. Then they can decide what is going on and Chris will most likely replace it for you.
Bill
 
Yeah I was gonna say I was scared that it might starve to death and that is a gruesome and awful demise for any creature.
 
i know a lot of my cichlids get white lips from time to time and its from fighting and digging in the crushed coral. they dig a lot.. its always healed up but the fish not eating is what i would be more concerned about.
 
dang dude I remember you getting ready to buy them before I left. They looked great as far as I remember. I hope it works out man. I have some garlic guard if you run out and need some more.
 
Kole tangs get a disease that rots their mouth, for lack of a better description. They're not one of the hardiest of the tangs and the mouth thing has no bearing on where you bought it, it just happens with Kole Tangs.

Do some searches on RC for the best treatment course and good luck man.

Fidel
 
i have one from the Critter and it has no mouth disease or any other health issues. It fought with my Sailfin for the First week and now they are tolerant of each other.
Bill
 
Fcamdog said:
Kole tangs get a disease that rots their mouth, for lack of a better description. They're not one of the hardiest of the tangs and the mouth thing has no bearing on where you bought it, it just happens with Kole Tangs.

Do some searches on RC for the best treatment course and good luck man.

Fidel
Click to expand...

I have searched and searched RC for anything like this or similar. Where did you hear about this?
 
Okay, So I did a google search with kole tang mouth fungus/rot and came up with multiple threads and hits on this exact subject. I am convinced that it is not an injury due to this and pictures that appear exactly the same as mine.

this is not my fish, but this is what it's mouth looks like. This one has ich as well, mine does not. at least not yet anyways...
IMG_1449.jpg

IMG_1441.jpg


I have yet to find anything about it spreading to other fish, but I am worried none the less. I will have an extremely hard time catching this fish, and all other signs point to it being not stressed out. Which by trying to catch him will do just that. I just really want to see him eat. I am hoping he will get better, but this is just me being optimistic. Has anyone used melafix in your DT before?
 
I would catch him and take him back to AC. Call them and tell them whats wrong with the fish and that you are working on capturing him. If it is the Kole tang I saw at AC on Sunday, his mouth looked "funny", like his lips were too far apart or something. It just looked odd. They didn't look ragged like the photos above, but did seem kinda white.

Get a 3 liter bottle and cut the top off - not all the way down the neck. Put a rock or something in the end (to weigh it down) and lay it on your sand bed (even better if you can wedge it in your rocks) with the cut end facing slightly down (this is so the food will remain in the bottle longer and not all come right out when you put it in there). Only feed the fish inside the bottle - they will all be cramming themselves in there in no time. Then when the Kole is inside the bottle, place a net over the end of the bottle, retrieve the bottle, and voila! If you catch several fish at once, simply empty the bottle into a clean container and net the ones you need to put back into your tank. This method has worked a couple of times for me - however, patience is key! Milk jugs also work well.
 
Call The AC and let them know that you are having this issue before the Fish Dies! Not After, If you Choose to try and Medicate this problem you may be taking your ability to return it at risk. If you just let them know by simply calling and getting their Advice you will be better off.
Bill
 
Unfortunately i had to go out of town today and possibly most of tomorrow. I will call them Bill, and tell them whats going on. I dont plan on medicating anything until i talk to them.
I wonder if catching the fish will be even harder if he isnt eating. I guess all i can do is try.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
 
dowtish said:
I have searched and searched RC for anything like this or similar. Where did you hear about this?
Click to expand...

http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1343126

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1587619

http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1363573

And if you simply google, "kole tang mouth" you will find numerous links to other message boards that have discussed this. Honestly this search took me less than 10 seconds. Unfortunately I do not know how to treat this and help you, but I knew of it from having experienced it myself several years ago and seeing it happen to a few friends as well.

Fcamdog
 
I just returned from AL tonight, and the fish looks a ton better. It's a miracle! He is eating flakes and frozen. And even picking on the rocks a bit. It's not completely gone, but looks a whole lot better. But I have noticed a small white spot on him, kinda worried about that but hoping it will clear up as well.

I called Chris at AC today, and he was totally cool about it. He said if I wanted to return it, I was welcome to, but suggested to let it runs it's coarse. I really didnt want to stress it out if I didnt have to. So I think things might be okay....maybe.
 
Glad to hear it. If you have any Selcon or Brightwell vitamin supplement to add to their food, I understand that can further bolster a fishs immune system and help them heal.
 
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