Large Naso Tang is SKINNY AND NOT HOLDING DOWN FOOD!!!!

[tangtang clown]

I came home today and my naso tang was so skinny I could see his back bone. I immediately feed pellets and frozen mysis and brine. He ate a lil of each, but not the way he did two days ago. He always attacked the food and would eat all the food in the tank. I also added some nori and he didnt touch it. He is swimming around very slowly and even drifting sideways.

A few minutes later he threw up about half the shrimp he had eaten.
HELP!!!!

 

[JHemdal]

So - the tang WASN'T skinny yesterday?

The only thing I know of that will cause a fish to become skinny in 24 hours is a rapid rise in the salinity of the water....that will dehydrate a fish and cause it to become emaciated overnight. I suppose kidney failure of some type could cause that also, but every case I've seen where a fish's kidneys were failing caused the opposite - edema, or flooding of the fish's tissues with water, making them look overly plump.

Could the fish have been becoming emaciated over a week or so and you just didn't notice until it got really bad?


Jay

 

[tangtang clown]

I have about ten or more fish in my 125 and this tang was the oldest. He was the biggest and most aggressive. If I put a finger in the tank to feed them, Naso would nip at my finger every time. My dad went into the hospital Wed night. I feed the fish Wed afternoon and I didnt "examine" the Naso, but I believe was eating. I spent the night in the hospital Wed and Thurs night, but I went home Thurs to feed the dogs and the fish. I was in a hurry so I didnt notice anything wrong. Friday I got home about 5pm and my friend said "Look at the fish swimming sideways, how cool!" At first I thought nothing of the comment but when I looked at the tank I immediately noticed the Naso looking very thin and I could clearly see his spine. His stomached looked paper thin and I immediately fed pellets, mysis, and brine.

I went and got some filtered natural seawater from WB and siphoned water from my display into a 30 trashcan. I added a powerhead and a heater, and then the naso. I noticed my yellow tang was "roughing" the Naso up, and that had never happened before. I added the Naso to the trashcan Friday afternoon and He passed Sat night between 7pm and 9pm. RIP!!

I visited my friends house and looked at his tank last week and noticed his oldest Blue Hippo tang looked the same way mine did, and his died a few days later. Is this a case of old age?

 

[tangtang clown]

Oh yeah, the salinty was spot on, 1.026.

 

[scubasteve06]

I am in the same boat JHemdal the tang wasn't skinny the day before? I'm not calling your bluff, but it would seem to take a pretty good while, as in longer than two days for a fish to become emaciated the way you describe. If as JHemdal said the S.G. didn't drop and make him dehydrated I don't know what could of caused it. When was the last time you added a fish to the tank? Have you swapped any corals or fish or equipment with your buddy or anyone else for that matter?

 

[tangtang clown]

I noticed him eating all last week each time I fed the tank, but I didn't hang out and watch to see if he held his food down. Once I got home Friday I noticed how skinny he was and started to pay attention after he ate. Within 5 minutes, I noticed him spitting out whole shrimp. My guess is that something happened with his stomach and he couldn't get food past a blockage or something. I traded a coral with a friend, but not the friend whose tang died. I also added a Blue Jaw trigger about 4 weeks ago, but Naso was eating and still dominate when I added the trigger.

 

[JHemdal]

The spitting out of the food is the key - if it is spitting out whole shrimp, try dicing it into thirds or smaller. It may have a tumor. Thyroid tumors (from goiter) are fairly common and will cause a fish to spit food. The first step is to get its body weight back up - so feed it many small feedings of smaller food items each day. If it continues to spit out the small food items, there isn't anything else I can think of....

Jay

 

[pinnatus]

I added the Naso to the trashcan Friday afternoon and He passed Sat night between 7pm and 9pm. RIP!!

 

[JHemdal]

Well, - food for thought for next time I guess (I was just responding to the OP's last email from this morning).

J