perplexed - need some advise

[saltyair]

Hey all

I have a yellow tang over 5 yrs has been doing great actually been the boss of the tank. Fat healthy all around great health. Was the first tang i ever bought.

Well she is now acting really weird. I am sure she hasn't eaten in 4+ days. She seems to be turning white and only stays in her sleeping spot or the other side of the tank under an over hang. NO3- under 5 po4 - 0 no ammonia, ph steady 8.0 - 8.2.
not noticing rapid breathing - not sure if the white is excess mucus or discoloration.
High end tang pellets fed daily, mysis/brine with sp. and nori.

no other tangs are effected or other fish. Nothing added to the tank in over 3 months (including coral) No signs of forward aggression that i can detect.

all fish are qt for 30 days.

I would love to QT her back to health - but her sleeping spot is the largest section of rock and impossible to dis mantel at during the day let alone at night. She is not eating so fish trap is out.
(healthy)

(sick)

she is always looking to be cleaned by the wrasse and shrimp

 

[saltyair]

bump - anyone with insight would be great

 

[saltyair]

anyone suggest a way to get her into a hospital tank? should I dis mantel to pull her out?

 

[Deinonych]

If she is eating, you might try a fish trap like the Aqua Medic one.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I don't know what you'd treat with or for. Why the ammonia? A mature tank should never have any ammonia and it could have spiked higher that that, affecting the Tang. (Fact on the ammonia, wild guess on the effects to the tang. )

 

[saltyair]

Like I was saying 0 NH3 or other issues with water parms. It is a mature tank and very steady.
She is still hanging on but now has not eaten in 6 days.
fish trap is out b/c she's not eating.

anyone have an idea what I am dealing with? bacteria,virus or something else?

 

[tmz]

I don't know what it is ? Is there red dicoloration around the edges of the body or is that just my eyes and the picture. Had a Yellow tang that was fading like yours a couple of years ago. Still have it. Noticed redness along the edges of the body. Tuned out to be septicemia, a blood infection., An antibiotic treatment in a hospital tank did wonders.

 

[saltyair]

thank you tmz - how did you catch the yt?

the red has only just started - i was assuming it was from aggressive cleaning by the wrasse. did other tangs get the disease?

I don't know what it is ? Is there red dicoloration around the edges of the body or is that just my eyes and the picture. Had a Yellow tang that was fading like yours a couple of years ago. Still have it. Noticed redness along the edges of the body. Tuned out to be septicemia, a blood infection., An antibiotic treatment in a hospital tank did wonders.

 

[tmz]

By the time I figured it out ,the tang wasn't moving very much so it was easy to catch. I'm not good at catching fish in crowded reefs. Others may have some techniques for you. The apparent red spot on the side of the fish may mean something else but in any case a broad band antibiotic like API triple sulfa is what I would try.

 

[saltyair]

Hey all Great news my YT is eating and visibly getting better. She is re gaining her dominance in the tank.

I will get beat up for this but I want to share my experience. I went out on a limb and dosed api melafix for 3 days turned off carbon and skimmer - first day full dose second day 3/4 dose third day half dose. the YT started to eat after 2 days. Nothing has been effected negative. the skimmer and carbon are now on and everything is running normal with a healthy YT.
took 4 days and a 25% wc to allow the skimmer to work again.

I am very happy with the results.

 

[saltyair]

YT healthy again

YT healthy again

Hey all Great news my YT is eating and visibly getting better. She is re gaining her dominance in the tank.

I will get beat up for this but I want to share my experience. I went out on a limb and dosed api melafix for 3 days turned off carbon and skimmer - first day full dose second day 3/4 dose third day half dose. the YT started to eat after 2 days. Nothing has been effected negative. the skimmer and carbon are now on and everything is running normal with a healthy YT.
took 4 days and a 25% wc to allow the skimmer to work again.

I am very happy with the results.

 

[tmz]

It's beena long time since I used Melafix . As I recall The herbal mixtre is useful against some bacteria,some of the time . Glad to hear the news.

 

[saltyair]

yea i was surprised - she is fully recovered and getting her colour back. I did see a drop in DK and PH tho - and my green and blue acros are showing signs of stress - but look like they are recovering as well.
having the skimmer off and carbon/gfo off for an extended time also allowed a bit of gha show up.
If I ever have to that again , i will lower the photo time and insure ph and dk are on the high side. I would also do a bigger WC than 25% more like 30%

all in all I call it success.

everything is getting back to normal

 

[Deinonych]

Glad to hear she is doing well! Hope she continues to improve.

 

[saltyair]

Update - two weeks later the yellow tang is back to her normal self.

But i do want to warn people with sensitive sps - I did end up losing a acro and still seeing stress effects on my blue bonsi and blue acro.

If you have no other choice to save a fish (like I did) I would suggest moving your more sensitive sps corals to a separate tank during medication. It will effect your alk and ph