purple tang skin issue

crvz

Team RC
I've had this fish for a while, a little over a year now, and it's currently having some skin issues and not eating very well. I did just do a hypo treatment with all the fish, and I don't think this guy liked it very much. I have since brought the salinity back up and isolated the purple tang from the rest of the fish in hopes of giving it more dedicated attention, but it's not improving. What does this look like, and how should I treat it?

2012_03_22_purple_tang_skin_issue_original.jpg
 
Does the fish look "dry"; no mucus or slime coat? I've seen zebrasoma tangs like this after a rough shipping where pH and ammonia got high. I think they get a compromised slime coat. My guess is a secondary bacterial infection then sets. Maybe hypo leads to the same condition if the fish's coat is sloughed enough and the fish is stressed. Is the tang now at regular salinity and acceptable water parameters? Whats nitrate, phosphate, KH? If any of these are off (high/high/low respectively) it makes me think you need to do more water changes. IF everything is good then consider antibiotics. Aminoglycosides target most of the external marine bacterial infections (gram negative pseudomonas or vibrio) so look at kanamycin neomycin or gentamycin. If you don't have access to those or those don't start to work within 24 hours( Personal experience but don't tell your vet cause they want you to run these for days and days) you can try maracyn two (minocycline), nitrofurazone ( water turns yellow), or sulfa drugs (TMP Sulfa), which are more broad spectrum antibiotics but work a little less quickly/effectively (bacteriostatic vs bacteriocidal).
 
thanks cngreg. The fish does look dry. There is no measurable phosphate, nitrate is in the 5ppm range, and KH is about 8. Specific gravity is back to 1.022 and has been since March 4th (and the fish has been getting slowly worse in that time). I've been doing 10% water changes 3-4 times a week lately on this tank (it's a small 30 gallon long that has a bit of live rock and a few pumps in it). I had some furan2 on hand and started to dose that, is that the same as nitrofurazone? I believe so.

any others with thoughts? I'll keep the progress updated.
 
The fish's appetite is not so great. It had been an extremely good eater, but recently its just picking every now and again. I'm making sure multiple varieties of food are always available.

What kind of picture are you looking for? I could take it.
 
A close-up picture is what I was looking for to help diagnose. Pictures of both sides of the fish would be helpful as well. The eyes look clear. Is that correct?
 
It's possible something else is causing irritation. Charcoal dust or something in the water you are doing changes with? Dechloraminator a good one? RO water as pure as it should be? Just trying to brainstorm; sounds like you are doing everything right.
 
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