Sailfin Tang failing to thrive (after one year in tank)

[nematode]

I have a sailfin tang who I've had for about a year.
For the last two weeks it has been less than perfectly healthy
-breathing is heavy
-color is off, light and splotchy (areas the size of dimes discolored).
-does not have any signs of ich or oodinium
-steal eating relatively well
-but less active than usual

Vitamin deficiency?
TB?
I have no idea.

While I did introduce a few fish a few months back (chromis and Cardinals), no recent introductions have been made.

Unfortunately it is in a 150g reef tank with lots of hiding places/rocks/etc.
Catching it is not currently a reasonable option.

No other fish in the tank is showing any signs of disease

There are two other tangs in the tank, but the fish is not showing
sign of being picked on though there is a little aggression being displayed (as usual for the last year).
Other fish are 5 chromis, 3 cardinals, 1 kole tang, 1 powder blue and one flame angel.

Any ideas? or suggestions.

I could try to feed antibiotic laced food for example.

Catching the fish would require removal of much of the rock

Feeding flake morning and evening and nori in the morning. The fish used to eat the nori, but has done less in the last week, though it still eats a lot of flake

 

[shaka]

Are all other fish thriving?

My PBT is definitely an aggressive fish, but my Desjardinii Sailfin Tang outgrew him ( and everybody else for that matter) faster than the PBT could grow. In the end the Desjardinii became "the boss".

 

[nematode]

All the other fish are doing great. my cardinals are breeding -at least trying to. Dad holds the eggs a few weeks in his mouth, then they start again. The kole tang does most of the wall algae grazing and is ignored by both the PBT and Sailfin. The Sailfin nips at rock and algae but also gorges on the flake. The PBT and the Kole do not touch the flake. The PBT is significantlylarger than the Sailfin, but was added long after the Flame and Sailfin had established the tank. the overt aggression between the PBT and Sailfin is relatively minimal. The sailfin is not hiding, but as there has always been, occasionally there is a little tail swipe or other sign of aggression as they pass each other. No chasing, biting, ... etc as I have seen many times before in my 30 + years running SW tanks. They shared the morning nori without any signs of aggression until the sailfin stop partaking a few days ago.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

Do you feed any sort of meaty seafoods? Sailfins are big fast growing tangs and may need more substance than what flakes and seaweed can provide for proper nutrition. In addition to nori and prepared foods I also feed mysis, fortified brine, NLS pellets and other fresh meaty seafoods. I also soak my feed in vitamins, garlic, and selcon which seems to help keep them in prime shape.

 

[nematode]

I feed occasional reef food (a combination of all sorts of things which includes pieces of shrimp, scallops and squid.)
The sailfin is not thin or showing any typical signs of a internal parasite. All the other fish are very thick and healthy, and the sailfin is not thin or emaciated like some starving fish seen at pet stores.
My concern is the heavy breathing, the color loss, and lack of vitality in general.

The fish is ~ 3" in diameter. On the smallish side for a sailfin and certainly no where close to the size of some of the bigger specimen's I've seen. If it was large I'd chalk it up to aging.

The situation has me puzzled which is why I posted.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Do you feed any sort of meaty seafoods? Sailfins are big fast growing tangs and may need more substance than what flakes and seaweed can provide for proper nutrition. In addition to nori and prepared foods I also feed mysis, fortified brine, NLS pellets and other fresh meaty seafoods. I also soak my feed in vitamins, garlic, and selcon which seems to help keep them in prime shape.

+1 Your tank's diet is really lacking. Although tangs are considered herbivores, they eat a lot of small animal life while grazing on the reef. He needs plenty of mature LR and a good variety of foods and vitamins. Just flakes and nori isn't adequate fir any fish, long-term. IMO, you should have at least 6 or so foods that are fed regularly (some frozen), plus the Selcon ( or another vitamin). No promise that this will change the fish, but its still the right path for all of your fish. BTW, personally, I don't like flake food---too much waste. Watch how many little bits are never eaten and either fall to the substrate or out an overflow, filter intake, etc.

 

[nematode]

I can't argue with the fact that more variety is better,
I'll get some selcon and feed some soaked pellets (I have pellet I just don't use it).

I do use two types of flakes: Brine shrimp flakes and good old Tetramin. I also feed mystis shrimp, but only occasionally (1/week or so). But, I've never had a problem with any tang (scopas, yellow, or sailfin) on this kind of diet. Tetramin is a pretty complete diet.
Bottom line is my gut feeling is that it isn't a diet issue since

1) all my other fish look great and are growing.
2) the heavy breathing isn't consistent with a diet issue.

RE Flake food being wasteful.
I personally do not think that flake food going in the overflow is "waste". That food feeds the sump a which is also a refugium in my case. And the small pieces feed the critters in the tank.

 

[Recty]

Sounds kind of symptomatic of flukes, to me.

Prazipro seems to help with that, you can treat even in a full blown reef and really only have problems with losing worms like tubeworms and bristleworms.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

It definately could be a parasite, either internal or external. There are also medicated foods that help with internal problems. Look for a metro based fish food.

 

[shaka]

I agree with Kahuna Tuna and MrTuskfish in regards to diet. I feed all of my fish NLS pellets as their main diet ( small and large pellets), but I also feed Nori, Spirulina enriched brine and, on occasion, clams on the halfshell. I currently have a 5 yr. old PBT and 1 yr. old Desjardinii.

 

[nematode]

after reading this thread on flukes, I think its highly likely this is a gill flukes issue.
The fish has splotchy color loss, fast breathing, ragged fins, lethagy, and reduced appetite all of which are symptoms of gill flukes. Only symptom lacking is cloudy eyes.

prazipro ordered and If it gets worse before that arrives, I will attempt to catch it and give it a fresh water dip.

thread
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260067&highlight=gill+flukes&page=17

 

[Recty]

Glad to help

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

Good luck to you

 

[nematode]

update. Sailfin doing better. I've been feeding more varied flake foods and supplementing with selcon and some frozen foods.

I got prazipro, but never did treat.

I am still not convinced it was really diet related, or whether it was some disease that the fish fought off with natural defenses.
Regardless, things are much better