Sick Kole Tang

[hkgar]

When I first got him and introduce into the QT, I didn't think he would make it an hour. He (Ok, maybe a she) went straight to the bottom and was laying on his side or upside down and no movement but heavy breathing. Came from LA and did temperature acclimation and SG match and introduced. Also introduced a PBT and Caribbean Tang at the same time.

After a hour I gave a little prod and he quickly got up and started swimming. Swimming was (and still is) very erratic. Often just hanging out in the corner in a vertical position. After 3 days of this strange behavior I treated with Prazi Pro.

Last Friday I notice bite marks on his tail and Have since sold the PBT to my LFS.

Now I am noticing whit shading around the gill area. Here is a picture. I am not referring to the white stripes cause be reflections from the glass.



I hope this video works as I can't get it to play in my photo bucket.



Any thought or ideas

 

[Newsmyrna80]

He is exhibiting stressed behavior which could be caused by his reflection (cover the outside glass with paper), parasite or environmental.
Parasite: Did anything come off him after you dosed the Prazi? As far as other diseases it's not evident at this point but keep an eye out for symptoms.
Environmental: I see you have an ammonia badge but have you measured ammonia and do you have something to lock the ammonia on hand?
How is he eating? Are you supplying algae?

 

[hkgar]

The thing that seems to stress him out the most is my appearance at the tank.. That is when his stress behavior goes into overdrive. I was hoping his stress related behaviour would resolve once I got rid of the PBT. I feed Spirolina flakes a couple time a day and add a 2x2 piece of Nori to an algae clip once per day. I know the Carribean is eating but I have not seen the Kole eat. He has now taken to spending almost 100% of his time in a 2" PVC elbow.

I do periodically test for Ammonia and do not rely only on the alert button. Tested today at 0. I also keep Kent Ammonia detoxify on hand.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I had a wrasse with that problem. I set up an elaborate labyrinth of mirror to get a good look at him without him seeing me.
Although you have not seen him eat he may still getting something to eat.
I think you may be just dealing with a very skittish and stressed fish but since hiding and not eating are symptoms of a disease I would still be vigilant for other symptoms.

 

[prop-frags]

Agree with everyone that this is stress behavior. Are you able to observe the tank without the tangs seeing you?

I had a wrasse with that problem. I set up an elaborate labyrinth of mirror to get a good look at him without him seeing me.
Although you have not seen him eat he may still getting something to eat.
I think you may be just dealing with a very skittish and stressed fish but since hiding and not eating are symptoms of a disease I would still be vigilant for other symptoms.

We nick-named our Spotted Bristletooth (been with us for about 9 years now) Drama Queen (or "Queenie" for short) after our first 300g tank failure in 2010 when we moved the tang to a 75g temporary tank. After the move, we thought (he/she) was going to die because every time we checked, the fish was lying on it's side and appeared to be gasping for it's last breath. After 3 days of this and thinking the worst, I happened to peak around the corner and saw "Queenie" tooling around without a care in the world. I did a double-take and walked in the room. As soon as the tang saw me, he/she froze for a second, eyes bulged (if "Queenie" could've screamed, he/she would have) and dove for the bottom back corner - once again laying on his/her side and gasping for air. Once we realized what was going on, it was hysterically funny - thankfully, the behavior stopped about a week later.

 

[Deinonych]

My Kole was very skittish when he was in QT. Anytime I would walk into the room, he'd hide in the PVC elbow in the corner. He made it through QT without incident, including TTM. I kept stress low by keeping the QT isolated in a spare bedroom (away from the normal foot traffic in the house), and only checked on him a couple times of the day - usually by peeking in the door surreptitiously. I also fed him New Era feeding rings, as they allow him to graze naturally. I highly recommend this food for any grazing fish, and especially this species.

He's been doing great in my DT for about 4 months now.

edit: I should also point out that my Kole wouldn't touch nori while in QT.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Agree with everyone that this is stress behavior. Are you able to observe the tank without the tangs seeing you?



We nick-named our Spotted Bristletooth (been with us for about 9 years now) Drama Queen (or "Queenie" for short) after our first 300g tank failure in 2010 when we moved the tang to a 75g temporary tank. After the move, we thought (he/she) was going to die because every time we checked, the fish was lying on it's side and appeared to be gasping for it's last breath. After 3 days of this and thinking the worst, I happened to peak around the corner and saw "Queenie" tooling around without a care in the world. I did a double-take and walked in the room. As soon as the tang saw me, he/she froze for a second, eyes bulged (if "Queenie" could've screamed, he/she would have) and dove for the bottom back corner - once again laying on his/her side and gasping for air. Once we realized what was going on, it was hysterically funny - thankfully, the behavior stopped about a week later.

:lol2: That is hilarious!!

 

[hkgar]

Update

Update

The entire time I had him in QT he virtually stayed in the 2 inch pvc elbow and when he was out swam very erratic and fast. Completely stressed out. I could not come near the tank or back into hiding he would go.

Moved to the display today and I think he (ok, maybe she) is the happiest fish in the DT. Swimming around nipping on rocks and even came up to eat from the Nori strip and the New Era grazer.

A real observation why Tangs need to be in the right size tank. I plan on adding a PBT within the week but am now worried about QT. Maybe a small one would do ik, but the Kole is only about 2 inches and he freaked out for 4 weeks. I treated with Prazi Pro and then Cupramine while in QT

 

[Deinonych]

The entire time I had him in QT he virtually stayed in the 2 inch pvc elbow and when he was out swam very erratic and fast. Completely stressed out. I could not come near the tank or back into hiding he would go.

Moved to the display today and I think he (ok, maybe she) is the happiest fish in the DT. Swimming around nipping on rocks and even came up to eat from the Nori strip and the New Era grazer.

A real observation why Tangs need to be in the right size tank. I plan on adding a PBT within the week but am now worried about QT. Maybe a small one would do ik, but the Kole is only about 2 inches and he freaked out for 4 weeks. I treated with Prazi Pro and then Cupramine while in QT

Your experience is similar to mine (above). In fact, my Kole is the boss of the DT, to the point of being annoying. He has started harassing my McCosker's wrasse to the point where the wrasse won't come out of his rock until mid-day (and "goes to bed" before any other fish).