Sick Yellow Tang

[Macimage]

I was given a Yellow Tang from someone's tank that was not doing well. He was too thin and not vibrantly colored.

I put him in my 50 gallon qt tank with live rock, live sand, remora pro and maxijet 1200. I fed him lots and thought that with good feeding and perfect water quality that I would see an improvement. He had been in there a month and still looked the same.

This past weekend I gave him 2/3 of the Prazi Pro dose on Saturday and the other 1/3 on Sunday.

Today (Monday) he is almost white, whereas before he was a dull yellow. He is still swimming and eating.

Any thoughts??

Thanks!
Joyce

 

[Paulca916]

I would say Nori soaked in "Selcon"
Always worked for me in the past with Purple tangs.
Good luck I hope you save it

 

[Gwynhidwy]

I would guess that the fish may have a heavy parasite burden and the prazi is killing them which is causing the fish some trouble. I have never seen a documented case of the prazi itself causing problems (not saying its impossible though), but I have seen the parasite dieoff cause problems and from your description of the fish it sounds like he/she may have had internal parasites (poor coloration, thin despite available food). If the fish continues to worsen I would do a large water change and run carbon, and then try the prazi again in a few days.

My other guess would be that the fish is simply stressed and displaying stress colors. I have seen tangs do this and then stop when dither fish are added. Its unlikely, but an idea.

 

[Macimage]

Thanks everyone.

His color is a bit better today. I agree it's either stress or the parasites dying.

As his color has improved to the same poor yellow color as before, I will continue to watch him and hope he improves.

Thanks again!
Joyce

 

[1geo]

Give it a Formalin bath. Get some 37% Formalin, take one gallon of the tank water he is in and put it in a vessel. Put 1cc of 37% Formalin in the water and immediately put your fish in the one gallon vessel. Keep him there for 1 hour then transfer him to a QT tank. Formalin kills both Ich and Brooklynella parasites. Give him this bath once every other day for 10 days and your tang should be cured of parasites. Now the trouble come in the tank he occupied. The parasites will remain in that tank for up to 8 weeks so the tank will have to remain fallow for 8 weeks to be sure there are no parasites to reinfect fish you put in the tank.

 

[Macimage]

Hi George,

I will do that.

He did not come out of one of my display tanks, as he was given to me because he's sick.

After I treat him with the Formalin, he will go back into the qt tank.

Will this reinfect him?

Do I have to treat him for 10 days and then do a 100% water change on the qt after the last treatment?

Thank you!
Joyce

 

[Macimage]

I have these medications from Aquatronics here:

Formalite I: Formaldehyde 15%, Malachite Green & Cooper (sp) Sulfate

Formalite II: Formaldeyde 15%, Copper & Nickel Sulfate

Formalite III: Malachite Green & Formaldehyde

They are all pretty old, but don't have an expiration date. Will any of them work?

If not, I'll find some of the 37% Formalin.

Thanks again!
Joyce

 

[1geo]

The way I do it is I have a 10 gal QT tank. Daily I put 1cc of 37% Formalin in my 10 gal QT tank just to kill any swimmers in the tank. Remember, Formalin does not accumulate in water and it starts to dissipate once its mixed. Within two hours its gone. You must use 37% Formalin and use fresh product Formalin does not have a long shelf life. 15% will do you no good you must use 37%. I buy from the internet from the large retailers because of their turn over almost ensures fresh product. Since you need is immediate, buy it locally, every hour you wait is critical. If fact, if you cannot get Formalin immediately then fresh water dips will give your fish some relief before you can get the Formalin. And, large water changes in the QT tank will also get rid of swimmers which are constantly attacking your fish and clogging their gills; the fresh water baths will get rid of some of the parasites on your fish's gills allowing them to breath and stay alive until you can get 37% Formalin. Treatment is one bath a day every other day for 10 days, that is a total of 5 baths. During this time do a 40% water exchange every other day and EVERYDAY add 1cc of Formalin to the QT water (I assume a 10 gal tank); this will kill any swimmers in the water at that time. At the end of the ten days your fish will be cured. Now move them into a temporary home until the main tank is fish-less for 8 weeks. This also gives you time to observe your fish to make sure they are cured.

 

[Macimage]

Thanks!

I will do a freshwater bath now and then go to Petco and see what I can find. Otherwise, there are two lfs stores in town.

Joyce

 

[Macimage]

Ok, the freshwater bath is heating up another 3 degrees, I pulled out my 10 gallon hospital tank and I had a minute to shoot these photos:

What are the red marks along the top? He also has tiny black spots.

I will check this thread after the freshwater bath and before I go to the store for the Formalin.

Thank you.

 

[Macimage]

I went to 4 places and all I could find was Kordon Formalin 3. I just went online and it says that it is 37% formaldehyde solution, so I think that is the correct product.

The bottle says "Can be used at twice usual dosage"? Should I double it?

Please let me know if I still should mail order another product.

He looks better after the FW dip.

Thank you,
Joyce

 

[1geo]

What ever recommendation the bottle has follow it. It should tell you the concentration for a Formalin bath using 1 gal of water. I use 1cc in 1 gal of water for the bath. I take the water from what ever tank the fish are in, even if they are in the infected tank. The reason for this is once you add the 1cc of Formalin any swimmers in the water will be killed. Once the bath time is up, 1 hour if your fish can stand it but at least 45 minutes, then transfer the fish to a QT tank. If you start out with the fish in the QT tank then use 1 gal of the QT water to set up the bath. This ensures that the bath water has the same PH and temp as the water the fish came out of. This means less stress during the bath. Remember, do not remove the fish unless it is showing signs of EXTREME DISTRESS. One more thing, Formalin depletes the oxygen in the water so put an airstone in the 1 gal bath water. Once you mix the Formalin use it right away.

 

[1geo]

One more thing, you can put more then one fish in the bath at one time depending on how large the fish are. If one fish has parasites, ALL of the fish in the tank have parasites and need to be treated even if they do not show any symptoms.

 

[Macimage]

I put the fish in the 10 gallon hospital tank and was going to leave him in there for the 10 days.

Is it better to leave him in there for only one hour and then put him back into the 50 gallon qt? If I do keep putting him back into the 50 gallon, won't he get reinfected?

Thanks!

P.S. It's just the one fish that has been in qt since I got him.

 

[1geo]

Leave him in the 10 gal hospital tank (QT tank). Do not put any fish in the infected tank it must remain fallow for 8 weeks to be rid of any parasites. If you put any fish in the tank before the full 8 weeks are up they will be reinfected.

 

[Macimage]

Great!

If I empty the 50 gallon qt tank and let it dry out for a few days, will it be ok to use after the 10 days of hospital treatments are completed?

I want to put him back into the 50 gallon qt for a few months before adding him to my display tank, but I don't want him to get reinfected.

Thanks for all your help,
Joyce

 

[1geo]

That's a good question. I would assume if you emptied the tank and let it dry then filled it with tap water and let it sit for a day then empty it and let it dry again it should be OK. I have never done that so this is just my opinion.

 

[Macimage]

I'll probably take it outside and rinse it with muriatic acid to be on the safe side.

Thanks!
Joyce

 

[Gwynhidwy]

I'll probably take it outside and rinse it with muriatic acid to be on the safe side.

Thanks!
Joyce

This coupled with a few days of being dry should kill off anything left in the tank that your fish is infected with.

 

[1geo]

The answer to drying out the tank is how durable are Ich eggs? I am sure there are marine biologists reading these threads who could answer that question.