Skinny Yellow Tang

[LukFox]

I bought two yellow tangs back in September from different sources. Both were thin upon purchasing, but one of them has fattened up just fine. The other however, has retained its pinched belly despite feeding multiple times a day. The other yellow tang and the purple tang are fatties, but this one yellow just isn't gaining weight. She'll eat a large meal, get a decent bulge, and then the stomach will shrink soon after.

I'm starting to think she might have worms. Could it be something else? What sort of action should I take?

 

[George Gouveia]

Are you feeding it veggies? and the food contains aditional vitamins?

If so, and based on what you described, i'd say it is most likely internal worms, you should move the fish to a quarantine tank and begin treating it.

Moving it is fundamental, to prevent the infection from spreading to your other fish.

 

[LukFox]

It gets nori regularly and selcon is added to all of its other foods. I also feed New Life Spectrum A + Thera which is supposed to have a lot of vitamins in it.

What do I treat it with?

 

[George Gouveia]

i'll read into it and i'll let you know.

 

[LukFox]

I picked up some metronidazole yesterday. Is that the right stuff for this?

 

[George Gouveia]

sorry for the long delay in the answer. Yes metronidazole is what you need to use to treat internal parasites, but for treatment you will need to setup a quarantine tank, both to avoid propagation of the parasite and for protection of your corals and invertibrates from the treatment.

 

[LukFox]

Update:

I tried soaking the food in the metronidozole and just feeding it to everyone. I did that for a week, then took a week break, then treated for another week. Around day 3 to day 6 each time of treatment, the tang's belly fattened up considerably. However, after that it goes back to being thin. The tang still has the parasites.

What do I do, or what is a more effective way to treat? If I need a different medicine, is it one I could get at your average LFS or could order online?

 

[George Gouveia]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11458400#post11458400 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LukFox
Update:

I tried soaking the food in the metronidozole and just feeding it to everyone. I did that for a week, then took a week break, then treated for another week. Around day 3 to day 6 each time of treatment, the tang's belly fattened up considerably. However, after that it goes back to being thin. The tang still has the parasites.

What do I do, or what is a more effective way to treat? If I need a different medicine, is it one I could get at your average LFS or could order online?

i'll look into it and see what i can come up with.