Some help with my yellow tang

[MBVette]

So Im not sure whats going on with my yellow tang. His fins have slowly been receeding over the last few months. At first I thought it might have been another fish bullying him around, but I never really see agression, except for a rare time him and the purple tang chase each other, but that does not happen often. But now it looks like fin rot, and Im not sure the cause. He is eating well (nori, pellets, & frozen) is fat, and is still very active.

My phosphates are at 0, and nitrates less than 5. Any idea what could be going on here?



Thanks!

 

[MBVette]

nobody?

 

[ca1ore]

Honestly, the top fin looks like chunks bitten out, so even though you may not have actually witnessed it, my guess would be that it is fighting with the purple. I have the same two fish in my tank, but it is the purple that regularly shows up with a chunk or two missing. FWIW, I feed my tank a sheet of nori daily, and soak all frozen in a vitamin supplement (either selcon, Zoe, or the one from brightwell). Doesn't help nipping, obviously, but fins in my tank do seem to heal up pretty fast.

 

[xanthurum]

He isnt what i would call fat, i would treat your tank with melafix to halt any bacterial infections from starting or getting worse. Then i would start feeding more and vary the diet more if it doent get better within 2 weeks i would pull him and run him through every treatment in a hospital tank until it gets better.

 

[MBVette]

So I spoke to some other people today and they agree with what you said, that it is bite marks not fin rot. And I would have to assume it is the purple tang that is doing it, but here is the list of fish in the tank:

Purple Tang
Yellow Tang
Hippo Tang
Chevron Tang
Male Masked Swallowtail (female died )
Pair of Blue Jaw Triggers
Solon Wrasse
Lubbocks Wrasse
Pair of Clowns
Diamond Goby
Watchman Goby
Flame Angel

The only fish that I know is a bit aggressive is the Solon, he has attacked any new wrasse I put in, and my Exquisite wrasse permanently lives in my sump now, b/c every time I put him back into my display he jumps down the drain pipe into the sump again.

The odds of me catching this yellow tang is slim to none, and he is still eating like a pig. So should I just try to treat it in the tank? But if its aggression I cant imagine it getting better since these guys have been in the tank together for over a year now.

 

[ca1ore]

If it is indeed fin damage from fighting, then there is no 'treatment' other than removal of either the yellow or the purple. I'd never advocate using medications in the display, so even if it becomes apparent that there is bacteria at work, you are still looking a removing the fish to a separate tank. Frankly, I have just let my fish work it out and other than a few missing chunks, all mine seem pretty healthy.

Although I don't have direct personal experience with all of the fish in your tank currently, it seems like a pretty aggressive mix so I'd expect some physical damage as a matter of course.

 

[Rea17]

What is the tank size?

IMO it looks like fin rot, the chunks are missing out of odd places for it to be bite marks, coupled with the skinny fish/bulging stomach look. Was this fish ever dewormed? This can be reversed rather quickly ime with antibiotic treatment in a hospital tank (in extreme cases, which yours isn't), proper diet w/ plenty of vitamin additives, good water quality, and a stress free environment (proper tank size/tankmates).