Suicidal Purple Tang Has Broken Pectoral Fin

[Zach Vs Ponies]

NOTE: If you aren't interested in the back story and just want me to cut to the chase, start reading at the paragraph that starts with "So, that leads us to today."

OKAY, he's not really "suicidal", but my purple tang seems to enjoy getting stuck onto my Vortech MP40. He only does it when I feed nori. He has a tendency to get a little messy while he eats that stuff, and jerks it off the clip and lets it float around the tank, while still nibbling on it. A few weeks ago, I was watching him do it, and it got stuck on my Vortech MP40. He approached the pump to try to take it back (nothing surprising there), but when he realized the pump was too powerful he didn't try to swim away from the pump, he just let it jerk him right on it. He is a big 5 inch fish, so it didn't suck him in and chop him up, but it did clamp him down on it and he couldn't move. I swiftly unplugged the pump. I fed him a few minutes later and he was just fine.

Days later, I find him again on the pump, though I never fed nori. He had been on there for at least 30 minutes. He had ridges on his side from the pump. Still, he recovered just fine and ate within minutes of coming off the pump. That day, I put the foam cover on the pump.

So, that leads us to today. I fed nori again, and being rather stupid, walked away from the tank. 20 minutes later, there he is, stuck on the pump. Only when I unplugged the pump this time, he swam off and went straight to the bottom of the tank and laid there for minutes. He eventually got up and has been slowly going in circles in the tank ever since. I noticed he isn't using one of his pectoral fins, and his pelvic fins are very white.

Do you think the fin might be broken, or is that even possible? Will it repair itself?

I am also very concerned on the fact that he even got on the pumps. I have noticed the past few weeks he has gotten skinny, despite the fact I am feeding frequently. I am wondering if he has an internal parasite of some sort, and this could be a part of the problem. The pumps are on half speed, yet they still suck him in.

He is currently in the display tank with the pumps on low speed. It's too late tonight for me to get water together to move him to quarantine, which I will do tomorrow.

Tank Parameters: Nitrate, Ammonia, Nitrite: All 0 ppm. pH: 8. Temp is 78F.

Thank you for any help.

 

[themoraykeeper]

Hi there, sounds strange to me :/ might be a possible paracite that is effecting him and causing distress.
How long have you had him for?
Also what are the tank dimensions? may be because the tank enviroment is stressing him out.
What other tank mates are there in the tank?
Not sure what else could be effecting him :/

 

[Zach Vs Ponies]

Hi there, sounds strange to me :/ might be a possible paracite that is effecting him and causing distress.
How long have you had him for?
Also what are the tank dimensions? may be because the tank enviroment is stressing him out.
What other tank mates are there in the tank?
Not sure what else could be effecting him :/

I have had him for 2 years. The tank is a standard 125 gallon reef tank (6 feet long, 21 tall, 18 wide).

He is one of two tangs in the tank, the other being a 1 1-2 inch Chevron Tang. With that in mind, he is by far the largest fish in the tank, so no one is bullying him.

The Chevron Tang is the newest arrival in the tank, but it was 3-4 added months ago.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

I think you are on the right track. There's gotta be something wrong with a healthy tang that size being sucked into a powerhead. A healthy fish would not get sucked into a powerhead, and would be able to fight it's way off if it accidentally got sucked onto it...

How are the other fish behaving? Any maintenance on the tank lately that may have bothered the fish?

 

[ca1ore]

I'm chuckling because before this week I would have said that a fish getting 'pinned' to the side of a vortech pump was either the vivid imagination of an addled mind or a very sick fish, however ........

I recently added a 6" Naso Tang to my tank and the colossal dunderhead keeps getting stuck to the side of my MP60. Oy! Same ridges on its body, and one of the pectoral fins is looking a bit ragged. This is a fish that I have had in QT for 12 weeks and am as sure as I can be that it is healthy. As long as the fish really is healthy, should recover from pump damage.

In my case, the Naso does seem to have worked out that the pump is not a good place to be. My suggestions would be to run the pump in a mode that provides some lower flow settings so that the fish can escape or use the foam sleeve. At the very least try to feed nori as far away from the pump as possible.

 

[DopeCantWin]

I'm chuckling because before this week I would have said that a fish getting 'pinned' to the side of a vortech pump was either the vivid imagination of an addled mind or a very sick fish, however ........

I recently added a 6" Naso Tang to my tank and the colossal dunderhead keeps getting stuck to the side of my MP60. Oy! Same ridges on its body, and one of the pectoral fins is looking a bit ragged. This is a fish that I have had in QT for 12 weeks and am as sure as I can be that it is healthy. As long as the fish really is healthy, should recover from pump damage.

In my case, the Naso does seem to have worked out that the pump is not a good place to be. My suggestions would be to run the pump in a mode that provides some lower flow settings so that the fish can escape or use the foam sleeve. At the very least try to feed nori as far away from the pump as possible.

Other than sick or dying fish I've never had anybody stuck to my MP60. What setting do you have it on?

 

[ca1ore]

Other than sick or dying fish I've never had anybody stuck to my MP60. What setting do you have it on?

I had never had this happen before either. Pump is on reef crest at 80%. Naso seems to have worked it out now, but got itself stuck at least twice (because it had ridges on both sides of its body).

 

[Zach Vs Ponies]

I wanted to provide a update on the fish this evening:

I noticed today he was moving the fin a bit, and was questioning whether the condition of that fin was better off than previously thought. When my white bulbs turned on my tank, they revealed a different story. The fin is badly damaged. Actually, I think it is more damaged today than it was damaged yesterday. I made a video of him swimming. Here it is (excuse my blenny, he's a camera hog):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez9RAoDJ_zA

He is eating, though. I fed sprinula brine shrimp once, mush once, and flakes twice. He ate each time. I put a small nori sheet in the tank, he didn't even look at it (I probably wouldn't either if getting a nori sheet nearly killed me, LOL).

As the day has gone on, he seems to be getting worse off. His breathing is very labored, and he has developed a large white spot on his side, I think it is a stress spot. Also, after reviewing the video, I feel like his fin receded away more (possibly due to the fact he is swimming with it now).

Once I noticed that, I set up the quarantine tank. I'm about to work on removing him from the display tank.

 

[jechew2]

I couldn't tell much about his fin other than it looking frayed, but your PT looks very thin. I'm guessing it's his lack of strength that is causing him to get stuck to your powerhead. Good luck. I hope he makes it.

 

[Zach Vs Ponies]

I couldn't tell much about his fin other than it looking frayed, but your PT looks very thin. I'm guessing it's his lack of strength that is causing him to get stuck to your powerhead. Good luck. I hope he makes it.

The youtube video is terrible quality--I can hardly notice anything in it myself. The video on my phone is much better, and you can see a significant change in the fin from that video to now.

I moved him into quarantine. I told myself I was going to do it yesterday, but watching him eat told me to push it off until today. I decided there was no point in prolonging the inevitable. If he makes it, treatment will be more focused on his weight problems, which I believe are a result of an internal parasite.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Imo just from the short video that is 100% not a healthy fish.. Did you quarantine the new tang? Possible it brought in some parasite? Good luck

Have you noticed any stringy feces or any other indicators of parasites or worms?

 

[Zach Vs Ponies]

Imo just from the short video that is 100% not a healthy fish.. Did you quarantine the new tang? Possible it brought in some parasite? Good luck

Have you noticed any stringy feces or any other indicators of parasites or worms?

No doubt--the fish has serious problems. I began to take notice of his decreasing weight weeks ago and increased daily feedings and nori feedings. Out of all of my fish, he is the most voracious eater during the daily feeding. It just doesn't make sense that a fish that eats as much as he does can be so skinny. That is what makes me believe there is another factor working against him. His poop is a normal greenish-brownish color. I watched him go earlier.

He is in a 20 gallon quarantine tank at the moment, been in there for 4 hours now. He is in a odd position--nose on the ground and his body vertically up in a 45 degree angle. He hasn't moved much since being in quarantine. I just poured in a first round of PraziPro. The video makes it look as if he is discolored, but he is a normal purple color all around, other than the white stress spot that appeared on him earlier. I just looked at him and it isn't there any more.

And yes, the Chevron Tang was quarantined. It is a very small specimen, very plump as well. I was wrong on the amount of time I have had the Chevy Tang, though. It's actually been 6 months. The possibility that he brought something over is on the table, but I doubt it. He is an extremely healthy fish.

Thanks.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

FWIW, I agree that it is unlikely that a healthy fish would get stuck to the MY 40 and that the fish is sick. Based on what you posted, I would be treating with PraziPro as you are. If no change occurs within 24 hours, I would try a broad - spectrum antibiotic if the fish is still alive.

Good luck.

 

[Zach Vs Ponies]

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to report on the current situation of the fish.

I woke up this morning to get ready to go to school, and found the fish sitting vertically in the quarantine tank, dead. I didn't examine the gills, as I was running out the door, but a quick examination led to this conclusion.

I came home for lunch , but still didn't give a close examantion because I was going to wait an hour and get back from my last class and give an in depth peek at him. a

This afternoon, I came home prepared to get ready to dispose of the fish. I got out some bags to dispose of him in (I freeze my fish until I can burn them when I know of a bonfire or something going on). My curiosity got the best of me though, and I got out my scalpel and some tweezers, prepared to cut him open and examine his stomach. While in in my cabinet looking for those supplies, I looked up and noticed the fish moved from his morning position, and I then noticed his tail was moving. He is, in fact, alive.

Nevertheless, considering the fact I thought he was dead earlier this morning, the fish is in very rough shape. One noticeable change from yesterday is that his breathing is much slower now.. I want to say that is a good thing. For some reason or another, he is sitting vertically like a cork. He looks like a seahorse with internal gas bubble disease, but he is not floating to the surface. Does anyone have any insight as to why that might be?

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Describe the QT tank. If there is no PVC, or anything for the fish to hide behind, it may have just been sleeping or trying to hide when you saw it this morning. Give it a few hours or a day or so to get used to the QT tank and see how it is eating. In addition to being sick, its stressed as well no doubt. If the fish is eating, I'd ramp up the prazi slowly to the fully recommended dosage.

Remember to keep up the water changes in the QT to keep the ammonia down.

Post up a pic of the abnormal stance that the fish has. It'll help identify what is going on.

 

[Zach Vs Ponies]

Thanks for the replies. He did end up dying earlier today. My curiosity did end up getting the best of me, and I got out my surgical scissors, scapel, and tweezers and cut away. I didn't find anything of great importance, quite frankly because I wasn't sure what I was looking at/for. Though I did not find anything really important, I did find learn a few things about the fish.

I also snapped this shot of that terrible looking fin.


Thank you for all of the replies.

To anyone who might have come across this post in the future and is having a similar problem: It has been established on this post that this behavior isn't normal, and you need to diagnose the problem immediately.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Sorry for your loss, Man. This hobby throws us a curve ball sometimes. Just try to learn from it. That way you'll be better off next time around. I've lost fish in this hobby as well. If we don't learn from it, we've wasted our time and the fishes life.

Good on ya for at least trying to investigate after the fish passed.