I've lost one orange shoulder tang, and now have 3 atlantic blues affected by this. They are in a copper quarantine with .3 ppm which I increased to .5 to curb this but doesn't seem to be affecting it so I don't think it's ich or velvet. In the end stages the fishes skin will actually slough off.
What does this tang have?
- Thread starter cyricdark
- Start date
They look fine, then few hours later their coloring will be bleached and bruised looking, then fins look ragged, then skin starts falling off then they die. I'm pretty sure it's bacterial.
Sounds .like uronema or brook.
I've dealt with brook before in clowns, it's not brook, don't know about uronema.
ThRoewer
New member
This description sounds precisely like brook, but I wouldn't exclude a bacterial infection either.
Uronema looks definitely different and usually doesn't affect the entire fish that quickly - it usually stars from wounds and radiates from there. The fish gets killed when uronema reaches the bloodstream by the poison it releases.
As for brook on clownfish and tangs - since the slime secretion is a reaction of the fish to the parasite (an attempt to slime them off) it will look different on different typs of fish.
The most uniform symptom of brook is heavy breathing, whitish skin patches and clamping of fins. At later stages the fins will fray and the skin may look like coming off due to the sliming.
What can look often very close to brook (and be often the kick-starter for it or bacterial infections) are ammonia burns.
Whatever it is, it looks quite similar to what my BSJ male died off: Very sick Jawfish
ThRoewer
New member
I have seen clowns die of brook quite slowly. Some fought for almost a week. It all depends on the condition of the fish.
A freshly imported or shipped clown, possibly also with ammonia burns, has not much to hold against brook and may die within a day or two. A fit and healthy clown that has been well acclimated to tank life may take a week to die or might even beat it on its own. I've seen it all in my own tanks (back in Germany, when I didn't do formalin dips to stop it early) and at stores around here.
A freshly imported or shipped clown, possibly also with ammonia burns, has not much to hold against brook and may die within a day or two. A fit and healthy clown that has been well acclimated to tank life may take a week to die or might even beat it on its own. I've seen it all in my own tanks (back in Germany, when I didn't do formalin dips to stop it early) and at stores around here.
