What the hell is wrong with this Gem Tang?

[RxMike]

i got this fish about a month ago. I took all of the fish that might cause it aggression out of tank. The folks at store I bought fish from say this is not HLLE it is stress. I sat and watched tank all night and morning. No aggression what so ever. Tank is very peaceful

Any help is greatly appreciated. I am feeding nori and frozen soaked in vitamins and selcon.

 

[DrPat]

Is that a night time photo are the blotches visible during the day?

 

[MrTuskfish]

I think the LFS is right. (!!!!).I've seen GTs with similar spots before, can't remember where.It is not HLLE, ich, etc. Lots of fish, tangs may be the most prone.
If nori is all the store-bought food; he's eating. Add some meaty stuff too. Mysis, a good pellet, gut loaded BS, Formula I, etc. Yes, these are herbivores, but wild tangs eat a lot of tiny crustaceans, pods, etc. I keep a lot of tangs and all are fed some type of meaty frozen food every day. Its not going to solve the spots issue, which I suspect will disappear with time, but the varied diet will help long-term health long term health. FWIW: It may be camera angle, lighting, etc., but this tang just doesn't look particularly to me. Are his fins always folded like this? Is he usually in this nose angled down position? He looks very lethargic, true?

To the OP: PM me, I'll send a link to an identical pattern on a huge GT. I can't post it here; too much junk from another forum, one that doesn't seem to allow members over the age of twelve.

 

[RxMike]

Gt

Gt

It is like this all of the time. The fish seems a little lazy. It is eating nori and frozen foods like mysis, blood worms, krill and pellets as well. I don't know if it has a parasite. I have treated the DT with Prazipro. Everthing looks good except the GT. The GT was originally stressed by a large 8 inch black tang that I got rid of after I found out the two could not be in same tank together. I learned the hard way I guess. You would think that after two weeks of removing the king of the tank( large black tang) the GT would perk up much more. It has definitely become more active. When the black was in the tank the GT was always in hiding in a cave. I hope it goes back to its original color.

 

[bobkill]

thats stressful, keep us posted (sorry i will default to mr tuskfish on the actual question of the thread but tohught i would give some support)

and are you a pharmacist?
i am ,so i hope you are lol

 

[RxMike]

Gem

Gem

I was speaking with a guy who is extremely knowledgable about our hobby. He told me that Live Aquaria has reports of GTs being collected off the coast of Africa (Kenya to be specific) He stated that these fish all appear to have some defect. It is not understood as to why but they have consistently seen GTs with defects collected in Africa. Are the fish leaving their home in Mauriatus because they are sick? or, perhaps they have a genetic defect and are outcast? It make a lot of sense to me. I wonder if I was lucky enough to score a Kenyan GT:mad2:

Mr Turkfish have you ever heard of GTs collected in Kenya having issue?

 

[MrTuskfish]

I was speaking with a guy who is extremely knowledgable about our hobby. He told me that Live Aquaria has reports of GTs being collected off the coast of Africa (Kenya to be specific) He stated that these fish all appear to have some defect. It is not understood as to why but they have consistently seen GTs with defects collected in Africa. Are the fish leaving their home in Mauriatus because they are sick? or, perhaps they have a genetic defect and are outcast? It make a lot of sense to me. I wonder if I was lucky enough to score a Kenyan GT:mad2:

Mr Turkfish have you ever heard of GTs collected in Kenya having issue?

No, but I don't pay that much attention to that part of the hobby. I don't cruise othe forums, blogs, etc. I wait until something interests me and then look at it.

I'd re-post this in the reef fishes section. There are a few folks who are really up to date on rare and hard to get fish and many hang out there.


BTW, I found that pic of the giant gem, spots are about identical to yours.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/private.php?do=insertpm&pmid=

 

[RxMike]

Gt

Gt

Thank you
But I cannot open the link.

 

[usmc1812]

Was he kept in copper? If so it got burnt up. Tangs have little to no slime coat and when kept in copper they will get burned if the copper levels are too high.

 

[gomaam]

My GT developed the same markings i took it out of the tank for a while put it in a QT then returned it back into my tank again same thing appeared. It seems to be stress which I believe is caused by other fish specifically the Black Tang.