Yellow Tang- fin "rot" from eating too much meat???

[NYFrank]

I have been reading some threads on nutrition. 2 of my 3 yellow tangs have some fin ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œrotââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ it almost looks like another fish has nipped them at the ends but it also appears as holes just above the body on the fin between the spines. I feed them a wide variety of frozen, flake and pellet. Squid, clams, brine, plankton, mysis shrimp, formula 1 and 2, dried green and brown algae. Lately I have noticed the tangs eating a lot of the meaty foods. They continue to eat well and graze off tank algae all day. This started about 3 days ago. Any ideas as to what this could be.
Water par are good, nothing went out of the norm.

 

[The steven liu]

I think it's more of an infection problem than mal-nutrition.

 

[stykthyn]

check your water quality, it sounds environmental. they are eating what they are supposed to.

 

[NYFrank]

I just bought a calcium reactor cause I found the calcium to be low last week. It held around 400-450 since Jan. Would that have anything to do with the problem. I also got iodine which I have not yet added. Other then that the water quality has been fine with no changes. I will recheck and post the results later- Thanks

 

[clord]

Nope Calcium would have nothing to do with it. I would say almost no one adds iodine to there system since it is very easy to OD the tank and kill everything so I wouldn't do that. Are you using RO/DI water, do you have a skimmer?

 

[NYFrank]

Yes I do use an RO and have a skimmer. Except for the fins the fish are acting normal, very active, eating, grazing. The corals all look fine too, they are all open and big.

 

[mysis]

Iodine is a good thing to add and if you follow instructions on the bottle, you wont OD. even if you feel unfomfortable, add a little less.

 

[RichConley]

Sounds like aggression to me. You have 3 of the same tang in a relatively small tank.

 

[Me No Nemo]

Nutrition plays a very important role in fish health. Tangs are herbivores and meat should be very limited in their diets. Feed herbivore foods first so that they fill up on those. You can also soak these and your other foods in Kent's Zoe Marine as it has vitamins, amino acids and spirulina...an excellent additive IMO. Lateral line disease and other health problems are often associated with herbivores that do not eat the proper diet. HTH, Marcye

 

[RichConley]

Re: Yellow Tang- fin "rot" from eating too much meat???

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7427933#post7427933 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NYFrank
it almost looks like another fish has nipped them at the ends but it also appears as holes just above the body on the fin between the spines.

This is in a 140g tank. Its agression. Theres 3 yellows in a small tank.

 

[NYFrank]

I'm not sure if I agree with that, they have never bothered one another. At first when it was just the ends of the fins I would say yes but not the detioration between the spines. There is around 200-225 lbs of LR in the tank and lots of holes. I'm fairly new to salt (had fresh for many years) so any suggestions are welcome, just something else to look more closely at.

 

[RichConley]

when a fish pulls on another fish's fin, they tend to tear between the spines. Eating meat has nothing to do with this.

Maybe something else is chopping at them...crabs or something...200 lbs of LR can bring in a lot of hitch hikers.

 

[NYFrank]

OK good point- it is only on the two smaller tangs, the big one is fine. I do notice the ends look redish, that was my main worry that it might be something else. I will see if I can find the info on where I read about their eatting habits to be a cause. It was somewhere on an RC search I did- Thanks Again

 

[mysis]

red blotches/streaks appear of tangs that have been fed incorrect food, the cure is increase the vegetable matter.

 

[NYFrank]

I have incressed the veggies more as well. So far its at a stand still- nothing better nothing worse--Yet

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7445465#post7445465 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NYFrank
OK good point- it is only on the two smaller tangs, the big one is fine.

I officially give up.

 

[Me No Nemo]

There are a number of causes that could be related to what's going on. I posted about nutrition as just one possibility and because, after the original post noted that the fish seemed to be eating a lot of meaty foods lately, there was a post that said "they are eating what they are supposed to." Without a picture and/or physically seeing the fish, it's impossible to say what is wrong, just suggest possibilities, and aggression is also a very good possibility as Rich noted. In situations such as this it is great to have varying opinions and then match what you learn with what you are seeing (tangs can get very aggressive as they mature and change practically overnight).