Sick Tang?

[Josh669]

My yellow tang has orangeish-red coloring at the end of its body, near its tail. I have done water tests and everything is fine! What is wrong?

[billsreef]

How long have you had it?
What size tank?
What other tankmates?
What are the water test values for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH? I know you said fine, but numbers are more helpfull in solving your problem.
Any other symptoms such as rapid breathing, scratching, torn fins etc ?

[Josh669]

I have had it for about a month, 55g, a few damsels and a dogface puffer, no ammonia. Im about to do the other tests.
No other symptoms.

[billsreef]

You have a lot fish in there for a young tank. The damsels and puffers tend to be tough as nails, but the Yellow tang really does best in mature (at least 6 month old) tanks. When you do those other tests I would not be suprised if the nitrites are high, as that would be typical of tank about a month old. It really takes a good 8 weeks to truly cycle a tank, and then it is still somewhat of a fragile balance for several more months.

The tang is probably reacting to unstable conditions of a new tank. Frequent water changes are probly the best bet to help the tang recover.

[Erin]

My tang had the same trouble a while back. I treated him for a bacterial infection (in the q-tank), and he recovered from it nicely. If the reddishness seems to spread (mine spread to his face and lateral line), then I would suggest that it's a bacterial infection.

Erin (*_*)