[jeffbrig]

Bad news on the QT front.

The achilles tang has had a major setback. Since the hurricane he's had a few issues. We know we had a brief decline in water quality last weekend, indicated by an increased breathing rate and less than perfect coloration. A series of water changes fixed the problem. He was looking better, but still breathing fast/heavy (2x normal). Over the course of a week, we've raised his salinity from 1.009 to ~1.013 (i.e. not very fast at all).

Yesterday we noticed he was listing slightly to the left, but still swimming and eating (albeit a decreased amount). Today he appears to have some swelling in the abdomen, and is listing severely, and breathing very heavily. Not eating well either, he showed no interest in a nori strip that I put in the tank.

The swelling could be a number of things - constipation/intestinal blockage, an infection, organ swelling, who knows. I tend to think the swelling is preventing proper operation of the swim bladder, rather than this being a swim bladder issue.

Since we don't know the true cause, we are trying a few different options. We added epsom salts to the water, which are supposed to help alleviate constipation if that is the cause (we haven't seen him poop much lately). We also started treating with a broad spectrum antibiotic (Maracyn2), in case of infection.

Beyond that, we're open to any and all suggestions. He is in bad shape, so please respond quickly - needless to say, the wife is a bit upset.