Yellow Eyed Tang bulge!

[blueshape]

Anyone ever heard of a Yellow eyed tang having a bulge in the middle of its body just behind the stomach? It's the same size on both sides of it's body.

[bchristie]

I have seen this before in tangs that have too much protein and not enough algae in their diets. If it is a solid bulge that dosen't look like a case of peritoneal aschemia (dropsy) it could be an impaction of the gut, due to the fish having eaten something large that is lodged in the GI tract. Or it could be a case of the fish being "egg-bound", a female who is fully gravid with eggs, but are somehow blocked from exiting. If the specimen is egg bound there isn't much you can do for it, but given that it is uniform on both sides of the body would seem to indicate another problem. I would double check the water quality, and try to feel the bulge to make sure it isn't soft and fluid filled (as in dropsy) than give it a day or two, and if it gets any worse or stays the same, try and pull the fish out into a quarantine or other small tank and treat with 0.7 grams of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) per gallon. It usually works to relieve constipated fish within 24-48 hours.