Help Powder Blue in trouble

[ByTor]

Heres the trouble a week ago I recieved a Powder blue tang MO the fish was doing great until today I have it in my Qtank at this mornings feeding it didnt eat as it has been by this afternoon noticed it seemed to be gilling fast so started testing water is ok now this evening the fish seems to be peeling around the eyes forehead area and along its belly man whats going on i have never seen this or have read anything about such symthoms??? i'm at a loss here and i hope and pray not at a loss of such a fish any one with any ideas let me know BTW i have been feeding formulas 1 and 2 plus grn and red seaweeds soaked in zoe every other day Help dont know what to do ?????? ByTor

[ByTor]

well guys it didnt make it i have never seen anything like this before been doing salt for about 4 yrs now have resuced fish from deaths door before but have never seen anything like this well i torn down the tank sterilized everything set it back up kept a water sample and the fish (in the freezer) for further study as far as it being HLLE thats been ruled out have seen and treated it before have a yellow tang that i got from a freind that i nursed back from HLLE has very little signs of scaring as far as protazoa hhhhmm maybe uv needs new bulb i dont know i'm just at such a loss i just hope i dont ever see this again nor anyone else thanks ByTor

[Afishianado]

Could be HLLE (Head and Lateral Line Erosion) syndrome. I have heard and read alot about it but have never experienced it myself. I have heard that it is reversable. have heard it has many causes such as improper diet and stray voltage in the tank. I have heard that it usually affects Angels and Purple and Powder Blue tangs. maybe this is what you have and maybe not. Thought I would mention it. Do a search on the web for it, maybe even here in the archives, or check in som eof the better hobby publications. Hope this helps, let me know...

Chris

[billsreef]

HLLE does not come on so rapidly or cause respiratory stress, so we can rule that out. With rapid onset of symtems and the nature of the symtems I would be inclined to suspect a protozoan infection like Amyloodinium. Protozoans are capable of rapid reproduction which causes things to progress so fast. The best luck I have had with these types of disease is by treating with copper, my preference is cupramine. Good luck with your tang.

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Bill

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[CAT]

Amyloodinium is fast and deadly. Had some experience with it with m.o. fish that had been fed before shipping so the water in the bags was dirty. The Hippo tang and Coral Beauty were darting about the q.tank, gasping, and scratching on everything. There were no visible parasites at all so I treated with Cupramine immediately (I think copper is the only effective treatment for this) and used the Seachem test kit to make sure I had the right dosage in the tank. Cupramine is supposed to be the safest of the Copper remedies and my fish came out fine.

Glad you had a q.tank, someone I know didn't use one and lost most of the fish in his display to Amyloodinium in 3 days. Ouch!



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CAT

[richw]

How fast does the problem progress? I added a Scotts fairy wrasse a week ago. It spends most of its time hiding in the rocks. When it comes out, it darts around the tank, sucks at the surfaces and breaths heavy. When it is in the rocks it doesn't seem to be breathing heavy.

[naesco]

I dont think it had anything to do with your water.
Your experience is unfortuneately typical of many powder blue tang experiences on this board.
They are so difficult to fish to keep that many LFS refuse to carry them because they do not live long enough even to survive their tanks.
I would return the fish to the Online store you purchased it from and demand a full refund. Unless, there are stressors in your tank. What other fish do you have in it now?
I do not mean to pontificate but I would never never recommend anyone buy any tang online as you cannot see the fish you are buying.
Many tangs, angels and triggers come from Indonesia and the Phillippines (Indo-Pacific) where the use of cyanide is common which kills most and weakens the survivors so that ich, fungal and bacerial infections prevail.