Sick/distressed tang?

[Erin]

My yellow tang has not been himself in the past four days. Normally, he's always swimming around the tank, usually doing lazy figure eights between, under and around the LR. The past few days, he's been swimming back and forth quickly along the front glass. He swims forward (toward the powerhead) and then gets "swept" back. The powerhead has never before affected his swimming, and doesn't even disrupt the banggai cardinals' swimming much.

His belly looks a bit odd. He's been eating Tang Heaven, and otherwise looks much healthier. But he has what look like lumps in his tummy. They are not always in the same place, so they probably aren't tumors.

Also, as I posted in another thread, the white stripe on his side seems to be visible all of the time now.

The only thing that's changed is: Tang Heaven added 3 weeks ago, DSB added 3 1/2 weeks ago (from CC), trace elements supplement added (per directions on container). I added a clown (out of quarantine), but the tang was acting odd before that.

Any suggestions would be helpful. He's usually so lovely swimming around, but now his swimming looks demented. I'm concerned!

Erin (*_*)

[Joez]

You've had a few changes, but the thing that catches my eye is your passing mention about supplements.

What are your water parameters, and what are you supplementing with (and why)?

[Erin]

Water parameters are:

Am: 0
NitItes: 0
Nitrates: 15
pH: 8.2

The trace elements I added in the Salifert All-in-one supplement to make the coralline algae grow. I don't have the bottle here at work, so I can't say exactly what's in it, but if I recall correctly, it's got : calcium, cobalt, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, strontium and zinc. I may be missing some or adding extras. My LFS said that this brand is better than the Kent, and they've switched over to using it exclusively.

It was two days after I added this (supposed to add weekly) that the tang started acting weird. No one else is acting odd.

I'm worried that the lumps in his belly may be part of the problem. Could he be overeating the macroalgae? I am very careful not to overfeed, but I don't really monitor what he eats when he grazes.

Erin (*_*)

[Joez]

Well, no one seems to be biting on this.

I don't know what the lumps are about because they appear in different places. Fish often gorge and you can see their bellies plump out afterwards. I wouldn't describe that as lumps though.

I was wondering about the additives because too much of this or that can throw things off and put the fish out of sorts. You mentioned that you can see his white stripe during the day, when as you know, normally you only see it before lights on in the morning. So it sounds like it is feeling sick.

Swimming in front of the PH makes me think he's itchy, but you didn't mention any itchiness. Can you get more circulation going? I'm wondering about oxygen levels.

So I'm grabbing at straws here.

Here's what I would do, and I hope an expert adds to this thread:

Water change (25%).
No supplements for a while.
Change 10% water a week few a few weeks.
Add circulation.
Don't put too much food in the system.
Don't mess with the substrate for a while.

Hope others give you some more/better advice.

[billsreef]

Well Joez is better than an expert, he does know what he's talking about and gave you some sound advice ;)

I would definately discontinue the additive and see if there is any change in behavior, especially after the water changes. With all the changes you made in a short period of time it could just be a stress reaction to it all.

Things to watch out for in terms of disease: Excessive scratching, redness, rapid breathing, white or black spots on body or fins, torn or frayed fins.

The lumps could just be the result of gorging on the seaweed intermitently. I have seen that before in tangs eating fresh seaweeds.

BTW you might want to check out Dr. Ron's Food and Additive study:

http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/data/foods.asp

It would seem that merely feeding our fish supplies ample trace elements, possibly more than our tanks need :eek: So you might want to ponder the need or lack of a need for adding such trace element supplements ;)

[Erin]

I'll do as you both suggested. I appreciate the advice. I added the trace element supplements because my coralline algae was receding a bit.

As for feeding, the tang gets frozen (but defrosted) and flake food (he's a pig and eats everything) that's been soaked in Marine Zoe. His color is good, other than the stripe, and his HLLE has completely gone away since he's been eating the Tang Heaven.

One other thing I forgot to mention. I replaced my 10,000k bulb (with the same bulb) and added an actinic. I noticed that the tang seems to calm down at night. Maybe the light is bothering him? But he didn't act this way right after the light was installed, and he doesn't seem to want to get away from it (i.e. he doesn't hide under the rockwork).

I was reading my books last night, and I think it's possible he has a worm. I think I'm going to take him to my LFS to ask them to look at him. A lumpy belly and odd movements can be signs of a tapeworm. When I examined him last night with that in mind, he did look a bit emaciated, but that might be my mind playing tricks.

Hopefully, he'll be doing better soon. THanks for your advice!

Erin (*_*)

[billsreef]

A up close look by an experienced eye is allways a good thing ;) Keep us updated.

BTW the only "trace" elements needed for good coraline growth are Calcium and maybe magnesium. There is some debate on the magnesium.

[Erin]

I keep hearing that strontium is necessary too. Is that wrong?

I'll keep you posted on how "lumpy" is doing.

Erin (*_*)

[billsreef]

Do a search on Strontium using RC's search function, in particular Dr. Ron's forum ;)

It would seem that strontium is often taken up by corals in place of Calcium if there is not enough Ca present. Not that strontium is needed by the coral, it is just used to fall back on. Ron even hints that strontium is actually bad and hinders the calcification process.

[Erin]

Well, the tang is looking a bit more himself, occasionally going in and out of the rockwork again. Still acts goofy in the front of the tank, though. I asked my LFS guy, and he said he's just stressed (he recently came out of quarantine, because I was treating him for a bacterial infection). He was fine for a while out of quarantine before this behavior developed, though.

I'm still concerned about the lumps in his belly. I'd rather not stess him out by quarantining him again if I don't have to. Is there a medicated food for worms or internal parasites? Something the other fish can eat too?

Hopefully, he's on the road to feeling better, and will soon be back to his old self.

Erin (*_*)

[billsreef]

Looking over your previous posts again I realized there is an obvious possiblity that both me and Joez overlooked...it is quite possilbe that your tang is reacting to his reflection in the glass!

As for internal parasites, I would just closely observe the tang for any changes in weight. If it is maintaining or even gaining some weight than all is well. However if it shows any signs of losing weight while eating well than internal parasites are likely.