Sick Tang, Help!!

[karmenkame]

Hi,

I have a 72 gallon tank that is about 8 months old. I have had a yellow tang for about 4 months. He has been very healthy eating swimming fine up until yesterday. I did about a 15 gallon water change and added 5 new corals. (pumpig xenia, button polyp, bullseye mushroom, stripped mushroom and cabbage leather) He was fine when I fed him right before the water change. He was his usual self eating and swimming around.

I did something a little different this time when I changed the water. I turned off all of the pumps and blew all the stuff off the rocks. I waited a bit for the stuff to settle to the sand and then I proceeded with the water change and cleaning the top layer of the sand. I acclimated and added my corals. When I went to feed them again later on in the evening, I noticed my tang was breathing rapidly and he was not his usual self. I can tell that there was something wrong with him. I woke this morning and he still appears to be the same. Is there something that I can do to help him get back to his usual self or am I going to lose him? Please help.

I checked the water quality, and it is all pretty much the same as always:

Amonia near zero
Nitrate: around 5ppm
PH about 8.4
Temp 82
sg. 1.026

All other fish seem to be fine although my falco hawk was acting a bit strange yesterday too. But today he is fine. Other things in my tank.... pair of clowns, gramma, goby, emerald crab, hermits, snails, hairy mushroom and a couple of mushroom leathers.. Any more info needed. Should I post a picture. He looks fine but I know that hs is not feeling well.

[Ryan7]

If all of your water parameters are the same, I would guess that the storm you created when cleaning stressed out your tang.

Also, was the new water you added to the tank the same temp and sal?

Tangs stress easily, I hope he is ok

[karmenkame]

Is there anything that I can do? Will he eventually calm down and be OK? He is still hiding out in the back of the tank. He hasn't eaten all day. Do I just wait it out and hope that he is OK? I feel like I should do something.

[Bolo]

Just keep a close watch on him. You did things differently(pumps off) and added new things to his territory. Yellows are easy to freak out, but he'll come around.

[karmenkame]

Originally posted by Bolo
Just keep a close watch on him. You did things differently(pumps off) and added new things to his territory. Yellows are easy to freak out, but he'll come around.

I hope you are right. It is just so out of character for him. He is the king of the Tank and usually keeps the order... I know that sounds strange. But he really does. I've seen him get in between two fish if one is being bullied.

I've added 3 fish at one time and he didn't seem bothered at all. I've also added multiple corals at one time before and he never acted this way. Maybe the detrius floating around with the pumps off for 30 minutes was enough to set him off.

He does get spooked easily and is the first to go hide in his corner if something spooks him. But then he comes back out and is back to normal. Now he is really acting strange. He hasn't eaten since yesterday and he just swims around slowly or stays in the back shaking and breathing rapidly.

[Bolo]

Just saw your post in the Fish Disease forum. Look up the ingredients in the cold pac/ contact LiveAquaria and ask if the gel is toxic. The tang may have eaten some but not the other fish.

[karmenkame]

Originally posted by Bolo
Just saw your post in the Fish Disease forum. Look up the ingredients in the cold pac/ contact LiveAquaria and ask if the gel is toxic. The tang may have eaten some but not the other fish.

Thanks for the suggestion... I called them and they will need to call back on Monday since their fish experts are out until then. The person on the phone said that he was not sure if it is toxic to the fish. He said that some customers had dumped the content of the pack in the aquarium because they thought that it was food for the corals and did not have any negative affect. I am not sure if I got any in the tank, but I certainly know that If I did get any in, it wasn't much. I washed the bags and dried them off before putting the rest of the bags in the tank.

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by karmenkame

Amonia near zero
Nitrate: around 5ppm
PH about 8.4
Temp 82
sg. 1.026


Ammonia "Near zero" jumps out as a potential problem. Just how near to zero is it?
Yellows are not the most delicate of Tangs, but ANY measurable Ammonia is a bad thing.

[karmenkame]

Originally posted by DgenR8
Ammonia "Near zero" jumps out as a potential problem. Just how near to zero is it?
Yellows are not the most delicate of Tangs, but ANY measurable Ammonia is a bad thing.

When I use the Red Sea test kit, it is not all yellow but closer to yellow than lime. The yellow is 0 the lime is .25.

When I use Salifert, the lowest measurement is < .5 and that is where mine is. This is why I say near zero. It is really hard to tell.

I heard that salifert is better than Red Sea, so I went out and bought salifert. However, the lowest that is shown on the salifert test kit that I have is < .5

[saltaholic]

Originally posted by karmenkame
When I use the Red Sea test kit, it is not all yellow but closer to yellow than lime. The yellow is 0 the lime is .25.


I used Red Sea before and has always indicated that there was .25, well I know its not correct I have checked with other kits. I think it is just a flaw in the test kit.

[Smitty 750]

If it doesnt go away(the heavy breathing) you should QT him and add some saltwater maracyn 2. He may have a small gil infection due tho the sandstorm that was created before youre water change. I have a PB that once in a while if I make a sandstorm he gets a gill infection the very next day. Some signs are laggy swimming, loss of appetite, rapid gill movement, and an inflamation around the gill area. It can be a serious problem and eventually if untreated can lead to death, basically the fish is slowly drowning in a sense. But he may also just be spooked, hope this helps you out.

[karmenkame]

Thanks... That is an interesting theory. I have noticed this line running from around his eye down behind his gill. I wonder if this is an indication of swelling. I really can't tell. I will see how he is in a day or so. He is looking a little bit better. He ate a little bit this evening. Now he seems to be scratching himself again the sand. He never really did this before. I checked closely to see if I can see any sign of ich. I haven't noticed any.

Well, I have been adding garlic to his food and added a bag of carbon in case any of the gel from the ice pac got into the water. I will hope for the best.

[karmenkame]

Hi,

Thanks all for your input. It seems like my Tang is back to normal. He is swimming around eating and enjoying life once again. He is his active little self. I guess he was spooked a bit or the garlic with the food and carbon to remove any toxins from the water worked.... I am not sure which it was but I am glad that he is OK now. I just wanted to post this update in case anyone else experiences a similar thing.

[DgenR8]

Glad to see that it worked out for you and your Tang! :thumbsup: