Treating Yellow Tangs with Red Streaks or Blotches

[Aquanaut66]

I had the same problem, the red streaks and reddening at the tail. My PH was low (8.0), I added buffer and raised to 8.3, symptoms were gone in two days....

[mike 7]

When you say you added a buffer, how did you do this and what did you use.

Mike

[Aquanaut66]

Im at work now, dont have in front of me. It's by Seachem, PH buffer 8.3.

[mike 7]

Thanks, I will look out for this.

Mike

[Crazy-Algae-Eater]

wow

[BigShot]

Just wondering... can Erythromycin be substituted for Kanamycyn to cure the red streaks/blotches ?

Thank you,
Luke

[billsreef]

Erythromycin tends not to be very effective. You'd be better off with Maracyn 2 or Nitrofuran if you can't find kanamyacin

[BigShot]

So MaracynTwo (minocycline) and Furan2 (Nitrofurazone 60mg, Furazolidone 25mg, and Meth. Blue 2mg) can both be used in place of Kanamycyn? Are there any pros/cons to each one?

Thank you,
Luke

[Bill Shultz]

Does it look like my Yellow Tang could benefit from the Pepso food that has been discussed on this tread earlier? Can anyone offer some suggestions as to how I can help this fish? It looks like HLLE to me, but maybe it is a type of bacterial infection that you guys could help me out with.

I've tried to improve the diet with more Nori, and better variety as well as installing a grounding probe in the tank, but things don't seem to be improving.

[billsreef]

That does look more like the begginings of HLLE to me also. How long have you had the tang? What are feeding it? And what are the other tankmates?

[Bill Shultz]

These are some other specifics about my system:

--I have a 55gallon fish only tank that has been running for about 1.5 years now.
--No live rock at the moment but some is waiting in a quarantine tank.
--Salinity 1.025
--Temp 78 F
--Ammonia levels test near zero
--Nitrite zero
--Nitrate ~10ppm
--pH ~8.2
--I have a pink tail trigger, a porcupine puffer, a yellow tang and a hermit crab in the tank.
--I use a large Euroreef skimmer in my sump (~10 gallons), do monthly 30% water changes, and have regular fluorescent light bulbs lighting the tank for about 10 hours each day.

Besides the Nori seaweed, I feed once a day with foods that include:
Ocean Nutrition Formula Two
Whole Krill (mostly for the puffer)
San Francisco Bay Brand Emerald Entree
San Francisco Bay Brand Mussel
and I occasionally add/substitute for
Formula 1, frozen squid, frozen brine shirmp

I've had the tang for about 3 months and he was perfect when I brought him home from the pet store. The HLLE symptoms started a few weeks ago (maybe 4) and have been slowly progressing.

I've done some searches on HLLE but haven't learned much beyond putting a grounding probe in the tank to eliminate stray voltage (which I did about a week ago) and I've been trying to improve diet with the nori (he wasn't getting nori until about 2 weeks ago, but was still getting a pretty good frozen mix as described above.)

Any comments regarding how I can save this fish or improve his care though food or otherwise I would really appreciate.

[billsreef]

What brand of test kit are you using for the ammonia? Ideally that should read zero. Pick up some Selcon and soak all the food in that before feeding. I've also found that feeding tangs with HLLE carrot shavings will help with healing and tissue repair. Got that last one from an article in Sea Scope some years ago and I've found it to work well

[Bill Shultz]

I have used the "Saltwater Master" liquid test kit made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to get these results. Do you recommend a certain test kit?

I've used Zoecon and Zoe in the recent past to try to soak my foods and I've noticed the Zoecon screws up the water such that my protein skimmer won't bubble up as much and it takes a day or so to get back to normal. I was wondering if you've had trouble like this with the Selcon. I already have a order in for it and will give it a shot anyway.

Also, ATJ has let me know that some brands/types of carbon can leach substances into the water which have been associated with HLLE in the past. He doesn't use carbon and couldn't recommend a brand that is "safe." What are your thoughts on this issue, and if you use carbon, do you have a trusted brand?

Thanks for the carrots idea. I'm gonna give that a shot also.

[Bill Shultz]

Also, my tang has somewhat of a reddish tinge to his dorsal fin as you can see in the picture --which this thread was origionally about

Do you think my main problem is the HLLE, or could my fish be dealing with a bacterial infection as well?

Thanks for all your help with my questions by the way.

[billsreef]

Some ammonia test kits I've found will give false low level positive readings. I haven't used that particular one, so would recomend testing it against some known ammonia free water such as fresh RO water. As for recomendations on brands of test kits, I'm partial to Salifert's kits. They are the closest thing to what I used to do in Marine Chem Labs in College without being too complicated for the average hobbyiest and very reliable and accurate to boot

I've found Selcon to be much better than Zoe and Zoecon. It will cause the skimmer to stop foam production after adding to the tank, but it usually returns to normal within a couple of hours.

As ATJ told you, carbon has been implicated by some sources. I'd advise sticking to good quality carbons. One of the best I've seen the US market is Marinelands Black Diamond. It rinses very clean, and the fine dust particles common to most cheap particles is one of the things I've seen mentioned as possible problem with carbon in relation to HLLE.

With the red areas on the tang, I would first verify that test kit reading for ammonia. If it is indeed reading accurately, take steps to improve biological filtration and get that reading to zero. Next, get that selcon and the carrot shavings into the diet. Odds are good that with improved water quality and diet that the red will go away on it's own in this case

[ambrose]

My yellow tang has had a chunk tanken out of his tail for a few weeks now. It appears to be getting bigger and sometimes I think I can see orange spots in there.

He is in now way as bad a shape as some of these pictures posted here and I thought it might be the same thing. I did some massive water changes and everything is at zero.

No changes in behavior.

Is this the same thing? I think I'll try the kanamyacin.

[billsreef]

If he had a chunk taking out, it's likely to be infected just like a wound on us could get infected. I would suggest treating with a good antibiotic such as the kanamyacin or Nitrofuran.