Blue tang appears to be peeling

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I recently got a blue tang from a local aquarium store, it was the last one there and appeared to have slightly bumpy sides but they werent white or anything. But now it appears to be peeling, like dry skin. Doesnt show much in the pictures, but it does capture a small looking hole on the fish gill. Help me identify this and what I should do.
20220808_122629.jpg
20220808_123047.jpg
20220808_123044.jpg
 

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I recently got a blue tang from a local aquarium store, it was the last one there and appeared to have slightly bumpy sides but they werent white or anything. But now it appears to be peeling, like dry skin. Doesnt show much in the pictures, but it does capture a small looking hole on the fish gill. Help me identify this and what I should do.
20220808_122629.jpg
20220808_123047.jpg
20220808_123044.jpg
Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef, only just started
Aquarium water volume - 37 gallons
Filtration type - carbon hob filter
Lighting - white led, I'm not sure of lighting
How long has the aquarium been established? 2 weeks
20220808_121659.jpg


Water quality
Temperature 82
pH: 8.2
Salinity / specific gravity - 1.023
Ammonia - 0.50 ppm (recently added more fish)
Nitrate - 5.0 ppm

In-depth information:
The blue tang still eats and swims around a lot, but ever since I got it, it likes to hide when spooked which is understandable since its a baby. I did get it fairly recently, when I first got it I saw it scratching itself on a rock. But I haven't seen it display this recently. Isn't breathing heavily but I also can't count the rate
 
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Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef, only just started
Aquarium water volume - 37 gallons
Filtration type - carbon hob filter
Lighting - white led, I'm not sure of lighting
How long has the aquarium been established? 2 weeks
20220808_121659.jpg


Water quality
Temperature 82
pH: 8.2
Salinity / specific gravity - 1.023
Ammonia - 0.50 ppm (recently added more fish)
Nitrate - 5.0 ppm

In-depth information:
The blue tang still eats and swims around a lot, but ever since I got it, it likes to hide when spooked which is understandable since its a baby. I did get it fairly recently, when I first got it I saw it scratching itself on a rock. But I haven't seen it display this recently. Isn't breathing heavily but I also can't count the rate

Here's a short video but the quality isn't really the best uploading to YouTube so I'm not sure it will be of much use. I can see some white stuff at the top like stringy on the blue tang that moves with the water. I can't tell if this is hole in the head, or marine ich, or some fungus. I'm not sure this was there earlier today
 

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You're unfortunately going to need to find a new home for that tang fairly soon. They grow quite large, and are very active fish that need huge tanks to even begin to do well. Its small size is to your advantage, at least- it probably won't start attacking tankmates for a bit. It will start doing that, though, when it grows and starts to be stressed by the confined space. Stress also makes fish more susceptible to any disease they might have going on in the background, which is bad news for tangs, especially un-quarantined tangs in a tank of un-quarantined fish.

In future, research how large a fish will get before you purchase it.

Also, those are a fairly aggressive species of damselfish, so keep an eye on them as they mature.

A cycled reef tank shouldn't have 0.5ppm ammonia, even with new fish added. What test kit are you using?

What are you feeding, and how often?
 
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You're unfortunately going to need to find a new home for that tang fairly soon. They grow quite large, and are very active fish that need huge tanks to even begin to do well. Its small size is to your advantage, at least- it probably won't start attacking tankmates for a bit. It will start doing that, though, when it grows and starts to be stressed by the confined space. Stress also makes fish more susceptible to any disease they might have going on in the background, which is bad news for tangs, especially un-quarantined tangs in a tank of un-quarantined fish.

In future, research how large a fish will get before you purchase it.

Also, those are a fairly aggressive species of damselfish, so keep an eye on them as they mature.

A cycled reef tank shouldn't have 0.5ppm ammonia, even with new fish added. What test kit are you using?

What are you feeding, and how often?
Yes I went back to return the fish shortly after I got it but my mom was a bit upset that I was wanting to return it. I only have one of those damselfish but yes I will be monitoring it, so far the only aggression in the tank is the gobies fighting over territory. I'm using api freshwater test kit, which has the same instructions and chemicals as the saltwater one but i might not get accurate results from it im not sure. I'm sure that my tank isn't cycled completely since I've gotten it. My clownfish tank as well doesn't keep up with the ammonia levels even though I've had it for months, but it might be the test kit not reading accurately? I'm not sure. I feed once in the morning around 10 am and once at around 11 pm. I feed frozen spirulina enriched brine shrimp two or three times every two weeks. Omega one Marine flakes substitute one veggie feeding every couple days, and omega one veggie pellets (twice a day).
 
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Yes I went back to return the fish shortly after I got it but my mom was a bit upset that I was wanting to return it. I only have one of those damselfish but yes I will be monitoring it, so far the only aggression in the tank is the gobies fighting over territory. I'm using api freshwater test kit, which has the same instructions and chemicals as the saltwater one but i might not get accurate results from it im not sure. I'm sure that my tank isn't cycled completely since I've gotten it. My clownfish tank as well doesn't keep up with the ammonia levels even though I've had it for months, but it might be the test kit not reading accurately? I'm not sure. I feed once in the morning around 10 am and once at around 11 pm. I feed frozen spirulina enriched brine shrimp two or three times every two weeks. Omega one Marine flakes substitute one veggie feeding every couple days, and omega one veggie pellets (twice a day).
For the record my mom also wanted to get both of the diamondback gobies so if it were up to me. I would only have that damsel in the tank at the moment. But I read that it's best to introduce them last as they show aggression.
 

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“Peeling” appearance sounds like brook to me, I’m not seeing it in the pictures though. Before worrying about the tang in too small a tank, it’s first important to make sure no nasty diseases got in. Hopefully the other medics chime in soon.
 

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You do ideally want to treat the tang first, so it has the best chance at finding a successful home. If your mom doesn't want to return it, tell her it'll get to the size of a dinner plate and be horribly stressed in a tank that size, and that it'll start killing the other fish out of stress.

You could try a yellowtail blue damsel as a replacement. Similar colors, fine in a tank that size.

Keep a close eye on the diamond goby. Obligate sand-sifters (and I believe that is one) often do poorly in tanks without utterly massive, well-established sandbeds. They need a lot to eat.
 
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You do ideally want to treat the tang first, so it has the best chance at finding a successful home. If your mom doesn't want to return it, tell her it'll get to the size of a dinner plate and be horribly stressed in a tank that size, and that it'll start killing the other fish out of stress.

You could try a yellowtail blue damsel as a replacement. Similar colors, fine in a tank that size.

Keep a close eye on the diamond goby. Obligate sand-sifters (and I believe that is one) often do poorly in tanks without utterly massive, well-established sandbeds. They need a lot to eat.
Yes I was thinking of getting a yellowtail blue damsel as a better alternative as well, I think it would look close enough to a blue tang that my mom would be okay with replacing it. I'll make sure to return it sooner than later, though it does look a lot better today.
 
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Should I be worried about the diamondback gobies? While I was watching I noticed the blue tang show defensive by putting its dorsal fin up. And once the goby got close it was showing aggression towards the blue tang.
 

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Fish posing aggressively at each other is a sign to watch them, but not necessarily cause for alarm. Some posturing while figuring out territory is common. More rock in the tank would help with that- you don't have many hiding places for the fish, so they'll have to fight over the limited supply of hiding places.

You really should figure out if there's a disease in your tank. Better pics of the tang might help. Though it's not unlikely that you already have some disease in the tank, if you haven't been quarantining fish before adding them.
 
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Fish posing aggressively at each other is a sign to watch them, but not necessarily cause for alarm. Some posturing while figuring out territory is common. More rock in the tank would help with that- you don't have many hiding places for the fish, so they'll have to fight over the limited supply of hiding places.

You really should figure out if there's a disease in your tank. Better pics of the tang might help. Though it's not unlikely that you already have some disease in the tank, if you haven't been quarantining fish before adding them.
Thought I might give an update. I still have the blue tang, it still isn't very big. It doesn't show any of the symptoms it had anymore. And it still isn't aggressive towards any of my other fish. I'm not sure what was wrong with it at the time but nothing has spread and affected my other fish and the blue tang is healthy.
 

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I'm glad nothing has been harmed so far, but you NEED to find a new home for that blue tang before the problems start. Because the problems will start- that fish is going to get 8 inches long, at minimum, unless something is horribly wrong with its environment. Blue tangs cannot be kept long-term in tanks under a couple hundred gallons, period.

Waiting until a problem happens is a bad idea. You'll stunt the tang's growth, stress it, and may very well wake up one morning to dead fish, either from stress allowing a disease to take hold or from the tang attacking something. Rehome that tang, before something happens.
 

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