Blue tang laying on side rapidly breathily no signs of infection

[jackson6969]

Hey guys got this regal tang about a week ago it’s been doing very well eating and swimming until a few hours before. I upgraded my filter and added the filter floss from the other one and my ammonia is 0 he did eat a bit of food but not as much as usual. Please help it’s a very beautiful fish and I don’t won’t to lose it. Those are sand particles from laying sideways In the sand.

 

[fishywishy]

Video isn’t working, try posting it on YouTube.

Sounds like flukes but i cant really tell for sure without a video, if it is flukes you need to get some praziquantel as soon as you can or do a hyposalinty

 

[jackson6969]

 

[MnFish1]

I hate say it - but I can't see the fish in the video - at least I think I can't. In any case I cant count its respiratory rate. A fish laying on its side may be a terminal issue. Do you have other fish, are they healthy? Did you QT the fish?

If you didn't QT the fish I would move it to a hospital tank with copper (chelated) per protocol, and at the same time add prazipro. Based on symptoms alone and the minimal history - it could suggest velvet - or less likely flukes IMHO. Best of luck with your fish - if you could post a video under white lights that would be great.

 

[jackson6969]

Sorry for the bad video guys I have 2 yellowtail chromosome, clownfish and bengal cardinal, i didn’t quarantine because I didn’t have a tank for that at the time and bought off a trusted lfs. I think he’s getting worse, I don’t know how this could have happened if all I did was change the filter he was perfect this morning and he did eat about 2 hours ago
.

 

[MnFish1]

Sorry for the bad video guys I have 2 yellowtail chromosome, clownfish and bengal cardinal, i didn’t quarantine because I didn’t have a tank for that at the time and bought off a trusted lfs. I think he’s getting worse, I don’t know how this could have happened if all I did was change the filter he was perfect this morning and he did eat about 2 hours ago
.

I could not see the video

 

[jackson6969]

I could not see the video

Try again please I need help

 

[Brett]

If you don't have a QT or the ability to set one up then there isn't much we can do to help you or the fish.

You could hit your entire tank with Prazi Pro, but that won't address Ich or velvet. If it's velvet or Ich, you need to get him out of there and into a QT with copper. Is this a FOWLR or REEF?

Other potential solution is an H202 Dip: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hydrogen-peroxide.640232/

And you can treat the tank directly with H202 even if it's a reef (there are some side affects of doing this, but IME safe for a reef tank), but if the tang has a real issue then definitely dip him.

Most likely he came from your LFS with some disease, nothing you did (except not QT your new fish and now your other fish are at risk if he truly does have Ich or Velvet) How does you LFS QT fish?

Hippo tangs will hide like that from time to to time, especially once the lights start to dim or if they are shy/spooked/scared etc. How rapidly is he breathing? From the video you sent, behavior looked okay to me, but it's too short and hard to see what his breathing rate is/make a determination.

Is he scratching or flashing at the sand band or other rocks? That would be a sign of Ich. Ich has a life cycle that is easily broken if you act quickly.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys got this regal tang about a week ago it’s been doing very well eating and swimming until a few hours before. I upgraded my filter and added the filter floss from the other one and my ammonia is 0 he did eat a bit of food but not as much as usual. Please help it’s a very beautiful fish and I don’t won’t to lose it. Those are sand particles from laying sideways In the sand.

Fish is thin and appears to have mucus cones and skin irritation although you say sand. These fish are easily intimidated by tank mates but hard to say of it is behavioral. The video provided is very blurry and needs to be reposted under brighter white light intensity
Is fish breathing normal or rapid?
What method of filtration are you using and can you provide picture of the entire tank?

 

[JohnnyReef13]

Hey! Too me, it appears to be white ick, if what I see on the side is actually part of the fish. It could just be stressed.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It's really tough to see, but the hepatus tang seems to be breathing too fast. That can be a symptom of a few different problems. Additional information is needed:

Are any of the other fish breathing fast?
You said you "changed the filter". Can you describe what you did?
Could the aeration amount have been changed when you worked on the filter?
What are you actual water quality values for the tank?

 

[jackson6969]

Hey again guys sorry for the late reply he is now scratching on the rock occasionally still breathing very fast but out and swimming again. I changed from a hob to a canister filter and got the media from the hob and added it to the canister I thought there could have been an issue with oxygen so since I have added an airstone. The other fish seem to be breathing rapidly as well. Is a freshwater bath my next step

 

[Duane family]

These blue tangs often will lay down sideways when they feel threatened. Do not be alarmed by this at all.
But as others have said there is for sure something bothering the fish. @vetteguy53081 said that he noticed mucus cones on the fish and I see this as well. I am firmly confident that the tang has white spot.

Yes you can do a 5min freshwater bath but this will not kill any trophonts as they are under the skin and protected from the fresh water but it will provide some short term relief but damaging any parasites which are exposed to the fresh water. But you really have to get a QT tank ready with coppersafe or copperpower at 2.25ppm ( use hanna high range checker to measure this ) you will add roughly 0.33ml per 1litre of the solution to the water to reach just above 2.25ppm. This will be your long term method to dealing with this parasite. What other fish do you have with it ? The other fish would have been exposed to the parasite and would also need treatment but there are fish which are not able to tolerate even the smallest levels of copper so please list your fish. Depending on your fish list there may also be a completely different way to deal with the white spot so this list is urgent.

Your QT tank can be a small tub or glass tank with a heater, and a airstone or two with a simple hang on back skimmer. It does not have to be complex at all.

 

[jackson6969]

Hey again guys sorry for the late reply he is now scratching on the rock occasionally still breathing very fast but out and swimming again. I changed from a hob to a canister filter and got the media from the hob and added it to the canister I thought there could have been an issue with oxygen so since I have added an airstone. The other fish seem to be breathing rapidly as well. Is a freshwater bath my next step

Thanks mate, I am waiting on quarantine tank to arrive but I don’t have the Hanna checker or copper how long would it survive until I get those and the other inhabitants are 1 clown 2 yellowtail chromosome and a Bandai cardinal. The water Parma are 1.024 salt 0 ammonia and nitrites and 10 nitrates. Could anyone else also confirm this is white spot not something else?

 

[jackson6969]

Thanks mate, I am waiting on quarantine tank to arrive but I don’t have the Hanna checker or copper how long would it survive until I get those and the other inhabitants are 1 clown 2 yellowtail chromosome and a Bandai cardinal. The water Parma are 1.024 salt 0 ammonia and nitrites and 10 nitrates. Could anyone else also confirm this is white spot not something else?

 

[RiverChad]

If he is breathing fast I would make sure you have proper aeration. Do you have a sump? Are there ripples on the surface of the water? If you don't have a sump and there is no motion on the surface area of the water then it is very likely the tank isn't getting enough oxygen and the fish could be suffocating. Unlikely though, if your other fish aren't breathing hard but if the surface area of the water is still, I would immediately use a turkey blaster/syringe to blow air bubbles underneath one of your power heads then fix the surface area issue. I've lost a blue tang this way when I just got into the hobby. My blue tang was the first fish to start showing signs, and while I tried to figure out what was going on with him I noticed all of my other fish starting to show signs of low oxygen. Unfortunately I lost the blue tang but thankfully since he showed signs before the other fish I was able to correct the problem and save the other fish.

 

[jackson6969]

i dont have a sump i use a canister filter there was a little bit of agiation now i turned the wavmaker on max and its a lot better but that still does explain the slight white spots appearing on the body

 

[Duane family]

Thanks mate, I am waiting on quarantine tank to arrive but I don’t have the Hanna checker or copper how long would it survive until I get those and the other inhabitants are 1 clown 2 yellowtail chromosome and a Bandai cardinal. The water Parma are 1.024 salt 0 ammonia and nitrites and 10 nitrates. Could anyone else also confirm this is white spot not something else?

Ok, all of them are ok with copper.
Check with you local fish / pet stores I'm sure someone will sell copperpower or copper safe. And check with them about the hanna test kit also but don't be dupped into buying any other test kit. Only the hanna is going to work for you.

If you can get the coppersafe of copperpower ( they are the same ) you can work with it in the absense of the test kit but short term and you have to understand that its experimental and also you have to be extremely accurate and also record everything. Below is how you can proceed short term without the test kit.

First you must understand exactly how much water will be in your QT tank. Like down to 100ml Accuracy, but if possible stick with full liter measurements. So don't fill it with 82.3 Ltr, if you can just 82 Ltr or 80Ltr.
Mix your water to salinity of 1020
Add 0.33ml of coppersafe or copperpower per litre exactly, your copper level will be just above 2.25ppm at this ratio
You know know that at 1020 your copper is correct, so you use the salinity to track the copper. Even though you are tracking this blind. If the salinity goes up due to evaporation then the copper level will also go up. All you need to do is adjust the salinity back to 1020 by adding RO water. This you can do for a few days till you can get your hands on a Hanna copper test kit. But please do not do this long term, you will kill the fish.
Check the salinity as often as you can and record everything so that you don't have to remember anything.

In the slight chance that it is not white spot then that's fine, copper will treat all other external parasites which you may be dealing with other than flukes. And if it is flukes then the Fresh water dip will give you good short term coverage to be able to get to a diagnosis.

The other question you had was how long do you have, well that depends on how long the fish has been dealing with symptoms since you noticed it. But I would say based on your videos that you should have enough time to get what you need as a minimum to treat the fish (a good few days like 2-4)

Keep us up to date

 

[Duane family]

I've just seen your latest video.
Yes there is still mucus cones visible but the situation is not nearly as bad as it appeared in the first video we saw. So basically it appears that you have caught this fairly early and there is plenty of time for you to get yourself prepared and ready to treat all the fish.

 

[Duane family]

Also Jay Hemdal asked about your water quality and I think this is a valid point as treating the fish is one thing but finding a potential source of stress which often triggers this white spot/crypto/Ich/Ick is vital. The last thing you want to do is put them back into an environment which induces stress again.

I read that you are using a canister filter. This is something I have not experience with other than short term QT setups but its been clear to me that unless this type of filtration system is very carefully handled it can lead to poor water quality. There have been people who have managed to keep very successful marine aquariums with canister filters but I believe that some extra diligence is required in order to sustain long term water quality.
My view on canister filters is that they are more of a fresh water suitable filter system sometimes used on marine tanks for various reasons. I may be wrong about that but this is my observation over the years.

What I am getting at here is that I think you should look closely at the full spectrum of water parameters associated with housing fish (not corals) and there might be a clue there. I see nuisance algae around the tank and this also makes me consider the water quality as being a stressor.