Brown blotch on yellow tang

[ReefinIt]

Have a yellow tang from biota. It has a weird brownish blotch near its head on both sides. Any ideas what it is? Start of HLLE?

It’s also extremely, extremely fat. It has gone crazy for algae in my tank ever since I introduced it so I suspect it’s just over eating.

Thanks in advance!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Have a yellow tang from biota. It has a weird brownish blotch near its head on both sides. Any ideas what it is? Start of HLLE?

It’s also extremely, extremely fat. It has gone crazy for algae in my tank ever since I introduced it so I suspect it’s just over eating.

Thanks in advance!

Likely post-injury but keep an eye on it as it can be bacterial.

 

[ReefinIt]

So it's been there for a few weeks now and seems to have gotten bigger.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So it's been there for a few weeks now and seems to have gotten bigger.

So - it's on both sides of the fish's head? Do they look symetrical? This does look like an injury to me as well, HLLE on captive raised yellow tangs is a thing, but it looks different. Here is a write-up I did on that back in 2016:

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/03/12/captive-bred-yellow-tangs-showing-hlle/


Jay

 

[ReefinIt]

So - it's on both sides of the fish's head? Do they look symetrical? This does look like an injury to me as well, HLLE on captive raised yellow tangs is a thing, but it looks different. Here is a write-up I did on that back in 2016:

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/03/12/captive-bred-yellow-tangs-showing-hlle/


Jay

Yes, it looks symmetrical, maybe slightly larger on one side. It does not look like the same location of the HLLE in your writeup. It's slightly higher.

Any concerns with the fatness? It is always super fat and looks like it breaths harder. It constantly is picking at algae in the tank and I also add nori.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes, it looks symmetrical, maybe slightly larger on one side. It does not look like the same location of the HLLE in your writeup. It's slightly higher.

Any concerns with the fatness? It is always super fat and looks like it breaths harder. It constantly is picking at algae in the tank and I also add nori.

Good to see a plump tang. Assure its from eating and not constipation, edema alike

 

[ReefinIt]

Good to see a plump tang. Assure its from eating and not constipation, edema alike

It's always been pretty fat and I've noticed it pooping before. I'll keep an eye out for it again. Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, it looks symmetrical, maybe slightly larger on one side. It does not look like the same location of the HLLE in your writeup. It's slightly higher.

Any concerns with the fatness? It is always super fat and looks like it breaths harder. It constantly is picking at algae in the tank and I also add nori.

Young yellow tangs have a higher protein/fat requirement in their food. If it is eating algae in the tank, you could skip the nori and just be sure it also gets pellets and mysids.

Jay

 

[ReefinIt]

Young yellow tangs have a higher protein/fat requirement in their food. If it is eating algae in the tank, you could skip the nori and just be sure it also gets pellets and mysids.

Jay

I will hold off on Nori. He doesn't seem that interested in frozen or pellets, but he does eat some. He just loves to graze.

I think it is constipated. How should I go about treating it?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I will hold off on Nori. He doesn't seem that interested in frozen or pellets. He just loves to graze.

I think it is constipated. How should I go about treating it?

Time is the best thing for this, but if the fish is still gobbling algae and Nori, it is difficult to get them to clear their intestines.

You'll read all sorts of things about treating "constipation" in fish, but much of it is hogwash - the only one that works is tough to do - Epsom Salts, mixed into gelatin diet at a rate of 1 or 2% by weight will help.

Adding Epsom Salts to the water won't work for marine fish, sea salt is already very high in that salt (but it does help with freshwater fish).

You'll hear about feeding the fish peas. That only works on fancy goldfish, due to their oddly shaped intestines.

Jay

 

[ReefinIt]

Time is the best thing for this, but if the fish is still gobbling algae and Nori, it is difficult to get them to clear their intestines.

You'll read all sorts of things about treating "constipation" in fish, but much of it is hogwash - the only one that works is tough to do - Epsom Salts, mixed into gelatin diet at a rate of 1 or 2% by weight will help.

Adding Epsom Salts to the water won't work for marine fish, sea salt is already very high in that salt (but it does help with freshwater fish).

You'll hear about feeding the fish peas. That only works on fancy goldfish, due to their oddly shaped intestines.

Jay

Sounds good. Thanks! I'll just stop feeding nori and do some maintenance on the algae. I just got back from vacation and the tank exploded in algae.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sounds good. Thanks! I'll just stop feeding nori and do some maintenance on the algae. I just got back from vacation and the tank exploded in algae.

Try things like frozen brine shrimp that can help pass a blockage, if you can get it to eat that.

Jay

 

[ReefinIt]

Try things like frozen brine shrimp that can help pass a blockage, if you can get it to eat that.

Jay

Nice, I'll give brine shrimp a try. Thanks!