carbon damaging my yellow tangs dorsal fin???

[villmets]

Good Morning, I have a yellow tang who has a dorsal fin that is looking like it has damage (mis-shapen)
A friend of mine said he read somewhere that too much carbon in a reef can cause this issue? Has anyone else head this? I turned off my carbon but was just curious if anyone else has heard of this<
P.S -no other fish picks on him..so it is not an attack injury -it has been slowly happening

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

That looks like an infection or flukes. However I’m not an expert. Call in the pros. @4FordFamily

 

[mtfish]

I believe what your friend has heard is that activated carbon could bring on signs of HLLE in tangs. I do not know if that is true or not. But, that picture looks like the tang has been attacked by another fish and now has an infection on top of the fin damage. Have you noticed any other fish picking on the tang? I would put the fish and hospital tank and medicate with antibiotics until the fins heal.

 

[Softhammer]

I very seriously doubt carbon had anything to do with that. That dude is in very bad shape. I’d quarantine him ASAP.

 

[ScottB]

This happened to my yellow as well about a year ago, and while he is still behaving/eating/swimming fine he never grew the dorsal nor the top of his tail fin back. We call him Mohawk; it is not a good look but he is family.

In my case, I am fairly certain it was aggression from the other tangs -- the big purple in particular -- but the dynamic calmed when the powder blue took over as the boss.

I suppose after the injuries he got an infection which damaged the "roots" or stems to the point they could not regenerate. Hopefully not the case with your yellow.

And yes, I spent hours trying to trap him for treatment. No dice.

 

[AdamB]

Too much carbon can cause HLLE in tangs. I made a mistake couple years ago and my tang plus some of my sps suffered to putting too much carbon in filter sock.
I agree with others . Your tang is suffering from something else..

 

[villmets]

This happened to my yellow as well about a year ago, and while he is still behaving/eating/swimming fine he never grew the dorsal nor the top of his tail fin back. We call him Mohawk; it is not a good look but he is family.

In my case, I am fairly certain it was aggression from the other tangs -- the big purple in particular -- but the dynamic calmed when the powder blue took over as the boss.

I suppose after the injuries he got an infection which damaged the "roots" or stems to the point they could not regenerate. Hopefully not the case with your yellow.

And yes, I spent hours trying to trap him for treatment. No dice.

Thanks for the feedback....he seems happy and eats well.

 

[C. Eymann]

That looks like trama injury to me, either caused by aggression with other fish, or you have a predator in there that's been trying to grab it while sleeping in the rock. I have seen big gorilla crabs cause damage like this.

 

[ScottB]

That looks like trama injury to me, either caused by aggression with other fish, or you have a predator in there that's been trying to grab it while sleeping in the rock. I have seen big gorilla crabs cause damage like this.

Ever hear of an emerald or banded coral nipping healthy fish?

 

[4FordFamily]

That could be an injury or even an infection or something eating away the fins. This wouldn’t be the first time such was documented on a tang.

Have you noticed this gradually worsening or more sudden? I know you said sudden but over a few days or a few months?

 

[MnFish1]

It is aggression from other tangs from my experience (I have 3 - a purple and 2 yellows) - when first put in the tank - one of the yellows took a chunk out of the tail of the other - it looks identical. if there is no 'redness', fluffiness, etc - ie. the fin is just uneven - its unlikely to be an infection or need any treatment - except to monitor for aggression. Others more experienced with disease may have a different opinion