DARK BLOTCHES ON A KOLE TANG

Dr. Jim

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I'm guessing that the dark blotches and pale color on this Kole Tang are signs of a bacterial infection but I would like to hear what others have to say. The pale color all over his body started about 5 days ago; the blotches have gradually appeared during this time. Yesterday, his eyes (cornea) were cloudy but seem normal today. The fish acts perfectly normal otherwise.

He came out of 3 wks of copper in Q about 3 weeks ago. I suspect this fish is very stressed which may have led to a bacterial outbreak because:
-I'm concerned about his nutritional status. He eats very little frozen, flakes, nori or pellets but constantly nibbles on the algae on the glass and rocks, but there wasn't much of that in the Q tank and not a whole lot in the present tank.
-The relatively small tank (40 gal) is probably stressing him too.

Because of the difficulty of catching him, and because he seems to be doing well, my plan (for today, at least) is to just observe him longer (unless somebody suggests something that makes me change my mind!)

Any input is welcome! Thank you.

Kole L.jpg
Kole R.jpg
Kole.jpg
 

Big G

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Yes, I agree, that looks like your tang is fighting a bacterial infection. Consider adding Beta Glucan to a mix of frozen foods. It greatly boosts a fish's immune system. Any health food store sell it. I get mine from Amazon. I mix a 1/2 capsule with 6-7 thawed frozen foods (algae mix, reef mix, cyclops, brine, mysis, chopped clams, etc.). Strain off the excess liquid, it will spike your nitrates and phosphates. The mix will stay good in the fridge for a few days. Here's a pic of the BG I feed my fish, and a thread regards treating bacterial infections. Watch for redness and necrosis. If you see any, needs antibiotics asap.



IMG_2165.jpg
 

DeniseAndy

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Yep. Is fighting something. Poor guy. Hope it recovers. You can also try some medicated food with antibiotics in them. I have used some from Everything Aquatics. Takes a while to come in though. They make them when you order for potency reasons.
 
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Dr. Jim

Dr. Jim

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Yes, I agree, that looks like your tang is fighting a bacterial infection. Consider adding Beta Glucan to a mix of frozen foods. It greatly boosts a fish's immune system. Any health food store sell it. I get mine from Amazon. I mix a 1/2 capsule with 6-7 thawed frozen foods (algae mix, reef mix, cyclops, brine, mysis, chopped clams, etc.). Strain off the excess liquid, it will spike your nitrates and phosphates. The mix will stay good in the fridge for a few days. Here's a pic of the BG I feed my fish, and a thread regards treating bacterial infections. Watch for redness and necrosis. If you see any, needs antibiotics asap.



IMG_2165.jpg
Gary,
That is all good information. Thank you. I hardly ever see this fish eat any food (other than nibbling on glass and rocks). I have a bare bottom so I think he sometimes picks up some food this way, but frozen foods don't seem to be his favorite. I will keep the B-Glucan in mind though, and will probably incorporate it in the next batch of "home=made" frozen food. If he worsens, I will have to decide if I want to tear apart the entire tank to catch him for antibiotic treatments.
 

Big G

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Gary,
That is all good information. Thank you. I hardly ever see this fish eat any food (other than nibbling on glass and rocks). I have a bare bottom so I think he sometimes picks up some food this way, but frozen foods don't seem to be his favorite. I will keep the B-Glucan in mind though, and will probably incorporate it in the next batch of "home=made" frozen food. If he worsens, I will have to decide if I want to tear apart the entire tank to catch him for antibiotic treatments.
It likes the glass and rocks for grazing . . . how about mixing with masstick and sticking it on the glass or rocks? Works pretty good on algae grazers.
 

Betex

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I have the same issue with my Kole tang but what is so weird is that seems to be only at night time during the day within an hour of lights turning on she is back to full color and she eats like a pig.

No cloudy eyes, and eats completely normal as well. My tang doesnt have those pronounced black blotches but just turns pale hence why I am not sure its an infection.

So is this something they do at night time or an actual infection of sorts.

Thanks,
Dave
 
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Dr. Jim

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An infection would not allow "blotches" to come and go so I am guessing it is something else. Some fish do lose color in the dark so that may have something to do with it. Do you have photos?
When researching cutaneous bacterial infections on fish, it seemed like a disproportionate number of examples came up referencing kole tangs which I found interesting.

Update on my Kole: Since I first wrote about my Kole (15 days ago) I noticed a yellow wrasse break out with a red "blotch" on its side (which is more typical of a bacterial infection compared to the dark blotches on the kole) and 2 fish were rubbing on rocks excessively (a tiny hippo and a 6-line wrasse). All this was reason for me to remove all the rock and catch all the fish (10 days ago). All fish were dipped in freshwater (2.5 min) and put back in the Q tank. (One fluke was found in the freshwater dipping container). The Q tank was treated with praziquantel (with a 50% water change after 5 days). The wrasse and kole were bathed in 1 gal water with 1ml amikacin 50mg/ml daily for 7 days. The kole was also injected with enrofloxacin (veterinary equivalent to ciprofloxacin). (I.P. = Intraperitoneal or "into the body cavity") every 3 days for 3 injections. (If I didn't have access to these drugs I would bathe in kanamycin and mix kanamycin into a frozen food/gelatin mix. Seachem makes a kanamycin product).
The red blotch on the yellow wrasse was gone after 5 days. (I did not inject this fish because of its tiny size). The blotches are almost gone on the Kole. (The Kole never acted sick from day one). The hippo died. (Unfortunately, I do not have access to my microscope during the corona "lockdown.") The wrasse stopped rubbing immediately.

Note: For 3 nights after I spent 6 hours working in my tank (with no gloves), I had a mild fever. Of course corona came to mind but I immediately suspected "picking up" a bacteria from my tank. (Vibrio is one bacteria that can cause skin lesions in fish and make humans ill). It was foolish not to wear gloves when handling rock and sick fish all day....but after 50+ years of not wearing gloves in this hobby, I guess I've become lax.

My Plan: I will leave my tank barren (of fish) for at least 3 weeks to be sure any trematode eggs hatch and die (without a host). Arriving in the mail today are kanamycin, metronidazole and fenbendazole (for intestinal worms). I've always advocated treating all new fish for every possible parasite. This is the first time I broke my "rule" and I am paying the price. So I will mix each drug in a frozen food/gelatin mix and feed the fenbendazole and metronidazole to all the fish for 5 consecutive days (one drug at a time). All the fish will then go back to the DT except the kole. The kole will get an additional 5-7 days of the kanamycin/food mix (because of the stubborn skin infection)
Once all fish are out of the Q tank I will move my UV sterilizer from the Q tank to the DT. (If I had a second UV, I would have started that on the DT much earlier).
 

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Yes, I agree, that looks like your tang is fighting a bacterial infection. Consider adding Beta Glucan to a mix of frozen foods. It greatly boosts a fish's immune system. Any health food store sell it. I get mine from Amazon. I mix a 1/2 capsule with 6-7 thawed frozen foods (algae mix, reef mix, cyclops, brine, mysis, chopped clams, etc.). Strain off the excess liquid, it will spike your nitrates and phosphates. The mix will stay good in the fridge for a few days. Here's a pic of the BG I feed my fish, and a thread regards treating bacterial infections. Watch for redness and necrosis. If you see any, needs antibiotics asap.



IMG_2165.jpg
Learned something from this one. :)
 

Betex

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I will take pics in the morning and afternoon but upon having fears that there was something wrong with the tang I kept researching and have seen some people mention that they can change colors at night time also to blend in the rocks and cuddle up against it.

Mine does not scratch itself on rocks, nothing on the eyes its just pale in mornings and as day comes around becomes its normal color again.
 

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I have the same issue with my Kole tang but what is so weird is that seems to be only at night time during the day within an hour of lights turning on she is back to full color and she eats like a pig.

No cloudy eyes, and eats completely normal as well. My tang doesnt have those pronounced black blotches but just turns pale hence why I am not sure its an infection.

So is this something they do at night time or an actual infection of sorts.

Thanks,
Dave

Sounds to me like yours is just showing it's night time coloration. Many fish including tangs and butterflies will do this at night. Helps to hide from night time predators.
 
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