Does my yellow tang have fin rot?

[jonleeroyix]

Sorry, I know the pictures aren’t the best I’m waiting on my glass cleaner to come still, but I noticed my new yellow tang looks like he is missing some pieces of his upper fin and possibly the lower one as well, what do y’all make of this? And if it is some sort of fin rot how would I go about treating?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Clearer pictures taken under white light would really help.
How long has the fish had this damage?
Most fin damage has its start from some mechanical damage issue, often another fish biting it’s fins.
However, yellow tangs can develop chronic fin damage from a syndrome know as had and lateral line erosion.
Jay

 

[jonleeroyix]

I haven’t had him very long but I don’t remember him being this way when I got him, I have a small damsel but I rarely ever even see it so I wouldn’t think he’d attack my tang

 

[jonleeroyix]

This is a picture I took the day I got him

 

[Gtinnel]

In those pictures I can't tell that it looks much worse than when you got it.

I was just wanting to point out that there is a small typo on Jay's post. He was mentioning head and lateral line erosion (HLLE). That way you can look up pictures and see it it matches. If you look up the disease make sure to look at yellow tangs specifically because on most tangs I don't believe it causes the fin erosion like it does on a YT.

 

[Opes]

Looks like it was way under weight and fins already in a bad place when you got it.

 

[jonleeroyix]

Looks like it was way under weight and fins already in a bad place when you got it.

Agreed

 

[jonleeroyix]

In those pictures I can't tell that it looks much worse than when you got it.

I was just wanting to point out that there is a small typo on Jay's post. He was mentioning head and lateral line erosion (HLLE). That way you can look up pictures and see it it matches. If you look up the disease make sure to look at yellow tangs specifically because on most tangs I don't believe it causes the fin erosion like it does on a YT.

Very solid advice! Thanks for clarifying, gonna look into that now

 

[Gtinnel]

Very solid advice! Thanks for clarifying, gonna look into that now

If I were you I would still provide the better pics with white lights that Jay asked for. If anyone could help it is him. He wrote the book on fish disease, literally I think.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This is a picture I took the day I got him

Still tough to see under blue light, but the fish started off pretty thin, and I think I can see some scalloping of the fins, which is a leading indicator of HLLE in YT.

Jay

 

[jonleeroyix]

Still tough to see under blue light, but the fish started off pretty thin, and I think I can see some scalloping of the fins, which is a leading indicator of HLLE in YT.

Jay

Going to turn on the whites tonight and try to get a few pictures, will keep you posted. If it is HLLE how would I treat it? I read something about it being caused by carbon and should reverse itself if you stop running the carbon

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Going to turn on the whites tonight and try to get a few pictures, will keep you posted. If it is HLLE how would I treat it? I read something about it being caused by carbon and should reverse itself if you stop running the carbon

Unfortunately, HLLE doesn't resolve readily when you remove carbon. If you catch it early enough, it will sometimes go into remission, but once it hits a certain point, it is permeant. Your fish may not have HLLE though, I'll wait for pictures under white light....

Here is an example of a yellow tang with HLLE:

 

[jonleeroyix]

Here are the best pictures I could get, I guess the lights scared him because he wouldn’t stop hiding. I know it’s green in there lol been battling algae for a couple weeks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here are the best pictures I could get, I guess the lights scared him because he wouldn’t stop hiding. I know it’s green in there lol been battling algae for a couple weeks

I don’t see anything here that is inconsistent with HLLE in yellow tangs, so I’ll have to conclude that’s what this is. This looks to be one of the Biota tangs? There are reports of those fish being prone to HLLE, but also some of them have grown out of it. Feed the fish very well, both air dried nori as well as high fat/high protein items like mysids, as well as pellets.
Jay