Emergency ! Urgent Help Needed: Regal Tang Not Eating or Coming Out of Hiding

[MoniqueJvr]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping for some advice on a difficult situation with our Pacific Blue Regal Tang (Regal Tang/Paracanthurus hepatus). She has been in our tank for 5 years and has always been healthy. However, about 2 weeks ago, her mate was killed by our Emperor Angelfish. Since then, she has not eaten and has been hiding continuously.

We removed the Emperor Angelfish from the tank shortly after the incident to eliminate the source of aggression, but our Regal Tang's condition has continued to decline. She looks very weak, and I’m extremely concerned.

Water parameters are stable (tested regularly), and we’ve tried offering a variety of her favorite foods, but she shows no interest in eating.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any advice on what we can do to help her recover? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping for some advice on a difficult situation with our Pacific Blue Regal Tang (Regal Tang/Paracanthurus hepatus). She has been in our tank for 5 years and has always been healthy. However, about 2 weeks ago, her mate was killed by our Emperor Angelfish. Since then, she has not eaten and has been hiding continuously.

We removed the Emperor Angelfish from the tank shortly after the incident to eliminate the source of aggression, but our Regal Tang's condition has continued to decline. She looks very weak, and I’m extremely concerned.

Water parameters are stable (tested regularly), and we’ve tried offering a variety of her favorite foods, but she shows no interest in eating.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any advice on what we can do to help her recover? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Please post a video under white light intensity of at least 30 seconds showing fish. If no signs are visible, it leads to why other fish oerished and may be flukes. Flukes come with symptoms such as gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping for some advice on a difficult situation with our Pacific Blue Regal Tang (Regal Tang/Paracanthurus hepatus). She has been in our tank for 5 years and has always been healthy. However, about 2 weeks ago, her mate was killed by our Emperor Angelfish. Since then, she has not eaten and has been hiding continuously.

We removed the Emperor Angelfish from the tank shortly after the incident to eliminate the source of aggression, but our Regal Tang's condition has continued to decline. She looks very weak, and I’m extremely concerned.

Water parameters are stable (tested regularly), and we’ve tried offering a variety of her favorite foods, but she shows no interest in eating.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any advice on what we can do to help her recover? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Your tang does have some HLLE, but that won't stop it from feeding.

We have a system to help folks post a problem report about their fish diseases:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

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[MnFish1]

To MoniqueJvr - first welcome to R2R.

I answered your other thread that you posted on this fish - please avoid posting multiple posts about the same issue. Agree with above.

 

[MoniqueJvr]

Please post a video under white light intensity of at least 30 seconds showing fish. If no signs are visible, it leads to why other fish oerished and may be flukes. Flukes come with symptoms such as gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color.

Please see video : .

I have removed her from the tank and placed her in a separate tank. She is definitely worsening.

No new additions! Our tank has been stable for the last five years . The only change was the Angel being removed and the other blue regal who died because of the angel .

Attached photos just as a caught the regal before moving to the quarantine tank .

 

[vetteguy53081]

Please see video : .

I have removed her from the tank and placed her in a separate tank. She is definitely worsening.

No new additions! Our tank has been stable for the last five years . The only change was the Angel being removed and the other blue regal who died because of the angel .

Attached photos just as a caught the regal before moving to the quarantine tank .

Sorry to see and this fish appears to have become moribund - a state of health in which it may not eat or swim moving forward.
To revisit- was this an LFS purchase or mail order?
Was it thin when you brought it home?
Any change as I cant clearly see on video with skin or skin condition?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Please see video : .

I have removed her from the tank and placed her in a separate tank. She is definitely worsening.

No new additions! Our tank has been stable for the last five years . The only change was the Angel being removed and the other blue regal who died because of the angel .

Attached photos just as a caught the regal before moving to the quarantine tank .

This fish is moribund (actively dying) but it also seems to have a lot of energy. This may be because of some neurological issue. I wonder if the tang that died was actually from aggression from the angel, or if it had the same issue that just allowed the angel to take advantage and go after it? Trouble is - there is no real way to diagnose and treat these sorts of issues. Typically, we can only effectively treat environmental issues or external parasitic diseases. This case does not seem to me to be from either cause - sorry!

Jay