Gem tang no looking good Pls Help

[aizhawaii]

My Gem Tang is not looking good something is going on. I did an H2O2 bath when I got him and did not see anything. The LFS told me he treats all fish with copper & Prazi. It gets stressed when I turn the light off in QT (Observation). After 15 days I moved him to DT thinking that would help with the stress and I don't have any other fish. He eats everything, breaths normally, no scratching. After 50 days he looks bad. Feeding him three times spirulina flakes and frozen food. Pls help.

 

[MnFish1]

I would make the following comments (but a white lit picture would be much more helpful - especially with a tang with white spots:).

1. It is thin
2. It looks like it has a slight case of HLLE ( usually due to poor water conditions or use of poor quality activated carbon)
3. The picture of the issues near the dorsal fin, and below could be due to an underlying skin irritation causing mucus which could be caused by a number of things (flukes, parasitic, bacterial infection)
4. Any problems with other fish, and are things getting better or worse.
5. Were your other fish quarantined?
6. Do you know the duration of the copper and prazipro at your LFS

 

[aizhawaii]

I would make the following comments (but a white lit picture would be much more helpful - especially with a tang with white spots:).

1. It is thin
2. It looks like it has a slight case of HLLE ( usually due to poor water conditions or use of poor quality activated carbon)
3. The picture of the issues near the dorsal fin, and below could be due to an underlying skin irritation causing mucus which could be caused by a number of things (flukes, parasitic, bacterial infection)
4. Any problems with other fish, and are things getting better or worse.
5. Were your other fish quarantined?
6. Do you know the duration of the copper and prazipro at your LFS

Thank you for your quick reply. I was worried about over-feeding when I suspected HILLE. I never had any other fish until yesterday. I added a cleaner wrasse yesterday. I was told LFS QT over 14 days. I know that is not enough but couldn't risk keeping in QT since it gets stressed and I haven't seen anything other than the stress marks. It fades when I am near. I started feeding more. It eats well and Wrasse is always with him nipping at him. I have some diatoms in my tank and other than that the tank was cycled and kept it without any fish for over a month. Ammonia and nitrite are zero and nitrate is a little over 0 I guess.

 

[KQuillan]

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I think the clue here is the activity of the cleaner wrasse - nipping at the tang over and over means that there is something on the tang’s skin - probably flukes. Then, cleaner wrasse can cause their own damage from this activity, you may need to separate them and then treat for flukes.

 

[aizhawaii]

Thank you, Jay. Today I don't see wrasse nipping at him. It was the first day. He appears better too. Does UV help? I have two clowns in QT so I may have to set up another one to treat flukes. What would be the treatment for flukes, PraziPro?

 

[Treefer32]

I had prazipro resistant flukes in my display. I had two fish with white dots in one or both eyes. And I treated with prazipro for a month following recommended dosage guidelines and water changes. And the white dots never went away. One of the fish was a copperband. He lived around a year and half with the white spots before he died. I had him for close to 2-3 years eating out of my hand every day.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you, Jay. Today I don't see wrasse nipping at him. It was the first day. He appears better too. Does UV help? I have two clowns in QT so I may have to set up another one to treat flukes. What would be the treatment for flukes, PraziPro?

UV won't work against flukes. Prazipro is one possible treatment. It is fairly safe with invertebrates. You need to dose it for the actual gallon capacity of the tank (net volume) and aerate the water well with an air stone. Then, 8 days later, change 25% of the water and redose. Remove any carbon filtration and still run a skimmer if you have one, but do not collect any skimmate.

Jay

 

[aizhawaii]

I had prazipro resistant flukes in my display. I had two fish with white dots in one or both eyes. And I treated with prazipro for a month following recommended dosage guidelines and water changes. And the white dots never went away. One of the fish was a copperband. He lived around a year and half with the white spots before he died. I had him for close to 2-3 years eating out of my hand every day.

That is sad.

 

[aizhawaii]

UV won't work against flukes. Prazipro is one possible treatment. It is fairly safe with invertebrates. You need to dose it for the actual gallon capacity of the tank (net volume) and aerate the water well with an air stone. Then, 8 days later, change 25% of the water and redose. Remove any carbon filtration and still run a skimmer if you have one, but do not collect any skimmate.

Jay

Thank you. I did order Prazipro. Does prazi hurt fish with HILLE? If I give him a fresh water dip for 5 min will it aggravate HILLE?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you. I did order Prazipro. Does prazi hurt fish with HILLE? If I give him a fresh water dip for 5 min will it aggravate HILLE?

No - prazi and FW dips, when done properly, are not an issue with fish that have HLLE.

Jay

 

[aizhawaii]

No - prazi and FW dips, when done properly, are not an issue with fish that have HLLE.

Jay

Thank you, Jay. I did a freshwater dip for 5 min. Moved the fish to QT. Didn't start prazi as the fish is breathing a little heavily and swimming around but a little disoriented. If he is ok will start prazi tomorrow. There was something white in the leftover FW dip, don't know what it is.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you, Jay. I did a freshwater dip for 5 min. Moved the fish to QT. Didn't start prazi as the fish is breathing a little heavily and swimming around but a little disoriented. If he is ok will start prazi tomorrow. There was something white in the leftover FW dip, don't know what it is.

I don't see any flukes in that dip, but only one species of fluke (Neobenedenia) is large enough to see in dip water without a microscope. Can you post a video later today to let me see how its doing?

Jay

 

[aizhawaii]

I don't see any flukes in that dip, but only one species of fluke (Neobenedenia) is large enough to see in dip water without a microscope. Can you post a video later today to let me see how its doing?

Jay

He is not eating and not actively swimming. Kind of shows some orientation difficulties. No heavy breathing. Video attached.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

He is not eating and not actively swimming. Kind of shows some orientation difficulties. No heavy breathing. Video attached.

The fish is breathing a bit deeply and swimming weakly. Everything up to this point leans towards flukes. However, in some cases, fish get a bacterial infection after the flukes have been removed (by the FW dip in this case).

Is the water testing ok in terms of ammonia?

You may have some difficulty stopping this infection. Your best option would be a gram negative, broad spectrum antibiotic like Neoplex.

Jay

 

[aizhawaii]

The fish is breathing a bit deeply and swimming weakly. Everything up to this point leans towards flukes. However, in some cases, fish get a bacterial infection after the flukes have been removed (by the FW dip in this case).

Is the water testing ok in terms of ammonia?

You may have some difficulty stopping this infection. Your best option would be a gram negative, broad spectrum antibiotic like Neoplex.

Jay

Thank you Jay. I did order neoplex. The fish started swimming around and eating normally. But I do see some redness on his skin. He is in a QT tank I set up for corals. No ammonia. I will add an ammonia badge tomorrow. Pls see the image.

Arun

 

[adamg77]

I hope your little guy pulls through!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you Jay. I did order neoplex. The fish started swimming around and eating normally. But I do see some redness on his skin. He is in a QT tank I set up for corals. No ammonia. I will add an ammonia badge tomorrow. Pls see the image.

Arun

That it is eating is a really good sign. This still looks like a reaction to having all the flukes drop off the fish. You can decide to use the Neoplex or not based on the condition of the fish once you get the meds.

 

[aizhawaii]

That it is eating is a really good sign. This still looks like a reaction to having all the flukes drop off the fish. You can decide to use the Neoplex or not based on the condition of the fish once you get the meds.

I have metroplex. Is it useful in my case or wait till I get neoplex tomorrow? Fish is eating and swimming well.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have metroplex. Is it useful in my case or wait till I get neoplex tomorrow? Fish is eating and swimming well.

I would skip the metroplex, it is only effective against anerobic bacteria (internal) so any external issue would not be treated by this drug, as any bacteria on the outside of the fish is aerobic, since it it bathed in seawater that has oxygen in it, so that type of bacteria will not grow there.