Help with purple tang.

[Johnpaul86]

Hopefully someone can shine a light on my situation and give some helpful advice.
So I have a purple tang that I have had in my tank (180 gallon) for the better part of 6 years.
I have noticed in the last week or so she has started to swim in the flow of a power head on occasion and a appears to be shyer then usual. She still eats very well and does not flash on anything. She does get these whit bloches that come and go almost on a daily. And they appear to not be in the same spot all the time. I have not added anything in the last 10 to 12 months as far as Iive stock goes because of a algae issue (green hair) that had over run my tank. All other fish appear to be acting normal and eating well to.

 

[Johnpaul86]

Sorry for the crappy pictures. If there is any other information I can give please let me know. Or better pictures are needed

 

[Johnpaul86]

Anyone?

 

[Damon Jensen]

My history with all my fish is when swimming in the flow in a new behavior, for me it has resulted in death.

The eating is a good sign, but white spots, again in my experience is
Ich.

There are tons of people that can help better than I. If you can get better pictures and post under the disease and treatment thread, you will get quick response

 

[Johnpaul86]

I don't think it is ick. They are big white bloches. Like pigment changes.

 

[RonSwanson]

Hello, maybe I have a similar problem. Maybe Velvet? HLLE?
The sailfin was scratching her face into the rocks and corals about 4 days ago. For the last 2 days she’s been in front of a power head and getting more bumps. Shes eating but I don’t think as much. She’s def breathing very fast with her mouth and gills. I took out hippo tang into QT last week bc he showed signs of Lympho. Please advise.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry for the crappy pictures. If there is any other information I can give please let me know. Or better pictures are needed

Pictures taken under white light would help me a lot.....
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello, maybe I have a similar problem. Maybe Velvet? HLLE?
The sailfin was scratching her face into the rocks and corals about 4 days ago. For the last 2 days she’s been in front of a power head and getting more bumps. Shes eating but I don’t think as much. She’s def breathing very fast with her mouth and gills. I took out hippo tang into QT last week bc he showed signs of Lympho. Please advise.

Hi Ron, welcome to Reef2Reef!

It would help if you started your own thread, as it gets confusing to respond to two different people on the same thread. Take a look at the second sticky file at the top of the disease section that outlines helpful information for us to know about your tank.
That said, your tang has minor HLLE, but the real issue is the rapid breathing. If it is velvet, you’ll need to begin a treatment today, as velvet kills very quickly.
Jay

 

[Cole.mormon]

start velvet treatment
fish might die sooner than later

 

[Johnpaul86]

Pictures taken under white light would help me a lot.....
Jay

I will get them today

 

[Johnpaul86]

So I have some pictures and videos of the issue I have circled what I am taking about. The swimming in the flow has been about a week and a half now. Not sure if its boredom or not. She does not seem to be breathing hard? The third picture is today, the only white areas are on her dorsal fin.

 

[Johnpaul86]

I am uploading the videos now

 

[Johnpaul86]

I am not able to get good video with my phone.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry, those are still pretty blue, I can’t make out any details really. How long have you had the tang? Rapid or open mouthed breathing, and lack of appetite are the symptoms you really need to watch for.
Jay

 

[Johnpaul86]

Sorry, those are still pretty blue, I can’t make out any details really. How long have you had the tang? Rapid or open mouthed breathing, and lack of appetite are the symptoms you really need to watch for.
Jay

I have had her for 6-7 years, she eats very well and still does. Not sure on the breathing part its fast but does not look labored. Do you have a example of the breathing you are talking about i will still try for a good picture. Is it best to use YouTube for videos?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have had her for 6-7 years, she eats very well and still does. Not sure on the breathing part its fast but does not look labored. Do you have a example of the breathing you are talking about i will still try for a good picture. Is it best to use YouTube for videos?

Yes - posting to YouTube works well for videos. For a fish like that, I would expect it to breath less than 80 beats per minute. One easy way to count that is to video the fish, then play back the video and count the number of breaths in a time frame (say 10 seconds) and then multiply it out for 60 seconds. Do that a few times and average the results. Anything more than 100 gill beats is likely to be an issue.

Jay

 

[Johnpaul86]

Here are some better pictures I hope. As you can see now its just the white streak on her pectoral fin. Still working on the breathing rate

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The tang has a bit of a pinched belly, you’ll want to increase the food amount and ensure some of the food is higher in fat and protein.
I’ve been really looking at the pics - I just don’t see anything seriously wrong; maybe it is just a scratch? If you haven’t added any new animals in the past two months or so, it likely isn’t a contagious issue.
Jay

 

[Johnpaul86]

The tang has a bit of a pinched belly, you’ll want to increase the food amount and ensure some of the food is higher in fat and protein.
I’ve been really looking at the pics - I just don’t see anything seriously wrong; maybe it is just a scratch? If you haven’t added any new animals in the past two months or so, it likely isn’t a contagious issue.
Jay

Thanks for your help i will keep an eye on her, I got the qt setup and ready to go incase takes a turn. I do give a whole sheet of purple or green algae every day and feed neptune pelets everyday, also lrs reef frenzy every day. Could it be worms that caused the belly issue?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for your help i will keep an eye on her, I got the qt setup and ready to go incase takes a turn. I do give a whole sheet of purple or green algae every day and feed neptune pelets everyday, also lrs reef frenzy every day. Could it be worms that caused the belly issue?

Unlikely to be worms after this amount of time in your tank, but even if it is, you can mostly balance that with increased meaty items in the diet.
Jay