Inflated Yellow Tang

[LikeRichMahogany]

Picked up this baby yellow tang ~2 months ago, has been fine, until the last few days. Its body expanded like a balloon over the course of two days, and it looks like its bones are literally piercing its flesh from the pressure. I don’t know what to do.


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[vetteguy53081]

Picked up this baby yellow tang ~2 months ago, has been fine, until the last few days. Its body expanded like a balloon over the course of two days, and it looks like its bones are literally piercing its flesh from the pressure. I don’t know what to do.

If this is a Biota yellow, they tend to overeat and gorge themselves as they are originally fed fine foods and relish the foods we offer. Dont feed for 12 hours in which it should pass the food in its belly and offer a few small feedings in lieu of large portions until it gets larger

 

[LikeRichMahogany]

I really haven’t fed him much at all:( I feed maybe 3 times a week, just a sprinkle of PE Pellets(x-small). But the tank is covered in algae and he’s constantly grazing. Should I put him in an acclimation box?

 

[LikeRichMahogany]

I really haven’t fed him much at all:( I feed maybe 3 times a week, just a sprinkle of PE Pellets(x-small). But the tank is covered in algae and he’s constantly grazing. Should I put him in an acclimation box?

@vetteguy53081

 

[Idech]

I really haven’t fed him much at all:( I feed maybe 3 times a week, just a sprinkle of PE Pellets(x-small). But the tank is covered in algae and he’s constantly grazing. Should I put him in an acclimation box?

Curious why you only feed 3 times a week ? Some fish eat all day long in the ocean. That’s not enough.

 

[LikeRichMahogany]

It’s a nano tank in my son’s room, and it’s got an ongoing nutrient problem. My 150 gets fed constantly, 4 cubes of frozen in the morning, auto fed pellets twice a day, plus a sheet of two little fishies nori every other day. This little 12 gallon tank just doesn’t have the nutrient export it needs for more frequent feeding

 

[Idech]

It’s a nano tank in my son’s room, and it’s got an ongoing nutrient problem. My 150 gets fed constantly, 4 cubes of frozen in the morning, auto fed pellets twice a day, plus a sheet of two little fishies nori every other day. This little 12 gallon tank just doesn’t have the nutrient export it needs for more frequent feeding

I hope you don’t plan on keeping that yellow tang in there much longer. Let’s hope it gets better but it needs to be fed regularly.

 

[W31Olds]

Considering you have had him a couple of Months I don't see this as an overeating issue. He doesn't look that fat to me but is severely bloated/ constipated. Don't feed Pellets as they may make matters worse. Frozen Brine can help him pass the food.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I really haven’t fed him much at all:( I feed maybe 3 times a week, just a sprinkle of PE Pellets(x-small). But the tank is covered in algae and he’s constantly grazing. Should I put him in an acclimation box?

No need to place in acclimation box, however to control feeding temporarily, you could.

 

[ReefinIt]

I had this same issue with one of my biota yellow tangs and it eventually died. Same as you, only a few months old.

I think it was constipated because I didn't see it poop. I wasn't overfeeding but I had a lot of hair algae in the tank at the time. I also had a ton of baby trochus snails so wondering if the yellow might eaten one and it got stuck in it's digestive tract.

I got another one shortly after and no issues.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It’s a nano tank in my son’s room, and it’s got an ongoing nutrient problem. My 150 gets fed constantly, 4 cubes of frozen in the morning, auto fed pellets twice a day, plus a sheet of two little fishies nori every other day. This little 12 gallon tank just doesn’t have the nutrient export it needs for more frequent feeding

If, for nutrient reasons, you cannot feed that tank small amounts multiple times a day (as needed by small yellow tangs) then you cannot keep fish in it.

There are multiple causes for abdominal swelling in fish, and they cannot always be visually told apart. Here is a post I made about this issue:

Causes of Abdominal Swelling in Fishes

Causes of Abdominal Swelling in Fishes This symptom presents as unusual swelling in the belly of a fish. As with many other disease symptoms, this itself is not an indication of any specific problem, but rather of a group of issues with different causes and outcomes. If some refinement of the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[LikeRichMahogany]

After 36 hours fasting the yellow tang(in an acclimation box to prevent grazing on algae), his condition seems to be about the same. I’m concerned he may have an intestinal blockage. @Jay Hemdal your article references peas and epsom salts as treatments for freshwater fish that don’t necessarily translate to saltwater fish. Any recommendations for marine treatments?

 

[higher99]

How long do you plan to keep it in a 12G?

I actually had a LFS told me that the captive bred yellow tang will do fine in my 25 gallon. I’ve watched enough yt videos and done research and it doesn’t even sound right.

Anyways I hope the fish recovers, I heard the biota YT are pretty hardy for the most part.

 

[Damage12]

The tang could be the source of your high nutrients in that very small tank. Even if you’re not manually feeding much, you said he grazes on algae all day and if he’s pooping that out, it will cause high nutrients. That tank cannot handle much of any bio load due to its size.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

After 36 hours fasting the yellow tang(in an acclimation box to prevent grazing on algae), his condition seems to be about the same. I’m concerned he may have an intestinal blockage. @Jay Hemdal your article references peas and epsom salts as treatments for freshwater fish that don’t necessarily translate to saltwater fish. Any recommendations for marine treatments?

Sorry - no, I don't have any cures for marine fish with this issue. Peas work for fancy goldfish, and Epsom salts work for other FW fish in a few cases, but for blockages in marine fish, I don't have any solution other than time....

 

[LikeRichMahogany]

How long do you plan to keep it in a 12G?

I actually had a LFS told me that the captive bred yellow tang will do fine in my 25 gallon. I’ve watched enough yt videos and done research and it doesn’t even sound right.

Anyways I hope the fish recovers, I heard the biota YT are pretty hardy for the most part.

The plan was to give the fish time to put on some weight, and recover from any shipping stress. I’ve got a mean little purple tang in my 150 that has killed two other yellow tangs. I wanted to get this one eating in a place where it was easy to catch, and let it get a bit tougher before putting it in my 150

 

[exnisstech]

If your purple already killed two yellows I'm not sure why you would even bother adding another. Do you expect the purple to act differently this time around? I have yellows in with my 8 yo purple but the first yellow was an adult wild yellow and I added 3 biota babies before bringing the purple over.