Kole Tang sick!

[Calebb8133]

Ik my kole Tang is sick but can't quite put my finger on what he has! Any ideas? Maybe ick?

 

[Crabs McJones]

It looks like velvet and her lips look horribly beaten up and she possibly has HLLE. Have you been giving her algae to graze on. Tangs are algae grazers and if they aren't given a source of algae to eat they'll pick at rocks hard to find it. You'll need to move to qt and treat asap if its velvet or the fish will likely not make the next 48 hours @HotRocks @4FordFamily @Big G @ngoodermuth

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Definitely velvet and probably a secondary bacterial infection as well. You need to ACT FAST! Do you have any other fish in your aquarium?

I am assuming you don't currently have a QT running which means you will need the following:
- 20 gallon tank (or large plastic bin)
- heater
- air pump/airstone or HOB filter (I recommend both as you will need more aggressive flow when using meds)
- ammonia badge (feed lightly to keep ammonia levels in check)
- bottle of Biospira or tims one and only nitrifying bacteria
- conduct 30-50% water changes daily or every other day based on ammonia readings

Key points when using copper:
- raise copper levels slowly over 2-4 days splitting the dosing in half AM/PM. There are a few copper options on the market such as copper power, copper safe and cupramine. My personal favorite is cupramine. You need to hold therapeutic levels for 2-4 weeks. I suggest 4 weeks just to be sure.
- DO NOT use ammonia reducers such as PRIME in combination with copper.
- Will need a good cooper test kit. Personally I think Hanna Checkers are the easiest to read results.

Is your fish still eating? If so, Seachems Metro + Kanaplex + Focus can be given orally. Seachem Focus will binds the medication to the fish food making it reef safe. In your situation you may need dose metro and kana directly to the water column after your tang has adapted to the copper medication.

 

[Big G]

Your tang’s being overwhelmed by Velvet parasites. Especially it’s gills.
Recommend a freshwater dip to temporarily remove some of the parasites from the gills so it can breathe.

A bath in an acriflavine product like Ruby Reef Ralley will further remove some of the parasites and it has both antiseptic and antibiotic quantities. This step has greatly increased survival rates.

Next treat with copper for 30 days at therapeutic levels. Copper Power is very good and reliable.

Also as others posted a treatment with a wide spectrum antibiotic like kanaplex will help it deal with secondary infections.

Time is not on your side here.

 

[Calebb8133]

It looks like velvet and her lips look horribly beaten up and she possibly has HLLE. Have you been giving her algae to graze on. Tangs are algae grazers and if they aren't given a source of algae to eat they'll pick at rocks hard to find it. You'll need to move to qt and treat asap if its velvet or the fish will likely not make the next 48 hours @HotRocks @4FordFamily @Big G @ngoodermuth

I feed them tons of greens and will set up a qt quickly I do have one but have to set it up! Thank you for providing such a strait to the point answer!

 

[Calebb8133]

Your tang’s being overwhelmed by Velvet parasites. Especially it’s gills.
Recommend a freshwater dip to temporarily remove some of the parasites from the gills so it can breathe.

A bath in an acriflavine product like Ruby Reef Ralley will further remove some of the parasites and it has both antiseptic and antibiotic quantities. This step has greatly increased survival rates.

Next treat with copper for 30 days at therapeutic levels. Copper Power is very good and reliable.

Also as others posted a treatment with a wide spectrum antibiotic like kanaplex will help it deal with secondary infections.

Time is not on your side here.

I did do a freshwater dip that might have prolonged it. Will set up qt once I get everything together!

 

[Calebb8133]

Definitely velvet and probably a secondary bacterial infection as well. You need to ACT FAST! Do you have any other fish in your aquarium?

I am assuming you don't currently have a QT running which means you will need the following:
- 20 gallon tank (or large plastic bin)
- heater
- air pump/airstone or HOB filter (I recommend both as you will need more aggressive flow when using meds)
- ammonia badge (feed lightly to keep ammonia levels in check)
- bottle of Biospira or tims one and only nitrifying bacteria
- conduct 30-50% water changes daily or every other day based on ammonia readings

Key points when using copper:
- raise copper levels slowly over 2-4 days splitting the dosing in half AM/PM. There are a few copper options on the market such as copper power, copper safe and cupramine. My personal favorite is cupramine. You need to hold therapeutic levels for 2-4 weeks. I suggest 4 weeks just to be sure.
- DO NOT use ammonia reducers such as PRIME in combination with copper.
- Will need a good cooper test kit. Personally I think Hanna Checkers are the easiest to read results.

Is your fish still eating? If so, Seachems Metro + Kanaplex + Focus can be given orally. Seachem Focus will binds the medication to the fish food making it reef safe. In your situation you may need dose metro and kana directly to the water column after your tang has adapted to the copper medication.

I do have other fish in the tank including inverts!
He tries to eat but his lips are so big he can't keep it in!

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree with the velvet diagnosis as well. Treat quickly as suggested. :(

 

[Calebb8133]

Definitely velvet and probably a secondary bacterial infection as well. You need to ACT FAST! Do you have any other fish in your aquarium?

I am assuming you don't currently have a QT running which means you will need the following:
- 20 gallon tank (or large plastic bin)
- heater
- air pump/airstone or HOB filter (I recommend both as you will need more aggressive flow when using meds)
- ammonia badge (feed lightly to keep ammonia levels in check)
- bottle of Biospira or tims one and only nitrifying bacteria
- conduct 30-50% water changes daily or every other day based on ammonia readings

Key points when using copper:
- raise copper levels slowly over 2-4 days splitting the dosing in half AM/PM. There are a few copper options on the market such as copper power, copper safe and cupramine. My personal favorite is cupramine. You need to hold therapeutic levels for 2-4 weeks. I suggest 4 weeks just to be sure.
- DO NOT use ammonia reducers such as PRIME in combination with copper.
- Will need a good cooper test kit. Personally I think Hanna Checkers are the easiest to read results.

Is your fish still eating? If so, Seachems Metro + Kanaplex + Focus can be given orally. Seachem Focus will binds the medication to the fish food making it reef safe. In your situation you may need dose metro and kana directly to the water column after your tang has adapted to the copper medication.

Ok so I am going to put cupramine in a 20g tank. Should I do a quarter of the dose it suggest? I am ordering stuff like a better airstone, small powerhead, and meds. Do I need to treat all my fish? None r showing signs of being sick. Should I do another bath? I did one yesterday morning because I thought he had flukes.

 

[Calebb8133]

Is parashield good to treat him with?

 

[Mjrenz]

Ok so I am going to put cupramine in a 20g tank. Should I do a quarter of the dose it suggest? I am ordering stuff like a better airstone, small powerhead, and meds. Do I need to treat all my fish? None r showing signs of being sick. Should I do another bath? I did one yesterday morning because I thought he had flukes.

You should definitely treat all of your fish. Here is some more information on velvet, time is not on your side with this disease.
https://humble.fish/velvet​/
Be careful doing too many freshwater dips as it does stress the fish but if you did one yesterday then another one today may help. If you don't have Ruby Reef Rally you can also use api fungus cure, it has arciflavin in it too.

 

[Mjrenz]

Is parashield good to treat him with?

Parasheild is an herbal remedy and isn't going to help you out with how quickly this parasite progresses

 

[Calebb8133]

You should definitely treat all of your fish. Here is some more information on velvet, time is not on your side with this disease.
https://humble.fish/velvet/
Be careful doing too many freshwater dips as it does stress the fish but if you did one yesterday then another one today may help. If you don't have Ruby Reef Rally you can also use api fungus cure, it has arciflavin in it too.

Good would I go about treating all my fish because I have 8 total and only a 20g QT could I treat them 3-4 at a time?

 

[Mjrenz]

Good would I go about treating all my fish because I have 8 total and only a 20g QT could I treat them 3-4 at a time?

If you can get another tank I would do so and treat them all now, velvet is a fast killer and can kill before a fish shows physical symptoms

 

[Calebb8133]

Good would I go about treating all my fish because I have 8 total and only a 20g QT could I treat them 3-4 at a time?

*how

 

[Mjrenz]

It can attack their gills and causes a lot of damage essentially suffocating the fish. Once you see signs of it on their body it's at an advanced stage. Tangs typically show it quicker because they have a thinner slime coat and unfortunately have a lower survival rate

 

[Calebb8133]

If you can get another tank I would do so and treat them all now, velvet is a fast killer and can kill before a fish shows physical symptoms

I don't think I can get my hands on another tank. 20g is to small for those fish correct?

 

[Calebb8133]

I have a small 2.5-3g tank that I could put A fish in if that helps

 

[Mjrenz]

I was just going to call in @Big G but I see he's already here

 

[Big G]

I have a small 2.5-3g tank that I could put A fish in if that helps

Any tank is better than a tank swarming with velvet parasites that are reproducing at an exponential rate overwhelming your fish and your efforts to save them.