My yello belly hippo tang laying on its side and breathing heavy there is no sign of parasites

[kevinvinuthomas]

My tang swims around occasionally he's eating every time I feed him and occasionally grazes on algae in the tank but now he's laying on his side and breathing heavily there's no sign of parasites or him getting beaten up

 

[Sharkbait19]

Pictures and water parameters would help tremendously.
Tank age and how recently you got the fish would also be great to know.
At the moment there is not a lot to go off of.

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

My phosphate is at 1 ppm and nitrates at 40 tank temperature is at 82

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

Pictures and water parameters would help tremendously.
Tank age and how recently you got the fish would also be great to know.
At the moment there is not a lot to go off of.

Also my tank is 6 months old and I got him 2 weeks ago

 

[ilikefish69]

82 a lil high I run mine at 80 and that’s pushing it, also nitrates you want to see less than 20 ideally. Do a 20-40% WC see if that drops them what r u using for filter

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

82 a lil high I run mine at 80 and that’s pushing it, also nitrates you want to see less than 20 ideally. Do a 20-40% WC see if that drops them what r u using for filter

I use a sun sun 303b canister filter along with corallife hob filter my tanks a 30 gallon and I have been doing weekly changes

 

[ilikefish69]

what kind of tang, and how large is it? fishie might just be ready for you to upgrade the tank you know you wanna...

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

what kind of tang, and how large is it? fishie might just be ready for you to upgrade the tank you know you wanna...

It's a yellow belly hippo tang around 2-3 inches and even if I want to I don't have space for another tank i have a freshwater system also

 

[Sharkbait19]

Could you try to get some pics from the side? Fish almost looks fuzzy but that could be angling or the glass.

 

[adittam]

It's a yellow belly hippo tang around 2-3 inches and even if I want to I don't have space for another tank i have a freshwater system also

So you're planning on keeping a hippo tang in a 30 gallon tank long-term?

What other fish do you have in there? How long have you had them? Any other fish acting sick? What do you have for powerheads/water movement/oxygenation?

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

Could you try to get some pics from the side? Fish almost looks fuzzy but that could be angling or the glass.

So you're planning on keeping a hippo tang in a 30 gallon tank long-term?

What other fish do you have in there? How long have you had them? Any other fish acting sick? What do you have for powerheads/water movement/oxygenation?

Not long term I plan to upgrade to a 60 gallon in a year or 2 currently I have 4 clown and a firefish in the tank I have a cheap powerhead and my canister return is 270 gph

 

[Sharkbait19]

Not long term I plan to upgrade to a 60 gallon in a year or 2 currently I have 4 clown and a firefish in the tank I have a cheap powerhead and my canister return is 270 gph

Blue tang will need at least 150 gallons

 

[JumboShrimp]

At 82-degrees you could trying lowering you salinity to help with oxygenation— especially if it is a FOWLR, with no corals to worry about.

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

At 82-degrees you could trying lowering you salinity to help with oxygenation— especially if it is a FOWLR, with no corals to worry about.

I have like six corals in it

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

I have like six corals in it

I actually reduced my temp to 78

 

[kevinvinuthomas]

Blue tang will need at least 150 gallons

Oh ok actually there's a big fowlr I have planned so saving up for that

 

[JumboShrimp]

R2R has a FOWLR forum that you might enjoy checking out. too.

 

[Tamberav]

4 clowns in a 30 probably also won't work when they get older

Not to be the tang police but they will have blue tangs after you buy the bigger tank. You could just wait and get one then and have a few interesting nano fish in the meantime.

Prognoses doesn't sound good but blue tangs act weird sometimes and will sit/lay funny. The heavy breathing is worrisome though and could be a sign of parasites in the gills.

 

[ilikefish69]

Did you do a significant water change in the last 24 hours and then retest for nitrates? 40 ppm a little high - water change can bring that number down immediately. but you have a very small window that might have already closed to keep a fish that size in an aquarium that size if you got it at a LFS see if you can bring it back and get store credit towards a smaller lil fishy.

How is your tank with 4 clowns in it? I am curious I only have 2 in my 75 g but would love a few more. Do you have any issues with it?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Oh ok actually there's a big fowlr I have planned so saving up for that

Hi Kevin,
Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Your tang is showing a symptom of possible disease - the rapid breathing and laying on its side. It also looks like it’s eyes may be a bit glassy? This all can be a symptom of a very serious gill disease known as velvet, Amyloodinium. I hope not, as to treat it you would need a treatment tank and dose it with copper right away.
The high temperature wasn’t good, but was not high enough to case this serious of symptoms.
Jay