New tang dying

[Jake_the_reefer]

Emergency. I got a tang 2 days ago and from the getgo he was out and about eating nori and acting fine. This morning he is laying at the bottom of the tank breathing heavy. I moved him to an isolation tank he swam around for a second then fell back over onto his side. Is there anything I can do?

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Apparently my videos won't upload
Hes still breathing

 

[threebuoys]

Was this fish purchased locally or mail order? How did you acclimate? Are other fish in the tank? How are they doing?

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Was this fish purchased locally or mail order? How did you acclimate? Are other fish in the tank? How are they doing?

In store. Temp and drip acclimated for 35 minutes. Other fish are small damsels, chromis and clownfish. All other fish are happy and ate great this morning

 

[W31Olds]

What is respiration rate of your tang? I would add an airstone to your isolation tank if you don't already have one. The fish medics need more info about your Tang and DT before a diagnosis can be made.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

What is respiration rate of your tang? I would add an airstone to your isolation tank if you don't already have one. The fish medics need more info about your Tang and DT before a diagnosis can be made.

I took a 3 second video and in that video he respirated 5 times.
The display
50g
Salinity 1.026
Nitrates ~1ppm
Phos undetectable
Alk 9.2
Calcium 430
Temp 77
He is only 3 inches long so he was going to live short term in my 50g until I set up my 200g tank.

 

[threebuoys]

Keep trying to get a pic using white light.
Do you see anything on the skin or fins? Do you see any agression from the damsels? What size is the tang? Were other fish in the same tank at the LFS? how did they look? Be sure to contact the LFS. sounding more like a problem may have already started before you got it.
Rapid breathing could be an indicator of velvet but really need photos, videos to make a diagnosis.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Keep trying to get a pic using white light.
Do you see anything on the skin or fins? Do you see any agression from the damsels? What size is the tang? Were other fish in the same tank at the LFS? how did they look? Be sure to contact the LFS. sounding more like a problem may have already started before you got it.
Rapid breathing could be an indicator of velvet but really need photos, videos to make a diagnosis.

I can later. Nothing on skin or fins. Its skin is flawless. However after getting it home I feel its starved. You can see its ribcage pretty easily. Its around 3-5 inches long right now. No signs of aggression. This fish was in its own tank at the lfs but in a system connected to other fish. I believe it was a copper system

 

[threebuoys]

I can later. Nothing on skin or fins. Its skin is flawless. However after getting it home I feel its starved. You can see its ribcage pretty easily. Its around 3-5 inches long right now. No signs of aggression. This fish was in its own tank at the lfs but in a system connected to other fish. I believe it was a copper system

CopperPower / CopperSafe is the treatment for velvet and ich but is only successful when the concentration is stable at 2.25ppm and the duration is 30 days.

Starvation is very difficult to solve, particularly if the fish is already on its side on the bottom.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

CopperPower / CopperSafe is the treatment for velvet and ich but is only successful when the concentration is stable at 2.25ppm and the duration is 30 days.

Starvation is very difficult to solve, particularly if the fish is already on its side on the bottom.

Is there really anything I can do? Or do I just let him get comfortable to die

 

[threebuoys]

Is there really anything I can do? Or do I just let him get comfortable to die

Without a better diagnosis, you are doing what you need to. Trying to feed is always important. Nori, Frozen brine shrimp, frozen mysis, even pellets are worth trying.

If its ich or velvet, the copper treatment takes time to be successful. Aggression can be a difficult issue to see and resolve but both damsels and clownfish that have staked out their territories can be really dangerous to new fish.

Edit: IF this was a mail order, I would be concerned about salinity. That can be still be a problem for LFS. Sometimes the difference between your tank and the fish store water can be too great for the fish to quickly adjust. Since it took 2 days before your problem appeared, Im guessing salinity is not the problem. Other water quality problems would likely be affecting your other fish too if the water is toxic.

 

[BryanM]

The #fishmedics want 30 seconds of video under white lights, and it is best to upload that video to youtube and then link the video here.

Without that it is pretty hard to diagnose.

 

[MnFish1]

I'm going to jump in and suggest - it's an acclimation issue - unless you know that your numbers and the stores numbers are equal. The fact is disease will not attack this fact fast- and it has to be a toxin, or acclimation issue - IMHO - Can you describe that process

 

[MnFish1]

Since it took 2 days before your problem appeared, Im guessing salinity is not the problem. Other water quality problems would likely be affecting your other fish too if the water is toxic.

I believe it can occur after 2 days. Especially if its a more neurologic issue (as implied) - I can't see the video

 

[Should I]

upload a video to youtube then post the youtube link to the video people will be able too see whats going on better

 

[Marco_99]

By the looks of its non-existent stomach I think you answered your own question, it’s starving, fish hasn’t ate for some time it appears. Is this a captive bred tang

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Emergency. I got a tang 2 days ago and from the getgo he was out and about eating nori and acting fine. This morning he is laying at the bottom of the tank breathing heavy. I moved him to an isolation tank he swam around for a second then fell back over onto his side. Is there anything I can do?

IMO - a new fish that is acclimated and is out and about and feeding for 48 hours prior to an issue is NOT having an acclimation issue. Those tend to show up right away.

That said, two days is a bit too fast for a gill disease to show up. The fish *could* have had the start of a gill disease prior to being shipped to you and then it continued to worsen and you started to see symptoms.

You should try to measure the respiration rate in 15 seconds and then multiply by four to get the one minute rate. Your short count can skew the results. A one minute rate above 120 is a sign of stress, your count was around 100. Anything above 150 is very serious.

How are the other animals in the tank looking? That can be a good guide to if there is a water quality issue, versus some issue with just this fish.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Update he passed away. Im very confident it was a parameters swing issue and he was a weak fish. He was very thin and could see every bone. My salinity is 1.028 and the lfs runs their tanks at 1.023 so I think it was just too much stress for the little guy

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Update he passed away. Im very confident it was a parameters swing issue and he was a weak fish. He was very thin and could see every bone. My salinity is 1.028 and the lfs runs their tanks at 1.023 so I think it was just too much stress for the little guy

Sorry to hear -

Was the fish thin when you bought it, or did it become thin over the few days that you had it? A rise in salinity can cause a fish to dehydrate, and that will show as the fish becoming thin.

Still, as I said, acclimation issues are immediate and acute. For a fish to be acclimated to a tank and then feed well for two days and then develop problems are typically NOT a direct result of the acclimation.

That said, fish require healthy kidneys in order to balance the salt levels in their bodies - it is possible that this fish had some borderline kidney malfunction that then caused dehydration. Of, the fish could have just been in poor shape (too thin) when you acquired it and that caused its death.

 

[Uncle99]

Update he passed away. Im very confident it was a parameters swing issue and he was a weak fish. He was very thin and could see every bone. My salinity is 1.028 and the lfs runs their tanks at 1.023 so I think it was just too much stress for the little guy

0.005 jump upwards is a big one. Is there a reason is so high.

It would take several days to get him to 1.028 super safely, not that I would have fish in 1.028.

Should have been an issue right from the start though, so that piece, is confusing