Please help identify Disease my Achilles Tang has

friendlyguy

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Good morning dear Community!

#fishmedic

I recently added a Achilles Tang to my Tank, like a week ago.
The main display tank is 5m x 0.6m x 0.6m and has about 1800Liters, the total volume of the system is around 2500Liters.
There are a lot of fish in it, and this one seems the only one that has... "issues".

At first it did look absolutely fine, but after a few days i noticed something that looks like pale parts in the coloration of that fish.
Please take a look at the attached pictures. ( i edited them a bit and added texture in lightroom since i think it helps to see it better.)
Any idea what i am dealing with?

What did i do so far:
- I started dosing Easylife Voogle 3 days ago: 500ml per day. ( i could not get hold of the bigger bottles, i ordered 10L though.)

From what i can tell: I think it didn't get any worse, maybe it got a bit better.

The fish doesn't look stressed and i didnt observe itself scratching somewhere and its taking food. It lets the cleaning fish do its job.

I feed two sheets of Algea a day, one green and one red sheet (the big ones from ocean nutrition).
3 times a day there is automatic feeding of a dry food mixture: ocean nutrition formula one flakes, and 3 types of granulate from fauna marin.
Every evening i feed a mixture of frozen food: artemia, mysis and krill... something in the magnitude of 6-8 blocks from a blister.
Po4: 0,04 mg/l , No3: 2.5 mg/l, 35 PSU...

Any ideas?

IMG_7541_Edit.jpg IMG_7543_Edit.jpg
 
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threebuoys

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No intended disrespect for your photo editing skills, but I would be uncomfortable trying to diagnose without knowing just how much your edits affect the actual appearance of the fish. Some unaltered photos as well as a video would be helpful.

You mentioned Easylife Voogle. I'm not familiar with that product, but in a web search, the medication appears to be herbal. Our experience with herbal medications has been they don't usually hurt the fish, but they don't solve the underlying problems. While other medications are available, the one you need can't be determined until we can make a better diagnosis.

In addition to photos, please review the link below that outlines the information we need to help you.

You also mentioned the diet you follow. Since this tank has many fish in it, a difficulty is determining what and how much this particular fish eats. Since you have had the fish for only a short time, have you been able to monitor his eating habits?
 
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friendlyguy

friendlyguy

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Here is a short video:
My camera doesnt auto focus when recording videos, and its particularly hard to do that with the tiny screen on my body.

Eating habits of that fish: Since its only been a week... not very accurate but:
- It eats frozen food in the evening.
- Its not going at the algea sheets yet
- Its picking around the reef the entire day

I`ve attached the unedited pictures (only cropping) to this post.
 

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friendlyguy

friendlyguy

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Filtration is:
ReefMat 1200
Lifereef Skimmer
Zeolite Filter
usually: Activated Carbon, but currently not running since i am using Easylife Voogle.
Bi-weekly Water changes: 300L a time.

I think its working quiet well since i have low phosphate and nitrate levels even though i feed A LOT.
 

threebuoys

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Nice setup!
could not determine in the video how rapidly the fish is breathing. It did not appear labored. How would you describe it? Can you get a count for 10 or 15 seconds that we could extrapolate?

Describe the marking on the body of the fish. Does it appear to be mucus covering the outside versus discoloration within the skin such as bruising or scarring?

Have you ever, and particularly recently treated any of the tankmates for any illnesses or parasites?

What other fish are in the tank?

What frozen food are you feeding? Cubes or larger sheets/ blocks?
 

Jay Hemdal

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Initial observations is that the tang isn't breathing fast, is pretty thin and has skin mucus on it. Trouble is, that does not lend itself to a definitive diagnosis.

Visually, this looks like Brooklynella, but the lack of other symptoms don't support that. Achilles tangs almost always get ich if they are not treated for it first, but with ich, you would have seen distinct white spots before it got to a mucusy stage like this.

Sometimes, fish develop extra mucus as a response to some stress. Since achilles tangs are dark, that mucus shows up very clearly.

Jay
 
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friendlyguy

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What frozen food are you feeding? Cubes or larger sheets/ blocks?
- We have those big Plates of food which we cut into smaller cubes with a knife.
- Brand: Ocean Nutriton and "good fish" is what we currently have. Its always about what we can get at LFS.

Other fish: currently preparing a list, i need to translate the fish names to english: eta 15 Minutes.

Treatment of other fish: Nope: Didnt have to. All are just healthy and looking awesome.

Describing the illness:
When i look at it with the bare eye: it looks like its under the skin, but looking at the pictures: it looks like its outside. I cannot see anything that looks like a rupture or cut in the skin of the fish. Maybe it did just get too close to one of the anemones in my tank?
As its still very new in the tank: its also very shy when it comes to humans. As soon as i get too close to the tank he vanishes somewhere. I`ve sat HOURS in front of the tank to get those rather poor shots of this guy...
 
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friendlyguy

friendlyguy

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Soo, i finished the list (more or less)
If somebody sees a wrong translation or is able to help with the ??? feel free.

1​
FoxfaceSiganus Vulpinus
2​
bignose unicorn fishNaso Vlamingii
1​
orange-spine unicornfishNaso Lituratus
1​
royal blue tangParacanthurus hepatus
1​
Tomini surgeonfishCtenochaetus tominiensis
1​
Purple TangZebrasoma xanthurum
1​
Yellow TangZebrasoma flavescens
1​
Sailfin tangZebrasoma veliferum
2​
Twospined angelfishCentropyge bispinosa
1​
Flame angelfishCentropyge loricula
2​
sharpnose wrasseWetmorella nigropinnata
1​
Orange-spotted sleeper-gobyValenciennea puellaris
2​
Randall's prawn gobyAmblyeleotris randalli
2​
ClownfishAmphiprion ocellaris abberation
1​
convict blenny/gobyPholidichthys leucotaenia
10​
blue-green chromisChromis viridis
3​
mandarin dragonetSynchiropus splendidus
1​
blue-lined rabbitfishSiganus doliatus
1​
Achilles tangAcanthurus achilles
1​
???Macropharyngodon bipartitus bipartitus
1​
bluestreak cleaner wrasseLabroides dimidiatus
1​
Emperor AngelfishPomacanthus imperator
1​
marine bettaCalloplesiops altivelis
4​
Banggai cardinalfishPterapogon kauderni
1​
copperband butterflyfishChelmon rostratus
 

threebuoys

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WOW! Nice.

Since the markings do not appear to be due to slime/mucus or protrusions that might indicate parasites but rather something in the skin, I suggest keeping a close eye on it to see what develops over the next day or two. Could very well be a reaction to an encounter with an anemone, coral, etc.

I'm sure @Jay Hemdal will also offer his thoughts on the best next steps. You have an industrial size set up and he has the best overview of how best to work in that environment.


EDIT: sorry Jay, I had not seen your earlier post in the thread!
 

fishguy242

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best wishes for your fishes...
 
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friendlyguy

friendlyguy

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Sometimes when fish get frightened or stressed they change their color temporarly.
For this fish the dark color changes to some sort of grey. I took a picture when i saw him like that.

IMG_7558_Edit.jpg
 
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threebuoys

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Sometimes when fish get frightened or stressed they change their color temporarly.
For this fish the dark color of the fish changes to some sort of grey. I took a picture when i saw him like that.

IMG_7558_Edit.jpg
To me, this picture looks a little more like ich than the others, the smaller spots and protrusions..
 

fishguy242

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...
 

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