Powder Brown Tang

[Alphasig293]

Added a CUC today and fed some R.O.E. To my tank. All the fish seem to be fine, except the powder brown tang. Swimming fast, lighter in color, occasionally rubbing on the bottom sand. Right now he spends his time in front of a power head.

Other fish - Yellow Tang, Sailfin Tang, pair of lighting clowns
DT - 225
Temp - 78.6
pH - 8.02
Salinity - 1.027

Thoughts?

 

[JaaxReef]

Added a CUC today and fed some R.O.E. To my tank. All the fish seem to be fine, except the powder brown tang. Swimming fast, lighter in color, occasionally rubbing on the bottom sand. Right now he spends his time in front of a power head.

Other fish - Yellow Tang, Sailfin Tang, pair of lighting clowns
DT - 225
Temp - 78.6
pH - 8.02
Salinity - 1.027

Thoughts?

Is he swimming into the Powerhead? Between that and the scratching, it could be early signs of velvet… You would need to act fast and treat all the fish in your tank in a separate QT with copper (if you ever plan to have corals) as soon as you can.

 

[stacksoner]

Pics please

 

[JaaxReef]

Pics please

Agreed. That would help… if you could get a clear photo.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

sounds like you need a QT tank and treat w copper ASAP

 

[Alphasig293]

Color is back to normal, however, yesterday evening he was quite pale. I will continue to monitor the situation

 

[JaaxReef]

Color is back to normal, however, yesterday evening he was quite pale. I will continue to monitor the situation

If behavior is back to normal (no swimming into the powerhead) and we don’t see any clear visual indicators, then careful observation is probably the best choice.

 

[Alphasig293]

He was swimming against the flow with the power head. Sorry for the confusion

 

[stacksoner]

Does he have a place to hide and a seaweed supply to snack on?

 

[JaaxReef]

He was swimming against the flow with the power head. Sorry for the confusion

Yeah, swimming against the flow (toward the powerhead) is a classic early velvet symptom. So that’s why we started asking more questions.

 

[Alphasig293]

Does he have a place to hide and a seaweed supply to snack on?

I typically give seaweed 2-3x a week and feed new life spectrum everyday w/ Selecon. As far as scape goes, I have a couple of areas where they can hide. All of the other fish are acting fine.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I typically give seaweed 2-3x a week and feed new life spectrum everyday w/ Selecon. As far as scape goes, I have a couple of areas where they can hide. All of the other fish are acting fine.

The one symptom you need to screen for is respiration rate. While a fish swimming into a water flow may be trying to overcome a respiration issue, it may also just be "playing" or enjoying the current (PBT are reef crest fish, used to swimming in currents and waves). Respiration rates, on the other hand are a clear symptom. Getting a good count is tough though. Look for three things: is it breathing faster than it used to? Is it breathing faster than other tangs in the same tank? Is it breathing faster than about 100 gill beats per minute?

I have been finding lately, that people are not aerating their tanks properly - you can have all sort of flow, but if you aren't breaking the surface tension, the tank could be building up carbon dioxide. If you have a good skimmer, that should take care of it. If not, consider adding aeration.

If you can't get a count of the PBT's respiration rate, tryin taking a video and counting from that.

Jay

 

[Alphasig293]

Yeah, I've had other fish in the past that enjoyed swimming against the current. The one thing that caused alarm for me was the sudden loss of color and the occasional rubbing against the substrate. All other fish were acting fine. In regards to skimmer I have a Bashsea 8-24. I have two gyres running in random flow w/ one targeted up to break the water surface. Additionally, I have two WAVs on the back running on "Back" program.