Purple tang QUICKLY turning white

[oceaninabox12345]

I fed my tank as usual, and my purple tang ate from my hand as usual. I then moved a couple things around in the tank, spot fed some corals, and then i look and she has turned spotchy and white. Whats going on??!

 

[oceaninabox12345]

I fed my tank as usual, and my purple tang ate from my hand as usual. I then moved a couple things around in the tank, spot fed some corals, and then i look and she has turned spotchy and white. Whats going on??!

Sorry... i should have put this in the fish disease section. I was just in a hurry. Here are pictures

 

[vetteguy53081]

Possibly a vitamin deficiency. What are you feeding it?

 

[Muttley000]

Welcome to the forum, sorry it is under these conditions. Did you do any water testing? In the rearranging did you possibly stir anything up? The tank appears mature but how old and what size is it? What tank mates are with it and how long have you had the purple tang? Sorry for all the questions but this will allow someone to better help you.

 

[reef lover]

Hows he look today??

 

[oceaninabox12345]

@reef lover @Muttley000 @vetteguy53081 im truly heartbroken. I dosed with prazipro about a week ago as my hippo tang was very bloated, and i believed they had internal worms. As soon as i put the correct dosage in, i watched my sailfins stomach twitch.. almost vibrate. It was horrifying. Yesterday i watched my purple tang turn white, then the sailfin turned white, then i saw one of my clownfish laying on the ground, dead. A hole by his gills. Then later that day the sailfin was dead. A massive hole by his gills.
Now my purple and hippo tang are gone. I cant find them anywhere. I believed all my fish have worms, so i dosed prazi in my other tank.. to now watch my diamond goby dying and my black clownfish dying. Missing/dead fish in tank 1: Firefish, purple tang, firefish, sailfin tang, clarkii clownfish, hippo tang.
Missing/dying fish in tank two: black clownfish and diamond goby.
Other fish seem to be ok.. for now. Ive done massive water changes in each. Water tests good.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Remember when using prazipro, dose for useable gallons. If you have a 100 gal tank, with rock, etc you in essence have about 80 useable gallons, not 100 so you’re treating for 80 gals and likely overdosing tank.
Flukes, bacteria and protozoa are likely culprits

 

[JoshH]

#Reefsquad @Brew12 @4FordFamily any thoughts here? Seems to be moving pretty fast whatever it is...

 

[Big G]

Prazipro uses oxybispropanol to keep the Praziquantel in solution. Oxybis uses O2 from the tank water sometimes at an alarming rate. The fish begin to suffocate from lack of O2. When using Prazipro the amount directed on the bottle is a bit strong at 2.5 and works well at 2.0. But because of the oxybis, it is important to run a good strong powerhead aimed up at the surface where it is actively rippling the water surface. This creates a strong exchange of O2. Also a good idea to run a foam bubbler or airstone to augment the powerhead. While Prazipro claims to ok to use in a reef tank, it can cause deaths of feather dusters, bristleworms, etc. Plus, as Vetteguy posted, you need to take into account the actual gallons of water in your tank. A 100 gallon tank for example is not a full 100 gallons. Need to measure it by filling with buckets or using one of the many online calculators to determine actual gallonage. So you may have experienced a combination of several things going badly in your tank: fish probably had flukes which when dosed with prazi can spasm hurting the fish's gills and ability to transpire O2; the oxybis robbing O2 from the water; and possible overdosing due to measurement.

Sorry for your losses. So many beautiful fish :(

 

[Muttley000]

It's a real punch in the stomach when stuff like this happens. You can only try to learn for the next time, amd pass on what you learned to try to help the next person. Sorry for your losses.

 

[reef lover]

So sorry for your loss....

 

[4FordFamily]

Prazipro uses oxybispropanol to keep the Praziquantel in solution. Oxybis uses O2 from the tank water sometimes at an alarming rate. The fish begin to suffocate from lack of O2. When using Prazipro the amount directed on the bottle is a bit strong at 2.5 and works well at 2.0. But because of the oxybis, it is important to run a good strong powerhead aimed up at the surface where it is actively rippling the water surface. This creates a strong exchange of O2. Also a good idea to run a foam bubbler or airstone to augment the powerhead. While Prazipro claims to ok to use in a reef tank, it can cause deaths of feather dusters, bristleworms, etc. Plus, as Vetteguy posted, you need to take into account the actual gallons of water in your tank. A 100 gallon tank for example is not a full 100 gallons. Need to measure it by filling with buckets or using one of the many online calculators to determine actual gallonage. So you may have experienced a combination of several things going badly in your tank: fish probably had flukes which when dosed with prazi can spasm hurting the fish's gills and ability to transpire O2; the oxybis robbing O2 from the water; and possible overdosing due to measurement.

Sorry for your losses. So many beautiful fish :(

In addition, internal parasites aren’t treated effectively by dosing Prazipro in the water column, you need to add metroplex or even better, general cure with seachem focus (to keep the meds bound to the food) for 10-14 days to take care of this problem, generally.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Redfoxtang]

I’m sorry for the loss. I’m going through the same thing as we speak. Just lost 80% of my fish due to Flukes. Very disappointed in myself for something I could have prevented. Good luck hope everyone pulls through.

If you can find them and catch them I say a quick freshwater dip to insure it’s flukes and treat as such.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

@Redfoxtang @4FordFamily @reef lover @vetteguy53081 @JoshH @Big G @Muttley000
Thank you all for answering me. My fish are all dying. A cardinal fish that was mine since i was 9 years old im watching dying as i type this and its all my fault. I treated it for 120 gallons, and not useable gallons. There is a very strong powerhead pointed at the top, but i can add more flow.. although i dont see much of a point anymore. My remaining fish are a bangaii cardinal fish pair, which are now floating at the top breathing heavily, a yellow watchman goby that i cant find, the purple tangs body i cant find, one of my black clownfish is now white, the other one is just sitting at the top with the cardinals. I have no fish left in tank 1.
Tank 2, also 120 gallons, i also treated for 120 gallons. I will be doing a water change asap. Only one fish has passed away, and the others are fine. Another note, i grabbed my old cardinal as he was dying so i could try to keep him from flying around, and a small pink worm was in the net as soon as he landed in it.

 

[reef lover]

Water change is all you can do...unsure if the worm was just a coincidence...

 

[oceaninabox12345]

First pic of my sailfin. See the massive hole by his gills? I'm assuming a worm came out through that. Second pic is of my purple about 10 minutes before i posted on here. She acted normally but turned white.
Third, fourth, and fifth pic i took just now.

 

[reef lover]

In addition, internal parasites aren’t tested effectively by dosing Prazipro in the water column, you need to add metroplex or even better, general cure with seachem focus (to keep the meds bound to the food) for 10-14 days to take care of this problem, generally.

Sorry for your loss.

Are you able to get these...might be able to save the last ones.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

I do believe its internal parasites. Like her stomach. It was completely bloated and weirdly lumpy. And she couldnt swim without floating up to the top. The last time i saw her, her stomach was deflated and she looked like i never fed her, and she was swimming normally. Im going to assume she passed the worm, and then died.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

Are you able to get these...might be able to save the last ones.

Which of these would you recommend? And best way to use them? This way i dont OD the remaining fish

 

[Big G]

General Cure is the easiest to use and because it is a powder and not a liquid it DOES NOT contain oxybispropanol. It contains both prazi at the lower dosage and metro at a good dose level. The benefit is that some internal parasites are resistant to one of these compounds but not to both. GC is a powder. Easy to dispense into a "QT " by using a fine net like a brine shrimp net. Set the net partway into the water. Pour in GC. Massage the net to express the GC out into the water.