Tang sickness/death - not sure what is going on

[le fou]

Hello,

I lost a chocolate tank about 3 months ago. I had that fish for about 6 months previously. I observed him hitch himself on rocks once a while but no visible ich. He also became pale but was still eating. He became skinny and one day went on the bottom of the tank, had a hard time keeping up right. Putting him in a hospital tank and died the same day. No signs of parasite.
Now, I have a Kole yellow eye tang that has the same problem except for not itching on rocks that I did not observed. Fish looks skinny and pale. Some slight fins rot. Any ideas of what I am dealing with? Any suggestions of what to do as a next step to help identify/treat the disease?

Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello,

I lost a chocolate tank about 3 months ago. I had that fish for about 6 months previously. I observed him hitch himself on rocks once a while but no visible ich. He also became pale but was still eating. He became skinny and one day went on the bottom of the tank, had a hard time keeping up right. Putting him in a hospital tank and died the same day. No signs of parasite.
Now, I have a Kole yellow eye tang that has the same problem except for not itching on rocks that I did not observed. Fish looks skinny and pale. Some slight fins rot. Any ideas of what I am dealing with? Any suggestions of what to do as a next step to help identify/treat the disease?

Thanks!

Have you treated for flukes? Can you post a picture? How long have you had the kole?

Jay

 

[le fou]

Hi Jay,

Thank you for your response. I acquired to kole in December so about 3 months. I treated the DT for flukes with prazipro. I attached a picture, not the best... For the rest of the fish, I was thinking of treating with Metroplex mixed with Focus in the food and to use Ruby Reef Rally Pro.

Thanks,

David

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The fish does look a bit thin. Did you dose prazi just once? It takes 2 to 3 treatments to eradicate egg laying flukes. The ruby reef likely won’t help with this.
Im still worried it could be flukes. Have you ever done a freshwater dip?
Jay

 

[le fou]

I did a full course of Prazi as instructed. I did a total of 3 treatments 5 days apart. I did not do the freshwater drip but can try it to see if I see flukes. Why are you thinking about flukes in this case? Anything you saw on the fish?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Skinny, pale, with fin erosion are all symptoms of flukes. Other things can also cause this, but flukes are the first thing to rule out. Any idea why the fish is thin? Does it eat well?

Jay

 

[le fou]

I did a freshwater dip, I did not see any fluke. My Powder Brown Tang developed the same symptoms within hours and he cannot keep his equilibrium. He was swimming and eating this morning! Something is going on... The rest of the fish are o.k - for now

I checked my H20 parameters: PH 8.1, Alk 8.36, Calcium 459, phosphate 0.04, Nitrate 6, magnesium 1356. No ammonia.
I am thinking in putting all my fish in a hospital tank and starting copper, prazipro and Metro. What do you think?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I did a freshwater dip, I did not see any fluke. My Powder Brown Tang developed the same symptoms within hours and he cannot keep his equilibrium. He was swimming and eating this morning! Something is going on... The rest of the fish are o.k - for now

I checked my H20 parameters: PH 8.1, Alk 8.36, Calcium 459, phosphate 0.04, Nitrate 6, magnesium 1356. No ammonia.
I am thinking in putting all my fish in a hospital tank and starting copper, prazipro and Metro. What do you think?

I agree that a shotgun approach is really all you can do at this point, but the prognosis isn't good.

Jay