Vendor just sent me this "gem tang". What is going on here?

[Kmarshall168]

But that's just my qt process. I don't medicate unless I see a reason too. Call it blind trust in my LFS qt process that I had them explain to me

 

[KrisReef]

Wife had to acclimate while i was at work, she was in a fullblown panic thinking they just sent a fish with velvet. Fortunately we had a copper power tank running 2.0ppm because we quarantine everything. She sent me these pictures and i have no idea what im looking at here, it doesnt look like velvet, almost like the fish has vitiligo or something and no pigment in these areas. Pattern is approximately similar on both sides of the fish, so some symmetry, which leads me to wonder if its actually a genetic marking vs a disease. Store is closed so i cant ask them directly until tomorrow.

Fish was shipped in dirty 1.016 water though so im not going to wait to get an answer from them if i need to be acting quickly on something. Not sure why anyone would ship salinity that low unless they are trying to keep disease down, that's really low. I mean the fish is huge (4-5in, sold as 2in) and looks nothing like the picture (normal gem tang) or any gem ive ever seen, so mad about all that, but thats something i can take up with the seller. For now just trying to diagnose if this is a disease.

Thanks for posting this picture and the follow up information from the community. I don’t know what I would have been thinking if this happened to me?
That pattern of stress marks is an interesting display. Always something to learn in this hobby.

 

[sc50964]

As mentioned in my previous message, I ended up asking the mods to change the subject line since it appears i cannot, to remove the vendor name, since this is a stress pattern and therefore not relevant to a lack of care on their part, and could have been the same for any vendor.

Also vendor actually was very quick to call me about the situation just a minute ago even though they are closed today, so i can tell they take their business very seriously and keep an eye on the forums. The salinity is lower than what I'm used to and prefer, but i wouldn't hesitate to order from them again, given they actually cared enough to contact me directly.

Thanks everyone

Owner named Michael? Lol

 

[apb03]

My Gem tang looks like this when stressed. Looks healthy.

Grats on the Gem tang. Great fish.

 

[jmoneyyy703]

My gem gets same marking when stressed or angry lol. It goes away when calm and good water conditions.

 

[Jersey Corals]

Hyposalinity is used in our fish quarantine system, in conjunction with cupramine and prazipro. It is well documented in the use of preventing fish disease. We keep our fish quarantine at 1.016 - 1.018.

 

[sc50964]

Hyposalinity is used in our fish quarantine system, in conjunction with cupramine and prazipro. It is well documented in the use of preventing fish disease. We keep our fish quarantine at 1.016 - 1.018.

Is 1.016 hypo? Thought it needed to be around 1.009

 

[JGT]

1.016 is def not hypo. 1.009 for ich and 1.012 for flukes.

 

[IrezumiHurts]

Glad your fish is okay! He is very beautiful. Love gems, but always comes between a purple and a gem for me, purple always wins cause thats my favorite color and I dont have the money for a gem, wish I did. Hopefully all goes well in the QT!

Jersey corals has them for $300. All things considered, that is an absolute steal. We paid that for our purple.

 

[IrezumiHurts]

Curiosity question, since the consensus is that the markings are stress related does it make sense to put the Gem in a tank with 2.0ppm copper? I would think that would cause more stress. I thought the method of using copper was to bring it up slowly to therapeutic levels over a few days and monitor for stress or possibly poisoning.

Dierks, humble fish and many others with a lot of experience in prophylactic treatment methods have said chelated copper, especially Copper power, is perfectly fine to start at 2.0 and ramp from there to 2.25 to 2.5, especially if it's just overnight shipping from a vendor and not fresh off a boat in which case it probably could use a rest day first. Of course you still observe for signs of intolerance.

I would be more concerned if it were a sensitive species like certain angels or wrasses, but tangs handle copper well

Worse yet if this were velvet, there are stains confirmed resistant even at 2.0. In the event of suspected velvet, the goal should be getting them into full strength copper nearly immediately, with maybe a freshwater dip prior. It will be dead before you get time to ramp.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Dierks, humble fish and many others with a lot of experience in prophylactic treatment methods have said chelated copper, especially Copper power, is perfectly fine to start at 2.0 and ramp from there to 2.25 to 2.5, especially if it's just overnight shipping from a vendor and not fresh off a boat in which case it probably could use a rest day first. Of course you still observe for signs of intolerance.

I would be more concerned if it were a sensitive species like certain angels or wrasses, but tangs handle copper well

Worse yet if this were velvet, there are stains confirmed resistant even at 2.0. In the event of suspected velvet, the goal should be getting them into full strength copper nearly immediately, with maybe a freshwater dip prior. It will be dead before you get time to ramp.

They are correct with that - fish can go right into tanks with coppersafe, I do it all the time. What DOESN'T work is to leave the fish longer than 72 hours without treating - that can allow protozoan diseases to ramp up, and because these chelated copper products are milder, they are also slower to act, and you can end up losing fish due to slow ramp up of copper.

The "copper resistant strains" of velvet haven't actually been proven, IMO, it is just that when velvet gets ramped up, chelated coppers have a tough time stopping it. For true resistance to develop (like with bacteria and antibiotics) it requires many uses of the drug where some of the organisms survive, then resistance builds across generations - that just doesn't happen in aquariums, where fish make a single pass through the supply chain and then are not treated again.

Jay

 

[exnisstech]

That is how that person is. I wonder if you can block certain users.

You can block anyone. Just click on the members name and select ignore and you will no longer see their messages. It's actually a really nice feature

 

[chipchipbro]

These def are stress markings. Had the same thing happen with my Gem. Same as when Nasos get the white circles. They disappear under good conditions.

what white circles do you mean?
Mine has circles and I dont know what it is....

 

[sc50964]

You can block anyone. Just click on the members name and select ignore and you will no longer see their messages. It's actually a really nice feature

Sad to see this is about a fishmedic

 

[exnisstech]

Sad to see this is about a fishmedic

Sorry, I was just offering assistance in regards how to block any member. I normally try to just ignore posts I find annoying but I do have a few blocked.

 

[JGT]

what white circles do you mean?
Mine has circles and I dont know what it is....

When they are stressed, Nasos get these round white circles on their body. Here’s an example.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Those are stress marks and fish does not seem to have any disease.
If you place this tang in a normal environment those marks will go away.

 

[chipchipbro]

These def are stress markings. Had the same thing happen with my Gem. Same as when Nasos get the white circles. They disappear under good conditions.

what white circles do you mean?
Mine has circles and I dont know what it is....

When they are stressed, Nasos get these round white circles on their body. Here’s an example.

ok thanks, then my naso has something else ai guess?

 

[JGT]

what white circles do you mean?
Mine has circles and I dont know what it is....

ok thanks, then my naso has something else ai guess?

Yea that looks like maybe an infection or sting.

 

[sc50964]

Sorry, I was just offering assistance in regards how to block any member. I normally try to just ignore posts I find annoying but I do have a few blocked.

No I get it. I was simply pointing out that it’s sad that we got ppl on this forum branded with a title & responsibility that should be helpful but some of them misuse it and the end result is driving ppl away.