Yellow tang with red spots - petechiae - fungal infection

Steph72 · Dec 26, 2020

Hi everyone & Merry Christmas! My yellow tang recently became extremely ill and I almost lost him. He got into a fight with another tang, got a few scratches on his side and it progressed into a nasty looking red rash. I began treatment with antibiotics because all the information I could find seemed to point to a bacterial infection. After a week of antibiotics the spots just kept getting worse. On Tuesday I took him to the exotics veterinarian at my clinic and we did a skin scraping. Turns out this is fungal dermatitis and a secondary systemic infection that had gone septic. The “rash” on his body is petichiae which is due to ruptured capillaries as a result of the infection. Its easy to mistake these for a rash especially when they won’t be still long enough for you to get a good look. He’s been getting antibiotic injections and has begun increased salinity therapy to knock down the fungal issue. For now I’m avoiding a more aggressive anti fungal because he’s still critically ill. The petechiae is getting better and he’s active again. Today he was eating again and I’m cautiously optimistic.

I just wanted to share these pictures as a reference for any other fish owners who are having issues with aggressive red spots that aren’t responding to antibiotics. The first photo is from today, and the one below is from Tuesday. The picture from today is blurry because he’s swimming around again! Yay! He’s got a long way to go, but I’m hoping for the best.

Auto-pilot · Dec 26, 2020

Hopefully it makes it! Good luck! It looks like there is really good progress in the positive direction

gentlefish · Dec 31, 2020

That’s a great success and thanks for posting. Great Vet, too. Was the vet clinic able to classify the fungus? The reason why I am bringing this up is that Fluconazole has been used quite extensively in the hobby, and it may come in handy as a plan B, should things not progress as they do now.

Steph72 · Jan 15, 2021

gentlefish said:
That’s a great success and thanks for posting. Great Vet, too. Was the vet clinic able to classify the fungus? The reason why I am bringing this up is that Fluconazole has been used quite extensively in the hobby, and it may come in handy as a plan B, should things not progress as they do now.

Thanks

I feel very lucky to work at a vet clinic that treats fish too.. She didn’t mention a classification for the fungus, just that the skin scraping showed a fungal organism on the slide. Im cautiously optimistic after the two weeks of injections. His skin has improved a lot and he’s active and eating. Yayyy! Im meeting with her again on Tuesday and will definitely mention fluconazole. This little guy means the world to me and has been so brave.

Steph72 · Jan 17, 2021

I just wanted to post an update on my brave baby. He’s still showing improvement by the day and is pigging out on nori every chance he gets.
I got into a bit of an argument with a lfs owner because he said I was nuts for paying more for the veterinary bill than the fish, but I think I won the argument after pointing out that
1. we do this for our dogs and cats (even if they are cheap or free),
2. these fish have a long life expectancy and will provide years of enjoyment and
3. when we take on a pet it’s our responsibility to provide the best care possible even if it hurts our budget.
ok, I’m stepping off my soapbox for now! Haha!
Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

Steph72 · Feb 5, 2021

I have to smile when I look at this little guy. You’d never know he almost died by the way he darts around and attacks the nori clip! Lol

Zionas · Feb 6, 2021

Grate! I’m glad he’s doing better now!

gentlefish · Feb 6, 2021

Cute! What a wonderful success!

Steph72 · Apr 29, 2021

Lemon Drop is finally settled into the big tank! Picture from today’s feeding frenzy lol

gentlefish · Apr 29, 2021

... into the big tank??? We want more pics!

ca1ore · Apr 29, 2021

Steph72 said:
I got into a bit of an argument with a lfs owner because he said I was nuts for paying more for the veterinary bill than the fish, but I think I won the argument after pointing out that
1. we do this for our dogs and cats (even if they are cheap or free),
2. these fish have a long life expectancy and will provide years of enjoyment and
3. when we take on a pet it’s our responsibility to provide the best care possible even if it hurts our budget.
ok, I’m stepping off my soapbox for now! Haha!
Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

Speaks to the 'transactional' nature of most LFS. Not a criticism necessarily, but a reality. I wonder if he/she would feel differently now that yellow tangs are $200 rather than $40. Either way, I agree with your points. I have a pet policy on my dog, but they don't cover fish unfortunately. Interesting that you were able to find a vet that would look at a fish. Friend of mine has a large practice and as far as I know they don't treat fish (or birds).

Steph72 · Apr 29, 2021

ca1ore said:
Speaks to the 'transactional' nature of most LFS. Not a criticism necessarily, but a reality. I wonder if he/she would feel differently now that yellow tangs are $200 rather than $40. Either way, I agree with your points. I have a pet policy on my dog, but they don't cover fish unfortunately. Interesting that you were able to find a vet that would look at a fish. Friend of mine has a large practice and as far as I know they don't treat fish (or birds).

You’re right, it is an unfortunate reality. I’m extremely fortunate to work at a hospital that does exotic animals including fish. I saw a cool video on YouTube recently by Melevsreef - he had an aquatics specialist come out to examine his naso tang. It was very informative and fun to watch!!! (Link below) I believe that the more word gets out about veterinary care options, the better we can do as pet owners.

Steph72 · Apr 29, 2021

gentlefish said:
... into the big tank??? We want more pics!

You got it! Here’s the tang gang begging for more food after devouring all the nori! Lol
Lemon Drop is one of the bigger guys.

Steph72 · Apr 29, 2021

I thought I had posted this already, but here he is getting his injections. I did this every 48 hours for two weeks when he was ill

...this little dude is a fighter. It’s definitely scary having to inject such a small critter. Hopefully it won’t be necessary ever again.

NanoLuke · Apr 29, 2021

Take good care of those guys and treasure them as yellow tangs are quite hard to acquire nowadays. And when you can find them, they are pretty pricey. Still my all time favorite reef fish, but I have a nano and so can't even keep one. Originally, I was going to convert my 55 Gallon and use that as the tank, but I backed out with the expense that would be involved. The main reason I was going to use the larger tank was simply because I wanted a yellow tang, but then the Hawaii ban came and so that never would have worked out anyway.

Steph72 · Apr 29, 2021

NanoLuke said:
Take good care of those guys and treasure them as yellow tangs are quite hard to acquire nowadays. And when you can find them, they are pretty pricey. Still my all time favorite reef fish, but I have a nano and so can't even keep one. Originally, I was going to convert my 55 Gallon and use that as the tank, but I backed out with the expense that would be involved. The main reason I was going to use the larger tank was simply because I wanted a yellow tang, but then the Hawaii ban came and so that never would have worked out anyway.

I love these guys so much and definitely treasure them

Yellow tangs are such characters and everyone has their own little personality. Lol Don’t lose faith about being able to get one. I don’t see the ban as lasting forever and am hoping that the price of captive bred tangs will come down as they adjust to the change of supply and demand.