Surgeonfishes: Tangs for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Blonde Naso Tang, frozen foods  11/16/11
Beautiful fish about 7" 220 gal tank, frozen brine shrimp cube slipped from my hand tang took cube hole appeared stressed afterward died during the night, was the death possible caused from frozen cube?
<Appears so. I advocate soaking such frozen foods in freshwater to defrost and rinse out unwanted soluble nutrient... limiting eutrophication. Bob Fenner>
Re: Blonde Naso Tang, frozen foods prep.  11/16/11
Thank-you
<Welcome. BobF>

A couple of q's, Naso hlth./sys., mixing Cnid.s   5/14/07 Hi crew, <Sarena> My fiancé© and I LOVE your site. It has been such a great help! You guys have taught me so much that my non-marine friends are convinced that I am a marine expert because I use acronyms and terms they've never heard like "reverse osmosis" and "QT" (although I am very new to the hobby and still don't know nearly enough!!). <I am fairly old to the hobby and find myself in the same condition!> The first question I have is regarding our Naso Tang. We just got him from saltwaterfish.com (he's about 4 in long). When we first put him in QT, we fed him some frozen Spirulina enriched brine shrimp and he ate it right up. Since then, he will not eat a thing. <This genus of rather open-water tangs really doesn't "like", do well in quarantine... I suggest you do a pre-emptory pH-adjusted FW dip/bath and place it in your hopefully minimum four, better six foot long system> We kept some dried macroalgae on a clip in the corner of the tank...he wouldn't touch it...we even tried soaking it in Garlic Guard. We thought it may have been because he was unhappy in such a small tank (10 gallons) so we moved him over to our display (4 ft long, 72 gallons, good water flow) yesterday. <Ah, good> He was only in QT for about 1 week but we did daily Para Guard treatments during that time so hopefully (fingers crossed) he is parasite free.  We still have not seen him eat at all. <Takes a while to adjust... and this fish will likely need to be moved to larger quarters still w/in a half year or so...> He was out and about last night, swimming in place against the water where the flow was heaviest. I'm hoping he's just "adjusting" and maybe that's why he's not eating? <Yes. Very likely so> But it just seems weird that he chowed down on the first day we got him and then not since. <Probably had not eaten for a good while before...> The other thing I noticed today is that he will only come out from hiding when I'm not in the room. If I peak around the corner I'll see him swimming around and then if I walk in the room, he'll quickly go hide behind some rocks and not come back out until I leave. Do you think he'll get over that? <Perhaps... as stated, and posted elsewhere (I have a relatively new article on Naso lituratus on WWM... this fish needs ROOM to feel secure> Ok, second question...about possibly overstocking. Here is the rundown of what's in our tank and I'm wondering if it would be crazy to get anything else (maybe one more fish) or if we should get rid of some of our stuff: It's a 72 gallon reef tank with approx 100lb Fiji live rock. All levels are good with the exception of the nitrates (were around 40-60ppm)...yikes, I know! <Way too high... this needs addressing, fixing NOW> We have been doing almost daily 10 gallon water changes and vacuuming the substrate to get the nitrates down and it has helped (they are now around 15ppm) so we're going to continue to do that until we can get them back to normal. Fish: '¢ the 1 Naso Tang '¢ 2 Percula Clowns '¢ 2 Pajama Cardinals '¢ 1 3-Striped Damsel (bully of the tank) Inverts: '¢ 4 Tiny Blue Leg Hermits '¢ 10 Nassarius Snails '¢ 4 Queen Conches '¢ 1 Fighting Conch '¢ 1 Peppermint Shrimp '¢ 1 Camelback Shrimp '¢ 1 Coral Banded Shrimp '¢ 1 Anemone Crab '¢ 1 Arrow Crab <Keep your eye on this Stenorhynchus... become predatory> '¢ 3 Emerald Crabs <Ditto> '¢ 2 Porcelain Crabs '¢ 2 Sally Lightfoot Crabs '¢ 1 Brittle Starfish '¢ 1 Red Serpent Starfish '¢ 1 Purple Urchin '¢ 1 Cleaner Clam (although I can't find him) '¢ 1 Sand Shifting Cucumber '¢ 1 Yellow Cucumber '¢ 1 Lettuce Nudibranch '¢ 4 Feather Dusters '¢ 1 Long Tentacle Anemone '¢ 2 Pink Tip Haitian Anemones '¢ 1 Atlantic Carpet Anemone '¢ 1 Rock Anemone '¢ 1 Florida Condi Anemone <Mixing anemones together and with other Cnidarians can be very big trouble...> '¢ 1 Red Gorgonian '¢ 1 Deep Sea Yellow Gorgonian '¢ 1 Orange Tree Sponge Corals: '¢ 1 rock of Yellow Polyps '¢ 1 rock of Green Star Polyps '¢ 2 Green Ricordea Mushroom Polyps '¢ 1 rock of Umbrella Mushroom Polyps '¢ 1 Leather Toadstool '¢ 1 rock of Orange and Lime Green Zoanthids '¢ 1 Cladiella '¢ 1 Frilly Mushroom Coral '¢ 1 Christmas Tree Coral Everything seems to be doing great but that's this week...who knows...it seems to change all the time. We recently stocked up a lot on the corals and anemones so I'm worried that we might have overloaded it too quickly and that could be a recipe for disaster. Any insight would be great. <Read on WWM re each of these species, and any future purchases... Ahead of acquisition...> And last question (sorry, this email is getting to be longer than some of the reports I had to write in college!)...one of our Perc. clowns has one gill that sticks out a little bit. He seems completely fine...not acting weird at all, swimming all over the place, and eating well. His gill has been sticking out like that for a few weeks now. We did move him to the QT tank when we first noticed it and treated him for a week and 1/2 with Para guard (thinking it could possibly be a parasite) but the gill didn't change and he seemed to be fine so we moved him back to the display. Should I be worried about it? <Mmm, no... Worrying will not change the future> Thanks again for all of the great info you provide and sorry for the ridiculously long email!! Sarena <No worries. Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Naso Okay here is the new situation I was feeding my tang from a droplet. When I took him out I noticed his vent was very swollen I pushed on his stomach gently and something started to come It looked like jelly I looked a little closer and saw that it had a tiny vein so I stopped pushing. I don't know what it was I didn't look like excretion or a worm. I was thinking maybe it was his bladder and its so swollen that he can't release himself. Just a theory I wanted to run this by you maybe it is not a worm. If my theory is correct what course of action should I take to resolve this if their is any. If I'm wrong what is your opinion. <Just this fish's distended alimentary system> Also about the Epsom salt 1/2 saltwater 1/2 freshwater 2 table spoons of Epsom salt per gallon I have done that 3 days ago for 10 minutes as a dip. You told me only once would work, can we rule out blockage? Thanks always appreciate your quick response. <Hopeful this fish will eat on its own soon. Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso I know by now you are probably annoyed with me. I have been reading all the articles on your web page about internal parasites and worms. From the vent of my fish seems there is something hanging out very little at first this is why I thought the fish was constipated but after reading your web page over and over and doing searches for internal parasites I have come to a conclusion that my fish has some sort of worm. Don't know which one but my fish is not eating and his stomach is getting bigger on the side it looks like their are 2 pointy things pushing from the inside almost looks as thought they are going to go through his skin close to his vent. I don't know what it is but I'm assuming it is either some type of bone being pushed from the inside out. My fish is getting larger and I feel that it is just the parasite getting larger I know my fish isn't eating I stare at him all day. <Not a bone... the condition, Ascites, can be due to a few causes... intercellular, parasitic...> If this is an internal parasite your web site is saying their is nothing that can be done. Which is telling me that sooner or later my fish is going to die?  <Mmm, sooner or later all life ceases...> Is their anything I can do to get rid of the parasite some type of home remedy or store bought item that can be force feed to him? Please help me out I have been reading for the past 3 days. <There are Anthelminthics, Vermifuges... like di-n-butyl tin oxide, Piperazine... are these appropriate here? I would just use the MgSO4 treatment suggested... Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso I'm sorry but I forgot to mention the sometimes shakes kind of like he is saying no to the food. currently I'm feeding him formula 2 flakes Is this good) and sometimes he eats small pieces of krill that I feed my dogface. Should I try feeding him something else. Sorry for being a pain. <Please read over all the articles, FAQs posted on our site (www.WetWebMedia.com re the family of Tangs/Doctors, Surgeonfishes. Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso I'm not sure if he has a bacterial infection. I was just reading about parasites swelling up fish stomachs and it was treated with antibiotics.  <No my friend. Just as likely to cause troubles. Surgeonfishes have microfauna in their stomachs that they absolutely need> I just want to know what step I should do first I really like my tang I don't want him to go into shock by treating him the wrong way. No matter what I do I consult you or your website first. You are an aquarium guru. <Do try the Epsom. Good luck, life to you. Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso I did like you said I used half a gallon of freshwater and half saltwater from my tank with two table spoons of Epsom salt. I tested my water and the readings were as follows. nitrite - 0 nitrate - 10 pH - 8.4 ammonia - 0 Gravity - 1.023 Should I proceed with these dips once a day or is this one time enough? <Once should do it> When should I start to rule out that its not constipation? The tang has not eaten for almost a week I would think his immune system is going to start to weaken and be prone to disease which is something no hobbyist wants. I have read up on the tang from your web page and have gained much information on them along with a dogface that I purchased. <Could be many other things afflicting this one specimen... looking like "constipation"... none of which are "treatable" in the short term. Hopeful/ly your Naso will resume feeding on its own. Force feeding this genus is generally unproductive, but worth considering... Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso How would I go about force feeding?  <Some details of this procedure posted on "Lions FAQs": http://www.wetwebmedia.com/lionfaqs1.htm> Is this normal for this species?  <Not normal to be constipated... very typical to starve, die from stress from various traumas (mainly being in too small volumes, capture, shipping/handling...), nutritional disorders due to poisoning/loss of beneficial gut fauna...> Can it be signs of some type of disease in its early stage that can be treatable? Is it possible for the tang to be constipated for some long? <Don't think your tang is constipated my friend. This family of fishes can/does pass large amounts of living and not material with ease in the wild and captivity... Strongly suspect "the problem" is something else. Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso Bob I sent you an email yesterday concerning my Naso tang that has not eaten in 3-5 days but yet his stomach is swollen. I have been observing the fish it looks like he is trying to go to the bathroom but he is not able to push out the excretion. Do fish get constipated? <Yes they do> Is their anything I should do or just wait it out I appreciate your responses. Thank you <I might well try an extended dip/bath in diluted seawater (the system and half freshwater) and two tablespoons of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) per gallon for ten minutes... might well "do the trick". Please read here re such procedures first: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dips_baths.htm Bob Fenner>
Re: Naso Do you think I should try an antibiotic solution in the water and when he starts eating put it in the food. <What for? Antibiotics are either for so-called secondary bacterial infections (almost always due to poor water quality, subsequent trauma) or to improve water quality to hasten cures otherwise, prevent further infection... Do you know that your fish has a bacterial involvement? Bob Fenner>

Surgeonfishes: Tangs for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner