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Yellow Tang missing its eyes 11/12/12
Tang in a Sticky'¦.err'¦Rocky Situation 07/04/06 Hello Fellow Aquatic Gods, <Where'¦.I don't see any!> You guys have bailed me out so many times, I can't thank y'all enough. I don't expect to get a reply being a U.S. holiday and all, but I'll try anyway. <I worked on Christmas why not the 4th?> I had a yellow tang emergency earlier tonight and need some advice. <Okay.> I have a 100 gal <Cool.> FOWLR that's about 10 months old that is progressing very, very nicely. <Awesome'¦> I have a beautiful 5" yellow tang that I added to the main tank about 3 weeks ago (yes - AFTER a 30 day quarantine). <Kudos to you.> She eats well and is a very friendly fish and not at all skittish. <Very nice.> I'll save you the long story and get to business. <Music to my ears.> Earlier tonight she got herself wedged into a deep crater-like crevice in my live rock. <An uncommon occurrence'¦Ouch!> I'm not a rocket scientist, but I know when a fish is stuck, and she was stuck hard. <Sorry to hear that.> I had to dismantle 40 lbs of rock to get to her. She was struggling with all her might to get free, but couldn't do it. I tried as gracefully as I could to free her, but I ultimately had to just grab her and pull. <I understand'¦> I pulled from the caudal fin, and it required a good bit of force to get her out of there. I felt horrible having to do it, but it was the last resort as everything else seemed futile. I put the rock back together (tomato clown has to find a new rock to live in) and have been watching the tang for the last hour or two (say hello to murky, cloudy water!). <Do a very large water change and run some fresh carbon.> She appears to be swimming okay and seems active. When I pulled her out, I swore she scraped the rock pretty hard, but she doesn't show any visible signs of trauma or distress. <Surprising indeed but nice to hear.> Now to my question: do you have any recommendations? <Maintain pristine water quality, observe with detail and provide a nutritious 'varied diet'¦.business as usual unless something shows up'¦.> Is there any preventive treatment I should take or am I just being overly paranoid? <After instances of such stress and trauma, I usually recommend QT for at least 2 weeks, to allow the specimen to be isolated and recover without intrusion of other fish but it seems unwarranted from your description of the animals behavior and state.> I could stick her back in quarantine, but I don't really want to stress the poor thing out anymore. <Agreed 'for the time being.> Any feedback would be appreciated, especially since this is the first time this has happened to me. <Sounds like you are on the right track.> Thanks for your ongoing support!!! <Anytime.> drew <Adam J.> Eye Popped Out (5/13/05) Hello Crew,<Steve Allen with you tonight.> This is an update/question about my yellow tang with pop eye. Well I think the pop eye is cured because the eye fell out. <In the same way that amputation cures gangrene I guess.> He now has no eye in the socket. He seems to be doing fine, eating acting normally, do you think he can do well with one eye? <Yes, a one-eyed fish can survive and thrive. Zero eyes is harder. Just like people with only one kidney are strongly advised to not risk it by playing football and such, I would recommend you avoid aggressive tankmates that could go after the other one.> I took him out of quarantine after 14 days and he adjusted to the main tank fine? Anything else I could do for him? <Just take good care of him.> Thank you, Concerned Yellow Tank Dad <Sounds like he's on the mend and should be OK.> - What to Watch for in Yellow Tang with Cloudy Eye -
Hello! I searched your FAQs but didn't find a post that
completely answered what I want to know. Yesterday morning I
overslept and didn't turn on any of the house lights prior to the
aquarium light coming on at 6:00 a.m. When I got up (right
after the aquarium light came on), I noticed that my 3" yellow
tang ("Tang") had his fright pattern displayed and was hiding
behind one of the tank decorations. Then, last night when I
got home from work, I noticed that his right eye was
cloudy. Upon observation, Tang appears to have trouble
seeing out of the cloudy eye, as when he swims with that eye to the
back glass, he keeps running into it. It doesn't appear that the
cloudiness is fuzzy (like bread mold would be), although it's hard
to tell because when he's swimming he tries to keep his good eye
facing the front of the tank at all times. Unless you
suggest it, I don't want to net him for a closer look as I
don't want to cause him any more stress. <Understandable.>
The tank is only 20 gallons (we'll be upgrading to a bigger tank
for him very soon - not sure how many gallons, but at least 4 feet
long) but I tested the water last night again (I test it every weekend)
and there was 0 Nitrite, 5-20 ppm Nitrate (depending on which test kit
I use), pH was 8.2-8.4, 1.022 specific gravity, ammonia is fine,
temperature is 76, and I have been doing 10% water changes every
weekend. I'm pretty sure that Tang ran into something
and injured his eye, as the lights coming on from total darkness likely
freaked him out, and it was only the second day of having the aquarium
light on a timer. <Possible.> I did a 25% water change last night
just in case my test kits were missing anything. The only
other fish in the tank with him is a 1.25" Ocellaris clown
(I'm sure you can guess what it's name
is! Nemo!). Given that the eye cloudiness is
probably an injury, I don't want to use any medication unless I
absolutely have to. Now for my questions: Assuming I am
correct and Tang's eye cloudiness is an injury, is there anything
that I should be doing other than keeping him as stress-free as
possible? <That's about it.> What should I be watching for
that would indicate this is something OTHER than an injury, and what
action should I take if that is the case? <Watch for the other eye
to cloud up - usually eye injuries lead to pop-eye, which is counter to
your diagnosis. If both eyes cloud up, you likely have a different
problem. I'd be leaning towards that 'other' problem, which
is probably water quality - unfortunately, there can be many problems
that a test kit won't show. Due to the size of your tank,
parameters can change quickly enough to cause some real stress issues.
Do be very careful in the next couple of weeks to make sure any changes
you make to the tank happen very slowly. That and please get that new
tank very soon - a 20 gallon tank is just to small for any tang.> He
is eating fine (Sally's Seaweed Salad), but again, I can tell
he's having a little trouble with depth perception as he sometimes
misses the food now. <Makes sense.> Tang goes after his seaweed
salad with gusto whenever I refresh his veggie clip, and there is also
brown algae growing on the substrate, tank back, and tank sides, but he
doesn't seem too interested in that. Should I be supplementing his
diet with other things? <Well... I'd try some Mysis shrimp from
time to time, perhaps soak the seaweed in fishy vitamins like Selcon or
VitaChem.> (Oh, and he also occasionally steals some of the flake
food and frozen brine shrimp meant for Nemo). <I'd feed a bit
extra so they both get some.> I appreciate any help you can
give. Thanks so much!! Melissa <Cheers, J -- > Yellow Tang >Hi Crew, >>Greetings, Marina this morning. >Have a Yellow Tang about 5 inches long. It is fine except for a "habit" it has developed. (I think) There is one certain live rock it seems to keep hitting with the tail and tang portion of his body. When he is facing you straight on you can see the scales are rough but no other marks etc. Because of this repeated hitting of his tail on this rock, little light red spots have appeared. Are these bruises, or is there something else going here? >>Well, while Yellow tangs are known to sometimes be aggressive, it's not normal for them to be so with inanimate objects. It sounds to me as though you have the beginning of a possible parasitic infection. His scratching (and the openings in the skin) will leave him open to secondary infection. >He eats very well seafood gourmet, seaweed, Spirulina, general pellet food and parboiled broccoli. >>GREAT! We love to hear of well fed fishies! >I have put malachite green in the tank for the last three days (darting and scratching). Our local dealer said he had no idea except to use Melafix treatment. I thought I would ask the experts. >>Ex-who? LOL! Hardly an expert here, but I've had a bit of experience. It would be helpful to know (if you have this information logged) your water quality parameters, include residents as well, timing of additions, anything and everything is helpful. >>Anyway, this is my recommendation: set up a quarantine/hospital tank for the fish. IF you have Ich, then you'll do best to remove all fish to hospital and allow the tank to lie fallow for 6-8 weeks (especially if you have invertebrates in the tank). When you pull the tang, perform a freshwater dip, matching the freshwater to the salt for pH and temperature. Then place him in quarantine, where you can treat him (assuming he's otherwise fat and healthy) using hyposalinity (very low specific gravity), on the order of <1.011-1.010 is what works for killing Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium. While he's in q/t, (bare bottom tank, with pieces of PVC for hiding spots and "structure") be sure to siphon off the bottom of the tank every day, this helps to remove cysts that have fallen off the fish and prevents reinfection. >>At this time you can also treat with a good broad spectrum antibiotic to avoid/treat secondary infection (since he's rubbing himself raw this is likely). Many folks like Melafix, I happen to like the results I've seen with Spectrogram, other folks like Maracyn (also Maracyn II). He'll need to be treated like this until you see clearing of the bloody bits, (I know you haven't mentioned seeing any spots, but I know of no bacterial infections in fish that cause itching), then leave him in normal conditions until the display has run fallow at least 6 weeks (you can also raise the temperature to 80F-83F to speed up the life cycle of the parasite). Assuming that the infection is low-grade, and that the fish doesn't experience a relapse, you should be able to utilize these treatments and be done with it. >Thanks in advance for your time and help. >>You're quite welcome, we want folks to keep their animals thriving and with them a long time. SUCCESS! That's the goal. If you have any other questions, please feel free. Best of luck, Ceil! Marina Fuzzy Lips Hello, <cheers> My yellow tang has fuzzy lips. I understand that this is likely a fungus. <a common misdiagnosis: it is much more likely to be a bacterial infection (true fungal infections are quite rare). It is still to be treated with the same antibiotics in a bare-bottomed isolation tank. Use a Furazolidone and Nitrofurazone mixed med, double dose daily for 5 days> I have read about references to medicated foods but I can't find anyone who sells them. <hmm... mildly effective here. A swab of the lips with Merthiolate or iodine would be even better. Do avoid staining the eyes or gills>> Are you aware if any are more efficient than others and where I can find them? <they are weak but helpful if fed for 11-14 days without other foods> Also, are there negative ramifications to the other fish who are not sick? <no harm here> I have also read about garlic oil. <dubious if it even works at all. More of a preventative or placebo than primary treatment> Any experience with that as a medication or preventative? <I wouldn't trust my fishes life to it> Thanks! Ana M. Saavedra <best regards, Anthony> Lip damage to yellow tang Dear Bob, <Anthony Calfo in your service while Bob is said to be in Australia despite 8 claims, at last count, that he was sighted at an Elvis impersonator's convention in Las Vegas> I got a yellow tang from a friend with a damaged mouth. The mouth was damaged by fighting with another tang in that tank. I have had the tang for the last 6 weeks and the mouth is not bleeding anymore and the fish has gained some weight but still looks thin. <soak its green foods in a fatty supplement like Selcon (very helpful...do keep refrigerated though)> The lips however have not grown back. It is swimming around, eating Nori and hair algae in the tank and seems okay except for the missing lips. Will the lips eventually grow back? <hard to say without seeing it but sounds unlikely. Soft tissue and muscle will regenerate to an extent... but a large chunk that included cartilaginous matter will not. As long as it is feeding well, it sounds like you've done a gracious and merciful deed. Keep up the good work. Kindly, Anthony> Karun Missing Lips on Yellow Tang. (& quarantine questions) Good morning crew member of the day. <<Good day to you, crew-member JasonC here...>> I have a Yellow Tang that I have had for six-seven problematic months. I always have a fresh piece of Seaweed Selects hanging in my 55 gallon FO tank and feed it frozen krill and/or Formula Two daily. The Tang has not grown at all, turns pale on occasion, developed a few mm long scars on each side just above his lateral lines, and his latest trick is the disappearance of his top lip! <<Ouch.>> It was just gone and he now has a row of I guess gums/teeth hanging out of his mouth. I also add VitaChem to the water weekly as per the instruction on the bottle hoping his scarring is not HLLE. <<If it is, VitaChem alone will not remedy this problem.>> Other than this he seems happy and continues to eat. <<That's good.>> He is always swimming around picking at the seaweed and plucking at the sand. The other three inhabitants of the tank are healthy in appearance and behavior as well. <<What are these other inhabitants?>> The lip disappeared around a month ago and I have been observing him closely. No new developments surfaced until yesterday when I saw there were black dots on this row of gums hanging out of his mouth. There are no black dots anywhere else on the Tang or any of the other fish. I have a protein skimmer and a Fluval 304 canister filter and my water parameters seems fine; 8.2 pH, 0 NH3, NO2, NO3, salinity 1.023, temperature 78-79 degrees. Any suggestions what is happening to my Tang and how I can correct it. <<Well, that type of injury seems to happen in one of two ways: either they damage the lip in transit by smashing into something, or someone else bites it off. If you were asking about a fish in a store in this condition, I would recommend against it; it's just not a good sign. Your tang however, may be able to mend this wound, but I would consider isolating it in a quarantine tank to give it some peace and quiet. Certainly the continued eating is a good sign. As for avoiding HLLE... you need to try and balance out the meals - don't feed just one type of Nori, try to mix it up as well as provide live rock for picking at - it is what these fish do constantly in the wild. HLLE is most often associated with nutritional deficiencies.>> I also have a question about quarantining fish. I get varying ideas of the best way to use this isolation technique. It seems to me I could isolate a new fish for three weeks in the quarantine tank by itself and observe to make sure it is free from parasites. <<There are other benefits...>> If after three weeks and no parasites show themselves, I could transfer the fish to the new tank. <<I would wait four weeks.>> Yet when I read books such as CMA, it appears I should still do fresh water dips and then add supplements to the quarantine tank as preventative medicine. <<Absolutely - is akin to looking both ways before you cross the street - you just can't be careful enough.>> If I wanted to add a Coral Beauty to my tank, should I just place it in the quarantine tank with no dip or medication or should I try my first freshwater dip and then add it to the tank that contains a supplement or copper. <<I would do the dip and skip the copper. Don't use any medications unless absolutely necessary.>> If I quarantine snails or a shrimp to make sure the water in their shells contain no free swimming stages of Ick, I guess I do no freshwater dips or definitely no additives to the quarantine tank. Is this correct? <<No, you don't want to freshwater dip snails or shrimp as this will most certainly kill them. Likewise, you really have nothing to worry about as these will not introduce fish-borne parasites into your main system.>> Thanks again for all your advice. Ray <<Cheers, J -- >> Yellow Tang in QT Hello Mr. Fenner, I have a problem with a yellow tang that I have had in my quarantine tank for about a week. When I brought him home from the pet store I did not dip him because I am unsure of the whole procedure. How do you do the dip.....do you acclimate the fish to your system water, then put it in the freshwater dip that has the same ph and temp as your system water, leave him in there for a couple of minutes and then just put it directly in to your tank? About my problem, my yellow tang has developed a sort of brown patch (not quite as big around as a dime) on his side. It is on the left side of his body right behind his pectoral fin. The patch kind of looks like the sticky gunk that is left behind when you peel a price tag off of something and it looks like a light brown color. Yesterday he did not seem to be bothered by the spot but today it looked like he was trying to rub it on decor in the tank. What do you think this problem is and what should I do? Ammonia is zero and Nitrite is zero, Nitrates were about 10 ppm. I changed 3 gallons of water last night. He is in my 15 gallon quarantine tank which is filtered by a hydro sponge filter. What kind of medications do you recommend and how long should I do it. I am completely new to treating disease so any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much for helping those that need it with this service! Spas <Actually, what you describe is likely just a form of "stress coloration"... and I wouldn't go overboard at this time in removing, treating the specimen. My standard route for acclimation, dips/baths and treatments can be found in articles archived at the URL: www.wetwebmedia.com Good luck, Bob Fenner> 3 Yellow Tangs I have a 125 gallon reef tank with about 100-125 lbs of live rock. I have two Black Domino Damsels and 3 Yellow Tangs. The tank is about 3 months old. Last night I noticed that one of the tang's eyes seemed to have a "bubble" on it - it is cloudy looking and around the base of the bubble and eye has kind of a light blue tint when you see it at a angle. I asked the local fish shop and they thought that the tang must have bumped its eye on some of the rock, but they were unsure as to what to do to help this problem. All of the levels in the tank are within the correct levels and all of the other fish are doing fine, and they are all eating fine including the one with the "bubble eye". Will this go away by itself or is there something that I can do to help my fish? <Good powers of observation, and I agree with the sharpie at the shop... If it is only one eye, on one specimen, likely the pop-eye is due to a physical trauma... And I wouldn't try to "treat it" as in moving the fish or pouring chemicals in the tank... Likely it will heal, but might take a while (a few weeks to months)... Adding a Cleaner Shrimp would help... Maybe one or two Lysmata amboinensis... to clean away necrotic tissue and make the fish "feel more at ease". Bob Fenner> Recovering Tang Mr. Fenner, I would like to give you an update about my Yellow Tang. From the base of her gill to the base of her tail the gash looks to of scabbed over. It is quite dark in color. I think it is as normal as can be expected. <Yes> My Q.T. has conformed to my main tanks water qualities which are perfect. The only difference is the Q.T. has a lower SG. I have two question that I have not been able to find through my research the answer to. 1) Her right fin is immobile. When she was injured, the first two days after she was using it. Now there is nothing. This is causing the most twirling swimming that I have ever witnessed. She can get around, albeit not so well. She has scarcely eaten the past three days. Could this be a delayed pain reaction? <Yes> Or based on my limited information could you guess and say that is sounds like permanent damage to the fin? <Likely and hopefully not permanent> I can give more detailed description if you would like. I want to keep this as short as I can for your sake. :) 2) The damage to the gill appears to become more red and irritated as time goes on. Could that be because of it's consistent movement? <Yes> I would think that it could not scab over, or could it? If so what would that do to her breathing? It is bright red with a darker red ring around it. I hope that makes sense. <Sense enough. No scar, scabbing necessary or likely> I hate to have to ask so much of your time like I have been doing but I can't seem to find any information about this kind of injury. My LFS will not give any advice unless they see the fish. I can understand that. I hope to hear from you soon and thank you in advance! Anna <Do keep thinking positively. Bob Fenner> Yellow Tang Dear Mr. Fenner, I wanted to write to you and tell you the news about my injured yellow tang. I know you receive many e-mails in a day, but you encouraged and educated me when my Tang was scraped by some LR. She died last night. I doubt it was an water quality problem. My water as been outstanding. I think the stress and lack of feeding just did her in. <Yes my friend. Sorry to hear of your loss> I wanted to thank you again for all of your help. It was a comfort to know that in case of an emergency, when none of the books or web-sites could lend a hand, you were willing to guide me. It means a great deal to me and others as well I'm sure. <And a great to me as well> I would like to ask a question if I could. I read through you Q&A each day and found something interesting. Someone mailed you about an automatic top-off for there system. I went to the DIY link on your site and found a few but nothing like what you suggested in your reply. Could you elaborate or send me to a site that would give me that set-up? <Mmm, wish I knew how to make drawings on these devices... a very simple device can be made by simple inverting a pop-bottle (all plastic) upside down, filled with water, with the end down, underwater in the sump... if/when the water level gets low (from evaporation) the water will leave, being replaced by air...> It would be something for my main and QT tank that I would love to have. Warm regards <Do take a look again on "Oz's Reef": http://www.ozreef.org/ for other ideas on topping-off water/make-up plans. Be chatting, Bob Fenner>
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