Injured 6-line Wrasse, Treatment Options 10/23/07
Hi Wet Web Media Crew,
<Hello>
First of all, thanks for your great site. While in quarantine/hyposalinity, our Sixline Wrasse got himself stuck in a piece of live rock. My initial thought was to let him get himself out.
<Usually best.>
After about a week it became apparent that he would not be able to. We could just see part of him though one of the holes in the rock. I used a Dremel to carefully cut away the rock around him until I could gently get him out (He was lodged in there pretty good). I don't think we caused him any harm while getting him out; however, he cut himself up pretty bad during the week he was in there.
<I bet.>
He has several gashes on his side and belly, he is very discolor in certain areas (looks like he is missing all of the scales from about half his body), and he appeared very bloated/swollen. We dipped him in a Methyl Blue mixed with water from his tank for three minutes and placed him in his own 10gal hospital tank (temperature and salinity matched to the tank he was in, i.e. still hypo).
<Good>
I thought he was a goner but to my surprise he actually ate some Prime Reef flake food today (first day out of the rock).
<They are quite resilient.>
Now, to the questions: 1) Should we keep him in hypo or slowly raise the salinity?
<Normally 1.025 would be best, but in this case I would not change anything that may increase stress and increase chance of infection. But work towards full strength salt water once it gets through this.>
2) Should we dip him in Methyl Blue/tank water occasionally to try and fight off infection?
<I would.>
3) Is there anything else we can do to raise his chances of survival (e.g. medications, foods, additives, etc.)?
<Quality foods, keep water quality high, and watch for signs of infection which would require stronger treatments.>
Thanks in advance for your help.
V/R,
James and Beth
<Welcome>
<Chris>

Hippos... Quarantine? – 08/17/07
Just a quick question... in Bob's book as well as on your website, it is suggested to place Hippo Tangs directly into the main display without quarantine to reduce the stress of multiple catch and release out of quarantine. Are you still of this opinion? In my past experience, a Hippo I had about 4yrs ago seemed to be a 'Crypt' magnet.
<Mmm, Paracanthurus are not "as bad" as such compared with many other Surgeonfish species... and my opinion is "it depends"... "IF" the specimen looks otherwise in good health, it can be isolated for a time... to assess its health... However, it can be peremptorily FW dipped and placed in most cases>
Would u expect a Hippo Tang, aside from adding nice colors to a tank,
assist in mowing done some green hair algae?
<Depends on the species of algae... not many are palatable... and many that look "Green" are not... are often BGA, which is entirely undesired>
I will be adding a Foxface after a 4 week quarantine which I'm thinking will further assist
in a green grassy hair algae problem. Note, the tank is 200gallons FOWLR.
David Brynlund
<Hotay! BobF>

Hippo Tang... not reading ahead of purchase, writing... hlth.?    7/30/07
Hi! I am new to this forum but have found the info here to be very useful.
I bought a hippo tang about 3 days ago, it is only about 1 - 2 inches long.
Her behavior has been odd. The first night she turned colors and laid on the bottom
<A "normal" behavior of/for this species>
of the tank almost pale white, I tested all the levels in the tank and every thing was perfect. The next day, she was bright and doing great.
Today she is acting strange again, she is brushing up against the hermit crabs that we have in the tank and we found her a little while ago under the largest crab almost being bit by it.
<Yikes! Hermits are often opportunistic predators...>
We took the net and pushed the crab off. Now the Hippo is turning pale again, may possibly have some pinch marks and is swimming at the top of the tank, almost bobbing up and down. Is this just stressed behavior or do you believe that she is not going to recover from the crab? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Julie Riggs
<... no info. of use here... re the system, history, water quality values/testing... Foods/feeding, tankmates... No quarantine? Please, read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/paracant.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Bacterial infection of blue tang?   7/19/07
Dear Crew,
Any ideas what type of infection my new blue tang could have had that came on in 24 hours when just yesterday there were no signs/symptoms?
<Yes... such events can be very rapid onset indeed>
Tonight it had frayed dorsal and anal fins, almost swollen in appearance, no redness. It became listless and the area directly under the dorsal fin and an area near the anal fin looked bleached out. Eyes were clear, no open sores, scratches; very rapid breathing. I took it out of my QT and moved it into a isolation tank and was gone in about an hour. Now I'm worried about the two other fish in my QT.
Thank you,
Jeff
<Mmm, and I'm curious as to what species these other fishes are... It might well be that some degree of territorial et al. aggression is at play to an extent here... Bob Fenner>
 

Regal has "pimples" – 06/29/07 Hello All, Here is my problem. About a week ago I noticed two small lumps on the side of our Regal Tang. They didn't concern me at the time because the fish is a "mutant." What I mean by that is, it eats ALL the time and looks as if it is ready to explode. It is by far the healthiest looking tang I have ever seen, even in some of the best aquariums in the country. Getting back to the problem, tonight my wife told me the tang was ill. I asked if she meant the lumps on the side and she said, "Yes, and also by his mouth." Well, I took a good look at it and low-and-behold, there on the right side of his face was a small spot about the size of a match head and the two lumps on his left side had "morphed" All three looked as if they were "pimples" as humans would get that had come to a head. We have a 75gl. tank stocked with a Percula Clown, Neon Dottyback, a very young Coral Beauty, a Lyretail Anthius,2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, a Hermit Crab which was picked up from a local marsh years ago) and of coarse the Regal Tang. There is approx. 60-70lbs. of live rock on a 2" bed of crushed coral. Bio-wheel filtration with a HOB Prizm skimmer, and two power heads. Parameters are good, temp at 72-74 degrees. 7-10gl. water changes every two weeks. Fish are fed every other day a variety of frozen Mysis, brine shrimp, fresh fish roe, phytoplankton and ground Nori, which ALL the fish consume readily. There is also an over abundance of Caulerpa growing in the tank which has contributed to the tang being so obese. Hopefully the photos sent will aid in identifying what ails the fish and will help lead to a cure. Thanks for your time and response, Mark <Have seen such markings before... usually geographically, seasonally expressed... Are likely either a protozoan or encysted worm presence... Can be treated serially with one dose of Flagyl/Metronidazole and an anthelminthic... (my choice, likely Prazi/quantel)... Both/all are covered on WWM. Bob Fenner>

RMF unable to change image files for posting

Blue tang in danger!! Inappropriate home 6/6/07 Hi there, <Hello> Here is my setup (or what I know of it... I bought it used for 200$ from a guy on the net who said he did not have time to care for it anymore). 33Gal tank one Fluval 303 and two power head in there is three large live rock two clownfish 1 cleaner shrimp (used to be two but lost one in a day of big heat before the A/C was installed) about 4-5 turbo snail and more I don’t know about yet ! Yesterday I decided to do a little tweezers treatment on my live rocks as there where many fireworms and I saw them eat away at a snail who is now dead of course! <Mostly likely dead or dying already, and they were just cleaning up.> I also carried out a cleaning of the live sand and replaced about 40% of the water (maybe too much here !) <I would limit it to 25% unless there is a real emergency.> This morning I noticed that my blue tang was staying at the bottom and breathe very rapidly he refuses to eat I am afraid I might lose it ! <This tank is way to small for a blue tang, they need a tank at least 100G larger than what you have.> Water parameters are (ammonia 0 to 0.1 hard to read !! NO2 is 0 and no3 is about 50 ! salinity is 1.0235 Used to range in the 1.024 to 1.025 when I first got it (that might also be it the reason right ?) <Not likely, not enough of a change.> There does not seem to be any spots other than the HLLE that it came with which is very minimal and concentrated in the eye area (not in the yes but in front) I don’t really know what to look for I think I might have an Aiptasia outbreak but they are very little about 1-2 mm diameter and 5-7 mm long and there are two large ones about 1cm wide to 2-3cm long buried in the live sand. <Not the source of your problem here.> I will include pictures of the Aiptasia and other life forms found for referral. Please help my tang !!! It does not want to die ! Thanks ! <Not much to go on here. First guess would be that there was a fall in water quality, either an ammonia spike, or too drastic of a change in temp, pH, or other parameter when you conducted the water change. Could also be the first signs of ich or other parasite, they attack the gills first. Either way the long term survival of this fish is doubtful in such a small tank honestly. Also please spell and grammar check your mails before sending them, correcting them before posting takes away time we could be using to answer questions.> <Chris>

Blue tang got itch 6/1/07
Hi Jason,
<Hello, but no Jason here, Chris with you.>
I have had my hippo blue tang for 9 months in my Nano 24 g wt LR & LS. <Way way way too small for this fish, doomed to an early death if kept in this tank for much longer.> He's been doing well but today I saw white spots on over his skin body. He tries to scratch his body to LR, so I know for sure that is itch. I have changed 10-20% water weekly, but recently my nitrate is raised up (25-30ppm).
1) What cause itch for my tang? <The parasite Cryptocaryon irritans.>
2) After I saw he is itch, I changed 5 gal. water right away, is it helpful? <Not terribly, needs to be treated for the parasite, see here for more http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm .>
3) Should I use any medication such as Nox-itch? and how to treat him? Can itch spread to the other fish? <See link above.>
Pls advice
Thanks in advance
Hanson
<Much to read here, check out the marine disease section for more. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm .>
<Chris>

Re: Blue tang got itch 6/03/07
Thanks for your reply, I read your links about the parasite disease and treatment. The only problem I face that I don't have Qt. <Really limiting your choices here.> I have 1 clown,1 Chromis, 1 tang & 1 goby, 1 rose anemone, 1 open brain & 1 zoan. Should I treat my itch tang with copper in main tank? <No, tangs don't respond to copper particularly well, and it will kill all your invertebrates.> How to do the freshwater dip ? Pls more specific. <http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php > Or should I move all corals to some place else and put copper med in main tank? <Won't work, would need to remove all live rock and sand as well, also copper would bind with the silicon and release over time.> If so, what should I do to eliminate copper in main tank after treatment done? <Can't really.> Or what's your advice.
Thanks in advance
Hanson
<Really your only hope here without a hospital tank is to keep up the water quality and feed good foods and hope the fish develop an immunity, but the Ich will always be present in the system until it can run fallow, so all new additions will suffer. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.>
<Chris>

Blue Regal Tang has been beaten up!  What can I do?  5/20/07
Hi
<Hello, Brenda here>
I have a Regal Tang (Paracanthurus Hepatus) (2 in.) it got beaten up today by a 3 stripe damsel.  It is pretty bad. It is still alive but is swimming with its nose up most of the time, if not that it is on the bottom of the fish tank. I moved it in to another tank with two clown fishes (2 in.) Is there any thing I can do to help it. I really like this fish.
<Pristine water conditions and keeping it away from any aggressive fish, and waiting is all you can do for now.>
Thank you
<You’re welcome!  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!  Brenda>

Blue Tang with Ick, no useful info.    5/3/07
Hey guys, love the site. I have an emergency. I have a blue tang in a QT tank (have had for 4 days). She has mega-ick and is dying. What do I do for her? (I'm trying hypo salinity and 5 minute FW dips. I fear for her life...
                                                              -Jay
<... Hopefully you helped yourself... and your fish/es... and have been reading: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm
and the pertinent files linked above. Bob Fenner>
 

Blue tang disease, infection?   5/2/07 I read through your site often and refer people here all the time.  I own a fish store and have occasionally come across this same situation.  Mostly only occurs with Blue Tangs.  When I received this fish she was fine and beautiful.  I performed my normal acclimation procedure for all of my new fish. <Does this/it entail a dip/bath? What chemicals do you use if so? Is it pH adjusted?> I have had this blue tang for over a week now, she eats, and is fat and healthy, when I came into my store yesterday she had swelling on top of her head, as if she had un into something and injured herself (which is common for them to get spooked from customers etc), <Yes> in this situation I observe and do my best to keep them eating and calm, <Best to place such fishes in "high" up and away tanks...> today when I came into the store the top of her head is rotting away.  My system holds approximately 600 gallons, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0.  This system always contains copper. <Mmm... not uncommon, but not recommended>   and specific gravity is at 1.019. <And... I'd keep this a few thousandths higher...> All other fish in same system are fine, including other blue tangs, which have been in system for over a month.  In the tank with this blue tang is (Vlamingi tang, Leopard Blenny, Klein's butterfly, Foxface Lo, Longnosed hawk).  I have included some pictures in hopes you can help me to identify what this could be, I love all of my fish and only want to help them the best I can. Thank you so much Wendy <Very nice specimens... judging from the very yellow underside... from New Caledonia or thereabouts... Likely the damage initiated in capture, holding, shipping... but the copper exposure and unnaturally too-low spg is not helping... If this fish were mine, I would remote it to your invertebrate system (in a good sized/volume tank) as you likely do with your seahorses, pipefishes, clowns... Sans the copper and with NSW spg of course there. Further... if I might influence you, I encourage you to revise your receiving protocol and do away with constant copper use. The rationale, instructions for these is posted... on WWM. Bob Fenner>

Dips, Hippos  - 05/01/07
Dear WetWeb,
I have been reading on hippo tangs and Am confused. Because I read in you info about hippos that you should fresh water dip them and then place them into the display tank. I thought that this web site strongly believed in the QT. Please help me try to understand why you should not QT a fish that is so prone to illness. Jeff
<Read on! Some fishes are better not dipped... for what apparent good it will do them, you... versus the stress and strain, likely induced problems from said procedure... Keep reading. Bob Fenner>

Cannot Identify the Problem, Paracanthurus parasite... inside the skin bumps    4/9/07
Crew,
<Darren>
Thanks for the great information on your site. It is the best online source for marine aquariums I have found.
I am having a problem with my Palette Tang that I have not been able to identify. I've looked on your site as well as used Google to find our what it is with no success. It has developed small white bumps that look like pimples or poison ivy. The bumps look much too large to be Ich. They are not the small salt-like bumps that I have seen or read about. It has also developed pop-eye in its one eye, which I assume he developed when scratching himself, because of the bumps. These are the only signs I have seen so far. He is eating and breathing normally, and showing no abnormal behavior. I have not found anywhere that describes these symptoms. Does Ich sometimes appear larger than salt-grains?
<Rarely>
I don't know what else it could be.
My tanks has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 40 ppm nitrates. I know my nitrates are high. I am currently curing live rock to replace my bio-balls in my wet-dry filter. I do a minimum 10% water changes weekly, and I clean my filters every other week. Thanks for the help. I much appreciate the time you all volunteer to help your fellow aquarists.
Darren
<These spots are apparently not on the outside of the specimen? That is, they appear to be bumps pushing up from under the skin? There are two common possibilities here... a protozoan and worm... Can be treated with Metronidazole/Flagyl for the first, an anthelminthic for the second (my choice, Praziquantel). Notes, details on using these are posted on WWM. http://wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm
Scroll down to therapeutics.
Bob Fenner>

Blue hippo (regal) tang changing tanks, En-Crypt-ed systems   3/11/07
Hello again, I hope you are doing well, whomever responds to this email.
<Yes, thank you>
I have a small Regal tang in a 29 gallon BioCube as temporary housing until it moves to my 92 gallon (when I say small I mean about 2 to 3 inches).
<Needs more room, psychologically, now>
It had it's bout with ich
<Also stress related...>
and rather than move it to treat it with copper ( I have read this is bad for the digestive system of tangs)
<Yes>
I decided to purchase a small UV sterilizer, which in time took care of the problem,
<Mmm, no>
I have not seen a spot in months.  My question is, since I know I've had ich in my 92 gallon tank and did not treat for it and all the fish got over it, should I worry about doing a freshwater dip?
<Mmm, I would not worry, but I would do the dip>
The Regal tang has been in the BioCube for a long time, at least 4 months, it is eating like a pig and appears quite healthy.  I am paranoid about doing the freshwater dip, I have seen it done and it did not turn out well ( Purple tang ).  I would like to acclimate to the new system (not new a year old) and place the Regal tang in it without
<Okay... will likely not make "much" difference... Depending on the resident ich/Crypt populations, there might be some synergism, or unrelated strengthening on their part...>
causing it any added stress.  What is your opinion on this idea?  I currently have a Kole tang, Clownfish, and a Blue Flavivertex Pseudochromis in the 92 gallon tank, do you think any of these would pick on the new fish?  
<Hopefully not>
I know you will probably say that is too many fish for a 92 gallon tank, but all are small and I will rehouse if need be.  Any advice or opinions on this would be very appreciated.  Thank you, Ryan.  Please forgive any misspellings, I checked my spell check and all appeared well.  Thanks again, Ryan.
<Looks good... I would move this fish. Bob Fenner>

Marine Ich, Paracanthurus  3/6/07
Crew,
    I need your help.  My 90 gallon FOWLR finished cycling 2 weeks ago.  I quarantined my Snowflake Moray and Dogface Puffer,
<Will need more room>
together during the cycling process, which was about 6 weeks.  I purchased them together, from the same tank, at my LFS so I thought quarantining them together would be ok.  After introducing them, I began a shorter quarantine for my Hippo Tang.
    I read in CMA that Bob doesn't necessarily think that quarantining a Hippo is necessary or even good,
<Often more damage than good... better to do a pH-adjusted FW bath... along with good specimen selection of course>
I thought that since I purchased the tang from a different LFS than the eel and puffer that I should QT.  I compromised and QT'd for 2 weeks.  Quarantine was over on Thursday and I added the Hippo.  
    All was fine.  Did a 20 gallon water change on Saturday, with well-aged RO/DI water.  Tests were 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites and less then 3 Nitrate (using completely submerged open-pore cell material and sintered glass noodles really keep Nitrates down.  All are 0 now!
    Anyway, I left the house for 2 1/2 hours yesterday and when I returned the Hippo had the worst case of Ich that I have ever seen!  I probably am guilty of sharing nets between tanks.  This is the only thing I could think of, based on the precautions I took.
    I needed to act fact and unfortunately do not have access to my quarantine/hospital tank because it is "off-site" at girlfriend because of space constraints in my apartment and of course, she is away so I though my best option was to lower the salinity.
<Mmm, not likely efficacious>
I am assuming that all the fish are infected which is another reason for doing the hypo-salinity route as each of my aqua-buddies have different tolerances for meds. I typically keep the tank at 1.025 by refractometer, so I am going to drop it to 1.018 as soon as the water warms up.
<This is w/in a safe-range... just not useful as a treatment mode>
    Am i doing the right thing?  i know I need to go out tomorrow and buy another QT/hospital tank.
<Yes>
Don't room for much more than a 20 here and hope the eel (small), puffer and Tang (if he pulls through), can coexist in a 20 for 6 weeks while the 90 gallon goes fallow.
    What would you guy/gals do?  
    Thanks
    Roy
<I would have dipped/bathed the incoming tang (on the way to the Q and the DT)... and read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/crypttangs.htm
and as much of the linked files above as it takes to understand your situation and options. Bob Fenner>

Ich on blue tang   2/20/07
Hi guys,
<And girls, too! *grin*>
thanks for providing such a great site. My name is Janet and I am just starting my marine aquarium journey.
<Hi Janet. My name is JustinN. Welcome to AA -- Aquatics Anonymous ;) >
I have a blue tang about 8cm which I introduced to my 4ft tank around 5 weeks ago. I did not know about quarantining then but I do now.
<I will spare you the soapbox then, my friend.>
There is around 30kg of live rock, 2 tomato clowns, 1 coral beauty, 1 blue wrasse and 1 reef butterfly. At the moment I don't have a skimmer but will next week.
<Ok>
My levels are all good, nitrites 0, ammonia 0, nitrates 20ppm
<A tad high, see if you can identify the source here.>,
specific grav. 1.022
<Likewise, a tad low.. should be maintained at Natural Seawater levels (1.025)>
and pH 8.4. My blue tang developed white spots yesterday and also has a pop-eye (maybe from trying to scratch) and she kept going up to the wrasse for a clean I think.
<Too likely to have had the ich from the get-go; this is a parasite that does not just appear on its own, must be carried in by a host. Tangs are also known as 'ich magnets' because of their proficiency in contracting major outbreaks of the parasite.>
I have a 35ltr tank that I am now using as a hospital tank. I gave her a freshwater dip with methylene blue for 4 min.s then put her into the 35ltr tank which I had pre-dosed with 5mls of Ichonex (Aquasonic).
<Not an appropriate product. Not sure of its effectiveness in freshwater applications, but this product is marketed as a freshwater ich solution -- the two parasites are not the same.>
The directions on the bottle say to treat half doses on day 2 and 3. My hosp. tank has a sponge filter and noodles in it,
<Mmm, fish soup!>
no substrate and just a few ornaments for her to hide in. What I want to know is am I on the right path and is there any extra advise you can give me? thanks heaps, Janet.
<Well, Janet, you've got the right idea with quarantine now, in hindsight. Don't feel too bad about the oversight, it happens to all of us. The human condition is to learn via mistakes. However, your medication choice is simply not effective, and who knows how it may actually be affecting your fish! You need a treatment based on copper here, and likewise, you will need to quarantine all your fishes outside of your display tank for an extended period. If one fish is ich-infested, your entire display is now carrying the parasite, even if certain fish aren't showing outward signs of problems. Any of the fish can, and will, act as a host carrier for the parasite until you treat for it properly, which involves a treatment in a copper solution for all of your fishes, while leaving your display tank 'fallow' (active and running, but unoccupied) for a minimum of 6 weeks, to allow for the life cycle of the parasite to run its course, without a host to allow reproduction. After this point, you will be safe to move your aquatic charges back to their home. Have a read here for more information: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichart2mar.htm -JustinN>

Tang Troubles 2/14/07
To whom it may concern,
<Hi>
I have recently bought a blue tang. And am having some difficulties getting him to eat and even come out of hiding. He constantly is lying on his side. My pH was out but is now right and is 8.3 and I had to buffer my water. <Shock> I also had no bacteria and had to put bacteria starter in. <Uncycled tank?  First Fish?  Need more info.> He is still not eating and is still not coming out what do I do please help.
thank you for your time.           hayalz
<Sounds like you have an uncycled tank and related poor water quality.  This would explain the tang's behavior.  Please see here for more  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/estbiofiltmar.htm .>
<Chris>