color loss

[maxpain]

Just looking for some help on a problem I am having. Both my yellow damsel, and my yellow tang have both been losing the color over the last 2 weeks, I am feeding this the flakes and some frozen veggie blocks. What else could be causing this color lose? They are turning almost a whitish color.

 

[seschaefer]

i am not sure about this, but a thought just to be tossed out there is stress. I know a lot of fish lose color when stressed, but i do not think that it is to the amount that you are looking at. If you do not get the answers you need here post this in the disease and treatment forum. HTH
-sean

 

[elfdoctors]

How long have you had these fish? If they are recent additions the color loss may just be from stress. Is the rest of your tank doing okay including water tests?
Yellow tangs routinely lose their color overnight and if stressed.
I would doubt that a nutritional imbalance would cause color loss over a two week period. This is usually a slow process. Most healthy fish would stay healthy and not lose their color even if you hadn't fed them for a few weeks.

 

[maxpain]

I had the yellow tang for about four weeks now. He also has orange "spots" that developed with some of the color loss. I use just a one strip light that I keep on from 12am to 12pm.

 

[lemonshark]

I use spectrum pellets it works... I have a yellow tang also... and I sometimes see orange spots and even a black shadow towards the back... but they always go away. They don’t lose coloration though!

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by maxpain
I had the yellow tang for about four weeks now. He also has orange "spots" that developed with some of the color loss. I use just a one strip light that I keep on from 12am to 12pm.
I am worried you have got something disease wise going on here. you mighe check the disease forum. Do you have any live algae in the tank so he can continuaosly graze? If not the get some. Also try soaking his food in garlic for one meal. My yellow tank in my 55g has a constant supply of macros and occasional hair algae ti graze on. I also feed him flake food from a a turkey baster. And once per week I add a little garlic powder to the flakes in the baster.
Before I had the live plants and algae I lost a tang at just about the 5-6 week. It developed red and white spots and slowly deteriorated. The one I have now started out small and extremely skinny and looked terrible. But with the live algae he now is bright colored, with a full round belly and has even survived one white spot episode.

 

[maxpain]

You said live algee for food(green (marine Alae), what is this. I use seaweed salad on a clip, nothing except the star fish seem to eat it though. I also put spray-dried marin phytoplankton in almost every day. I put some real dead coral(dried and bleached a long time ago then soaked to get any bleach resadu off) in about 2 weeks ago, aka when he started losing his color, so tonight i took it out to see it that was part of the problem. The lights on for 12 hours a day isnt a problem is it?

 

[aarone]

is it during the night or all the time?
aaron

 

[maxpain]

During the night he turns whitesh....stress probly. But during the day he regains some of the color and gets thoughs orange spots.

 

[elfdoctors]

Yellow tangs normally get whitish at night. That is probably not from excessive stress. The two yellows I have had have both done that.
Orange spots are sometimes from ammonia/nitrite poisoning. I asked before how your water tests were. These should be checked, particularly for relatively recent additions.

 

[maxpain]

My test came out normal, i did a small waterchange anyway. But today it is definate that i have a sickness in the tank, my clown one eye is clowded and he is swimming slowly at the top of the water. My puffer is acting alittle weird too. I put some ick treatment in the tank, it might be that, who knows, just wondering how many fish i will lose from this. I would post pic's but cant find my camera cord.

 

[buzz]

Hopefully that ick treatment was Kick-Ich, as that is OK to use in a display tank. Most others are not.
Tangs need spirulina as a main staple in their diet - more so than seaweed. That will keep their color. However, the blotchiness sounds bacterial.
Cloudiness in the clown's eye also does not sound like ick, and ick treatments will not cure it.

 

[maxpain]

Now the tang fish looks like it is trying to bury itself under the lr, he too will probly be gone soon. And thats good that I probly just trashed my tank, and the $150 of live rock i have in there, keeps getting better.

 

[buzz]

OK...sounds like you are giving up here...don't. Slow down, and calculate.
Let's start here:
1) You say your tests are normal. What is normal? Please give the specific readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, alkalinity, specific gravity of water, temperature, etc.
2) What was the medication you added to the tank?
3) What kind of circulation, filtration, etc., do you have running?
Take it one step at a time. There is obviously something going on in your tank. But don't throw in the towel. Let's try to figure out exactly what the problem is. Then you will be better informed on what action to take.
I know it is frustrating.

 

[maxpain]

Well three fish dead, puffer, clown, and tang. My readings came back 0. MY ph was 8.1, my salt density was 1.24. the temp of the tank is 77 on both sides. I have two power heads and a big emperor filter. I do water changes ever 2 to 3 weeks, small ones. And last night I added Green-X to the tank which is lr friendly. Now all thats left is clean up crew and damsiles.

 

[buzz]

Sorry for the losses. That is too bad.
What levels did you check that came back 0?
Also, you say you added Green-X. That is just a phophate remover. But you said you added a medication to the tank also. Was that what you were referring to? Or was there something else? if so, what?

 

[maxpain]

anit ick stuff, probly killed my lr in the process

 

[maxpain]

Another fish bites the dust, this time a damsel. Only 3 damsels left o ya and the clean up crew is doing fine.