hippo tang's flesh being eaten by parasites?

[cody57]

my hippo tang's flesh is being eaten by(my guess) parasites. her color is almost gone and there are a number of spots where her flesh has big holes in it. she's still very active and eats like a pig. my lfs recommended myacine 2. tried that, but no help. they didnt seen to have a very extensive selection of medicine. i, unfortunately dont have a hospital tank. dori is in a 120 gal tank w/ alot of lr. i also have a volitan lion, huma huma and maroon clown with her. what medicine would be best to treat her with w/o harming the other fish. i using two fluval 400 filters and a skimmer for filtration and two power heads for water movement. the lion also has slightly cloudy eyes. everybody else seems to be healthy. thanks cody57

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by cody57
my hippo tang's flesh is being eaten by(my guess) parasites. her color is almost gone and there are a number of spots where her flesh has big holes in it. she's still very active and eats like a pig. my lfs recommended myacine 2. tried that, but no help. they didnt seen to have a very extensive selection of medicine. i, unfortunately dont have a hospital tank. dori is in a 120 gal tank w/ alot of lr. i also have a volitan lion, huma huma and maroon clown with her. what medicine would be best to treat her with w/o harming the other fish. i using two fluval 400 filters and a skimmer for filtration and two power heads for water movement. the lion also has slightly cloudy eyes. everybody else seems to be healthy. thanks cody57
What are your water readings? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, KH, Temp, and Salinity?
BTW, you should NEVER add any type of med to a display tank!

 

[cody57]

i just performed a water quality test. salt= 1.020 amonia= 0.0 ph= 7.8 nitrite= 0.0 nitrate= 100 (wow) temp= aprox. 77 (power heads keep blowing thermometer off suction cup. ambient temp in room is 75, so w/lighting, water temp may be around 77) i did some major remodelling in this room, so to be honest, i couldnt get to the tank for anything but feeding for awhile. enough excuses, i did a 20-25% water change about 5 weeks ago and changed the sponges and carbon in the fluvala and another 20-25% water change last tuesday. i'll put some ph fixer in to balance ph. whats the safe frequency of water changes i can do, since thats the only way i know of to bring down the nitrates. is anything else i can do in the mean time? also, while looking for the therm., i noticed hippo now has a red mark above one of her gills. thats new. thanks for your help.

 

[cody57]

i'm using a fastest by seatest. it says to fill w/water up to line. nowhere in the instuctions or on the vial does it show a line. if your familiar w/this type of kit, i fill to the top where water chamber is equal to top of indicator chart. is this the correct level?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by cody57
i just performed a water quality test. salt= 1.020 amonia= 0.0 ph= 7.8 nitrite= 0.0 nitrate= 100 (wow) temp= aprox. 77 (power heads keep blowing thermometer off suction cup. ambient temp in room is 75, so w/lighting, water temp may be around 77) i did some major remodelling in this room, so to be honest, i couldnt get to the tank for anything but feeding for awhile. enough excuses, i did a 20-25% water change about 5 weeks ago and changed the sponges and carbon in the fluvala and another 20-25% water change last tuesday. i'll put some ph fixer in to balance ph. whats the safe frequency of water changes i can do, since thats the only way i know of to bring down the nitrates. is anything else i can do in the mean time? also, while looking for the therm., i noticed hippo now has a red mark above one of her gills. thats new. thanks for your help.
ok, well your salinity is kind of low. Do you have inverts? Ph is way low, Nitrate is past the stress level point! Tangs are sensitive creatures and need optimal water quality. He is fading because he is stressed out. Water changes are the only way to reduce the nitrates and get your fish happy again. In the meantime, make sure their diet is varied and nutritious and make sure your fish get vitamines to help boost their immune system. Start doing water changes ASAP!!!! Water changes should be done in direct correlation to nitrate levels. There is no set, fixed, time to do water changes. When your nitrates reach 20 for fish or 10 for corals, it is time for a water change.

 

[cody57]

i feed them krill, silver sides, plankton, squid, formula two(frozen cubes) and formula one and two marine pellets. i've been putting selcon concentrated vitamins on their food. i'm going to pet shop tommorrow for medicine and food, any food suggestions? i'll do another water change this week-end. is there a medication that you know of to treat her in the mean time?

 

[cody57]

i have what ever snails and crabs that are left from huma huma dining at red lobster and a Deep Sea Yellow Gorgonian

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by cody57
i feed them krill, silver sides, plankton, squid, formula two(frozen cubes) and formula one and two marine pellets. i've been putting selcon concentrated vitamins on their food. i'm going to pet shop tommorrow for medicine and food, any food suggestions? i'll do another water change this week-end. is there a medication that you know of to treat her in the mean time?
There is no med, The nitrates need to be lowered. Tangs are sensitive to water quality. For vitamines use zoe, selcon, vitachem and just for general health and parasite resistance, garlic extreme. Your foods look ok. Water changes are an absolute MUST here though!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by cody57
i have what ever snails and crabs that are left from huma huma dining at red lobster and a Deep Sea Yellow Gorgonian
The snails and crabs are your cleanup crew. They eat detris before it breaks down.

 

[cody57]

thanks sepulation!! will keep up the water changes, hopefully hippo will recover. i notice from your bio, you own a misic store, do know if sacd's and dvd-audio discs will increase in avail. titles? i have a great marantz 9500 sacd/dvd-a player, but i have about all the titles i like and it doesnt seem like their coming out with any new stuff other than classical. thanks again for your help.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by cody57
thanks sepulation!! will keep up the water changes, hopefully hippo will recover. i notice from your bio, you own a misic store, do know if sacd's and dvd-audio discs will increase in avail. titles? i have a great marantz 9500 sacd/dvd-a player, but i have about all the titles i like and it doesnt seem like their coming out with any new stuff other than classical. thanks again for your help.
I am happy to help anytime!!!!!

Actually the music store I own is instrumental.

 

[fireshrimp]

Carbon filters DID negatively affect my hippo tank
I took the carbon out and it recovered fine
IMO with Hippo tanks ( never had any other kind ) dont use carbon

 

[beth]

Could it be head and lateral line erosion? Can you post a picture? Carbon is believed to be a factor in HLLE as well as nitrates.
Check out the pictures in the Diseased Fish Thread and the info on HLLE in the FAQ Thread.

 

[cody57]

checked the packets on test kit, expired over a year ago. bought a new one and nitrates test at 20 . added some ph balance and ph up to 8.0, will re-check and adjust if needed.

 

[nigerbang]

When ever I notice that the pH gets lower than it should be I use Reef Builder...works wonders..

 

[cody57]

i already bought some proper ph 8.2. if that doesnt do the job, i'll look into the reef builder. thanks.

 

[unleashed]

i recently had the same issue withan atlantic blue tang i receive froma fellow hobbiest it was in a 20 gal qt along with a coral beauty i treated the qt with melafix for 4 days but the woulds would not dissapear they seamed more to be getting larger.during the move the coral beauty did not survive this fish was active and extremely healthy unlike the pacific blue which we swore we would not be able to move.after the death of the coral beauty the wounds healed up .although we had never seen any signs of aggression we now place the blame on the coral beauty ,the pacific made thre move perfectly and is doing great all wounds healed ..chances are someone is nipping at yours also hense the reasoning of not healing properly if you cannot qt this fish in a separate tank try and give it a space that no other fish can reach him at with a partition of some sort..ps i run all my tanks with carbons always have always will and have never had any signs in any fish with HllE 5 yrs and counting