Internal bleeding?? PLEASE READ

[sterling]

I noticed last night my sailfin tang. the base of his tail i could see redness, in lines, like he broke open blood vessels. this morning when his color was a little washed out i can see this redness along the center of his body, internally, from his tail halfway towards his head!! Any ideas out there, pleeeeeeze.

 

[beth]

Do a large water change. If this does not improve the situation within 24 hrs, then you will have to treat for bacterial infection using Maracyn2 for SW fish.

 

[sterling]

Beth, thanks for the reply. I suppose Maracyn2 cannot be put in reef tank? correct? Can I feed food soaked in it? Trying to get him out of this tank will be a major ordeal, if not impossible. I will do the water change today. Why a water change? What could be causing this? I was assuming a bacterial infection. I did pick up some Kanacyn, I read somewhere about soaking food in this antibiotic. Any thoughts on that. Appreciate the help.

 

[beth]

Well, tangs are prone to react to even a minute deterioration in water quality. Doing a water change sometimes corrects a "beginning" problem before it has progressed into a serious issue. Try the water change being sure to make the change out "stress free". No, you can't add meds to a reef tank. Try feeding the fish garlic soaked food. Also, add Zoe or Zoecon supplements to the diet [soak food]. Garlic has a mild antibacterial quality to it, so it might do the trick.
What are you feeding the tang?
Hope so.

 

[sterling]

Beth, I went to store and got water to do a water change, but the water was quite cold, so as I was leaving it sit indoors to warm up I mixed Kanamycn into 2 gallons of water. Then I took about 1/4 cup of the medicated water, soaked some frozen food in it for about 20-25 minutes and fed it to the fish.
Now I also added some stroniium and iodine to water. Yesterday I had added some magnesium, I believed that's why my PH was lingering around 8.0. Today my PH was up to 8.2.
Well, I had fed the medicated food earlier this afternoon and this evening alot of the redness at the base of the tang's tail is gone. Is this possible??
Well, at any rate, I've soaked some more food and am going to feed a little more before I go to bed.
Should I still do the water change tomorrow if he's looking better, or leave well enough alone.

 

[sterling]

I don't know if it was the food laced with antibiotics, or the PH coming back up, or a combination of both, but the red streaks have almost completely disappeared from my sailfin tang ) I'm very relieved.