? re: orange 'hazing' on yellow tang

[mark in usc,pa]

I have a 55 g tank, four damsels, a percula clown and a yellow tang.
Temp: 76F.
pH: 7.0
Total alkalinity / buffering cap: 200
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
"Goldie" (as my 2 year old calls it) started to develop a faint orangish haze along the top of the back, in front of tail fin, and now is evident on bottom of body.
Being a relative neophyte aquarist, I don't know what this is, or its prognosis. I would be grateful for any assistance. (Goldie probably would too!!)

 

[y2says]

I had the same problem with the tang I had before it died. I'm no expert yet, but I think your PH is bit low. I think it should be around 8-8.5. Also tangs need a lot of algae or seaweed in their diet. You should go to your lfs and ask them what to feed them and they should show you this package with dry seaweed in it. Also, you can get this bottle called vita-chem (something like that) and drop a few drops in the foods. That will give them more nutrients and improve their immune system. Do it soon and good luck.

 

[jacrmill]

ive never had a tang so i dont know from first hand experience. but i know that fish discoloration can be cause from many things. malnutrition is a huge one. what are you feeding him? also i think your PH is low too, try bringing it up to 8.3 or so. is there anything chasing your tang, or any other reason he could be stressed out? how big is your tang, ive read that most tangs shouldnt be in anything in less than a 75, maybe thats the problem. you could read the posts that Terry B posted about stress in fish, a couple of those talk about discoloration.

 

[fishymissy]

Your biggest problem is not only your ph but your alkalinity too. You want to maintain your ph between 8.2 and 8.4, alkalinity from 8 to 12dKH.
Make sure you get the proper food for the tang, they need something like Seaweed Select or dried nori in order to have the correct diet.
Get your ph and other levels up and get the correct food and see if he doesn't improve!
One more thing, when you go about changing the chemistry of your water, be careful not to change it too quickly...it will stress the fish out and can even kill them. BTW, what salinity do you keep the tank at?
Good luck!!
[ October 31, 2001: Message edited by: fishymissy ]