Small black lines on tang

hobbes

hobbes

Member
My yellow eye tang keeps getting these little black black lines all over his body. I don't think that they are scratches because they have come and gone before. Is there any type of parasite that appears like that? I will be putting fish in my QT tomorrow (waiting for refractometer to come in the mail). Could hyposalinity possibly cure this? I am at a loss to what I should do about him.
Water reading:
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 5.0
PH: 8.2
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I have never heard of black lines. Tangs do get red streaks which is a signal of a bacterial infection.
Can you get a pic up?
 
hobbes

hobbes

Member
I am sure that they are black. Now, I am new so tell me if this is normal. I never use to notice them before I got my new light. After a few hours of having the 10K's on my tang looks like he has less color. Well, in fact I know that he has less color and that is when I can see the little black lines on his body. Is it normal for a tang to lighten with the brighter lights?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Well, colors do change in fish depending on lighting. All animals colors change, as a matter of fact. That is why there is such a market for lighting in this hobby.
Where are the lines? Put your old lights on and see what you see.
 
hobbes

hobbes

Member
As of right now being that it is morning, his color is still dark so even with the new light he looks dark right now. It ussually takes a few hours before the little black lines show up on him. He still has that other injury on the back of his body that I showed you in my other thread. Besides that he seems very healthy. He eats well, algae and food.
I am going to transfer my fish over to my QT today. I am switching out the CC to LS (I bought two bags, with a total of 40lbs for a 55g. Enough?) I have not had any ich outbreaks since the first one. I am still going to do the hyposalinity for precautionary reasons.
 
mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
My tang ,when lights are off is about 40% red in the middle (normal).
As I have read I would feed him major seaweed at all times or 70% and the other 30 I hope he can eat algae on your LR, glass etc. And have some pods to snack on.
Again as other have stated the Vita-Chem has worked wonders..big time.
Also as Beth told me to try Zoecon. Since then, I add Zoecon to food 4 times per week and vita-chem everyday.
The yellow tang has never looked this good when I got him! He is almost neon yellow. It is amazing....The stuff works wonders.
I would check you salanity and temp. I would also say use a refractometers since I had two swing meters and they are WAY off, bigtime.
Also I would check for stray voltage. I know this might be off topic but tangs go nuts with voltage, mine did the "dance in corner then go mach 9"
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
IMO, zoecon is a must have for tangs. Omega3 fatty acid is the ingredient that aids with HLLE.
If you just want a thin layer of sand on bottom that that amt will do. I have a dsb and so much sand I couldn't even hazzard a guess how many lbs I have. :D
 
hobbes

hobbes

Member
Well, thank you for the advice on zoecon and vita-chem. I need to get that.
I had thought about the stray voltage. I have seen a couple of threads about that but I still don't know what I can use to prevent it. Any recommendations?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Ground probe is used to deal with stray voltage and you should have one installed in your tank, and sump if you have one. Use the zoecon, good diet, keep nitrates down to trace levels. To cure or prevent HLLE, you have to really hit it on several fronts.
 
hobbes

hobbes

Member
I will definately get the zoecon.
Where can I get a ground probe? Is that something that the sell at a lfs or Home depot?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
The LFS might have them, if not order from an online vendor. They don't cost much. Be sure to get one that has a wall plug! Some don't have this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top