what's wrong with my yellow tang???

[wablondie98664]

for the past few days my yellow tang has been acting really stressed, hiding a lot. i just got home from work tonight and noticed he is pale in color and has red streaks in his fins. hes been coming out of hidinig long enough to eat. i've had him for about 10 days ammonia spiked to .25 the other day but is back down to 0 now temp 80 sg1.023 nitrite <0.3. what could be wrong? here is a pic i tried to take, not very good, but something.

 

[lopeyc]

red streaks are definitely a bad sign.

 

[smokinstarfish]

What could be wrong you ask? Ammonia and nitrite should be 0, especially with tangs. That's probably why in your picture your tang looked like crap. Even nitrates should be low. Only perfect water conditions are adequate. Why the spike? Did you just add him? How old is the tank?

 

[beth]

Ammonia and nitrite are toxins and should remain at zero. Why did it spike?
Can you give your current water readings? What type of tank do you have and how big is it? How long has it been set up? What are you feeding the tang?
Take a look as the how to post sticky thread at the top of this forum. It guides you as to the info that should be posted here so we can make the best assessment.

 

[wablondie98664]

ammonia spikek only lasted 1 day, is at 0 now, i am assumining it spiked beacause of a dead hermit i found.on my nitrite test <0.3 is the lowest reading it gives. the tank is about 4 months, 55 gal. added the tang about 10-12 days ago. i feed the tang a varity of mysis, brine, formula 2, "sea veggies" and seaweed sheets. other inhabitants are a clarkii , dominno, and yellow tail damsel

 

[beth]

What kind of tank is it, live rock or fish-only?? Reef?
Do you have a quarantine tank?
I would suggest doing a large water change with aged water. Sometimes that will do the job. Sometimes, however, the symptoms you are seeing is a prelude to disease, in which case you will need to treat the fish in a hospital tank.
What is your nitrate and phosphate reading? I can also tell you that any nitrite is bad news. You need to do water changes until that nitrite is zero.

 

[lopeyc]

I wonder with all that different stuff you're giving the tang you're not adding too much to your bioload.
formula 2 should take care of almost all his dietary needs, or so I've been told. the other stuff is more like dessert.

 

[wablondie98664]

my tank is fowlr. unfortunatly i don't have a q tank . i did a 7 gal water change on the 2nd and another 13 on the 6th when i noticed the red streaks on the tang. i don't necessarily have any nitrites in my tank....i have the tetra test kit and the lowest reading on the card is <0.3 (less than) nitrates are 2.5 and i don't have a phosphate test so i don't know what that is. the tang has been hiding all day today, only saw him come out twice for maybe 20 seconds at a time to eat a few bites of food. he also has soome red splotches on the top of his body now.........

 

[smokinstarfish]

Do everything you can to save him!!!
Yellow tangs are wild-caught, in my definition of a "threatened species", and are absolutely beautiful.

 

[wablondie98664]

i am trying.......kicking myself for never setting up a q tank
i just can't figure out what brought this on and what to do?

 

[smokinstarfish]

Do some more searching on this forum... or maybe Beth will post some possible solutions.

 

[naturelover]

atleast set up a q-tank or even a bucket first and put tang in there. don't use any water from your display tank even when you take tang out. You wouldn't have hard time catching it.
let the tang get more stable in your bucket/q-tank.
Most likey your tank has been exposed to somekind of chemical/cleaning material. Red streaks are sign of chemical irritation not ammo or nitrite.

 

[wablondie98664]

thanks for everyoones help and advise, but my tank died last night

 

[naturelover]

sorry for your loss.
hope you start to qurantine fish from now on when ever you see a sign of sickness to avoid spreading.

 

[spearfish]

Well, look at the bright side.
It's a new opportunity to go out and get another yellow tang maybe this one will be stronger!
Sounds like you got your self a wimpy tang. Don't let failure discourage you. Keep trying you will get it right one day.
I have gone thru five yellow tangs in the past few months. My latest one is doing great and I do nt give it any thing special.
Good Luck and keep your chin up.

 

[karajay]

Originally posted by Spearfish
I have gone thru five yellow tangs in the past few months.

 

[liz50138]

I had the red spots and streaks on my yellow tang also about a week or two ago. It is hemmorraging (sp?) aka internal bleeding. I would, if possible,purchase a quarantine tank. If not, you'll have to do with out. I treated mine with Mardel's Maracyn for saltwater. Within the first day or two, i did not notice any difference, but the third day he only had streaks, no spots, and on the fourth, only one streak and on the fifth he was completly better. Hope this works for you.
As for the paleness, I'm not sure what that could be.