Yellow tang and red spots?

[threenemos]

My tellow tang, Sunny, has what looks to be blood vessels that re becoming more visible and red below dorsal fin and on his tail. I am not sure what this is. He has been in the tank three months or so and has had these "lines and spots" for three weeks.
Have any of you seen this?
Do you know what it is?
Should I be worried and/or take any action?
Ph, Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia, Salinity are all in check.
These are the same pictures, one highlifhts the area in question, the other is untouched.
The area (line on his back) is a little more red than what came across in the pictures.

 

[beth]

That is usually means the beginning of a bacterial infection. How long have you had this fish? What are you feeding him? Can you post your water readings anyway? pH, nitrates? Size tank?
If you have aged water, do a water change now and see if that improves the situation.
If not, he will require antibiotics in a QT.
Would you mind if I kept your picture for future use?

 

[threenemos]

Thanks for the help Beth.
I will test water and post numbers tonight.
Estimated feeding:
94% misis shrimp
4% brine
1% flake and pellet food
1% seaweed/algae(seaweed selects)
We have a longnose hawkfish who eats the mysis, so Sunny eats it then too.
He is in a 72gallon with only the hawkfish.
Fish only, no live rock, etc.
Feel free to use the pic. I can get better pics if you wish too, I will try more.
I will do the water change and post the numbers from the current water too.

 

[threenemos]

We have had the fish for three months.

 

[lagatbezan]

ThreeNemos, I would recommend that you change the diet of your tang. tangs require mostly veggie diet. I would feed him more seaweed and greens like 70%-80% and less meaty food.

 

[threenemos]

Originally Posted by lagatbezan
ThreeNemos, I would recommend that you change the diet of your tang. tangs require mostly veggie diet. I would feed him more seaweed and greens like 70%-80% and less meaty food.
I can see where that would make sense. All of this started when "Hawkeye" did not eat his mysis quick enough and Sunny eats it all up, then I went to mysis all the time for Sunny too. He seems to like it, but I see your point totally. I wondered about the diet intially, but then did not think about it too much.
I may need to conentrate on a feeding strategy where Sunny gets less mysis and brine.
Beth what do you think about that?

 

[beth]

Tangs do need a good deal of vegetarian food in their diet, as well as plenty of grazing opportunities. Do you have him in a larger tank with LR?

 

[threenemos]

I have him in a 72 gallon right now.
It is a FO tank that I want to covert to a reef, but that is a whole separate thread.
Do you think the diet could be a cause of the lines?
I wondered about feeding him so much shrimp, but he appears to love it with no impacts on his behavior or growth outside of this new issue.

 

[beth]

No, "the lines" are swollen tissues due to the oneset of a bacterial infection.
What are your water readings?

 

[threenemos]

What are your water readings?
The readings are a little higher than I thought after testing water Monday.
Ammonia: < 0.25mg/l
Nitrates: 12.5mg/l
Nitrites: < 0.3mg/l
Ph: 8.0
Salinity: 1.020
We just did 10% water change last weekend after a 10% two weeks ago.
*** I did notice something last week that I did not think about until reading a similar activity on another thread: Sunny was trying to rub his side (where the areas in question are) on the sand at the bottom of the tank.
I initially attributed this to his anxiety when I am close walking by the tank (he does not like quick movements). Now I wonder if it was a sign I should have taken note of.
Your thoughts on the water?
Thoughts on this behavior?

 

[threenemos]

Just finished 10% water change.
Do you think this will begin to correct Sunny's condition?
Should other treatment be taken?

 

[threenemos]

After a few 10% water changes this week, Sunny is getting a lot better!
Thanks for the advice and assistance!

 

[beth]

That is good news. Yes sometimes water changes do the trick. But in the end, the idea is to keep water quality the best that it can be all the time. If you are having a problem with that, then try to fix it.
Also, try offering the fish some meaty food soaked in fresh garlic.

 

[drea]

this is great info..............