yellow tang eyes?

[polka]

I've done a search on popeye and cloudy eyes and I'm not sure if that is what I am dealing with, with my tang. I have had him almost 1 year. Here are the symptoms that started today: Seems thin,but eating and left eye looks like it has a bubble over it that is somewhat cloudy.
How do I treat this? The only other tank mates are a clarki clown and cleaner shrimp and tank is a f/o been up for almost 2 years. Plan on h20 change tomorrow. What else should I be doing. Very concerned, have never had an illness with any of my fish.
Thank you for all of your help.

 

[beth]

Yes, it sounds like popeye resulting from a bacterial infection. To treat it in your existing tank, you will have to remove the shrimp, as inverts have no tolerance for medications. Or, better, move the tang to a hospital tank and treat him separately.
I recommend Maracyn2 for Saltwater fish, double the package dose recommendations.

 

[polka]

okay I understand about the hospital tank, but as I said earlier this is very new to me. What do I need for a HT? How big and so on? I did a search on HT but didn't find anything on supplies. Thank you for your time and patience

 

[beth]

I would suggest a 20gal-long, at least, but if you can't swing this, than go with a 10. You will need a source of filtration. Right now I have mine setup with prizm skimmer [not necessary, though], fluval 404 and 1 maxijet powerhead. Basically, I used old equiptment to set this up that I wasn't using anyway.
No gravel or sand, and no Live rock. You can use PVC pipe for your fish to hide in [make sure the pieces you get are big enough for fish to fit into---these are substitutes for rocks].
If you can't setup with too much equiptment, you could basically go with a strong powerhead, aimed at water surface, and then just check water readings very often to check for water quality issues. Do water changes 2x week or more, if you're going with just the powerhead setup.
There's a lot of variables, dependent upon size tank you can setup. Oh, BTW, no lighting is necessary in a HT, in fact, better to have low lighting with sick fish anyway, particularly when using antibotics.
[ August 14, 2001: Message edited by: Beth ]

 

[polka]

Thanks, Beth! Still curious on water conditions. My tank holds pretty well at .023 - .024. and temp is at 76. does the HT need the same readings? what will happen to other water cond. in the HT such as amm, nitites and nitrates? Also, can I keep the HT downstairs in my basement, it gets indrect lighting; you had said I didn't need a light source, would that be enough?
I thank you so much!!! This is a first for my tank to be sick I feel like I did the first time one of my kids got sick.

 

[polka]

It's a sad day..................my yellow tang didn't make it
The clarki seems to be fine and all readings are right on. Why would the tang all of the sudden get sick and die within 36 hours?
I seem to have this problem. Everything going right along and then boom someone dies. they also go very quickly, which I guess is a good thing but I feel helpless and very frustrated. Any comments are greatly appreaciated!!

 

[beth]

Yellow tangs are probably the most popular fish in the hobby, and many new people to the hobby get them. They are, one of my favorite fish. However, the truth is, they are not fish for beginners, and they are disease prone. They are also amoung the most skiddish fish, meaning that they are easily stressed. Disease, human contact, other fish, change in environment---anything can scare this fish into a rapid breathing frenzie!
By saying no light source, I didn't mean to imply that you could keep your fish in the dark. The HT should get some light, it just does not need to be aquarium lighting right over the tank for 12 yrs a day. BTW: When treating with antibotics, direct lighting over the tank should be avoided. Light diminshes the potency of antibotics [and that applies to humans too! So if you need to take antibotics, don't spend the day at the beach! ]
Your hospital tank should have the same readings as the tank that your fish came from...this is to reduce stress on fish when they are changed over to the HT. Of course, you will need filtration and circulation in your hospital tank. If you use the water from your main tank to setup your HT, then this will aid in cycling the HT. You will need to keep a close eye out for water quality issues, to insure that ammonia and nitrites remain at zero. Be prepared to do water changes as necessary. Good circulation in your HT will go a long way establishing and mainting a quality HT. When using medications, don't use carbon filtration [except very breifly to filter out medication residue].
Good luck!