Yellow Tang has brown spots

[lizzy]

Hi Everyone. I am very new at this and I just set up my tank 3 weeks ago. It was going through the cylceing process when this lady came into my work and asked me if I wanted to take her fish from her cuz she was converting into a fw tank and she was just going to flush the fish if i didnt want them. well i didnt want them to get flushed and so i went over to her house and the yellow tang already had some sort of disease. I took almost all of her water and put it in my tank...i have like only 6 pounds of live rock and i have like 40 pounds live sand. Test results last night were ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 40 (i know its high...and i'm guessing i need to do a water change for them to go down?) and PH is 8.2 I have a fluval 404 and two power heads....and i am going to get a skimmer soon..but dont have one yet. I know that they were useing tap water...they didnt really know what they were doing. I am at work and dont have my camera where my tank is set up so i cant get a pic of it but its this brown around its eyes on its belly and a little on fins. Its also got these weird ---- color lines down its nose and by its eyes. Sorry I dont have a pic! I hope someone can help. My LFS said to do a fresh water dip. He said to put it in some fresh water for 10 min and then take it out and do that every day till its gone. Is this what i should do?? Thanks for any help you can give! Lizzy

 

[lizzy]

I forgot I also have PC's not sure what wattage is cuz i just bought them from her.

 

[beth]

Go ahead and take some shots so we can take a look at him.
Cudos to you for saving the fish! Shame on that woman who flushes.
Describe more about how you have your tank set up. Likely the fluval is part of the problem with nitrites. You have LS? How much?

 

[lizzy]

I have about 40 pounds of live sand mixed with 20 of non live sand....its the stuff from the fish store so i know that its okay...its not play sand or anything. Would it be good for me to put in new carbon in the filter??

 

[lizzy]

oh and i'll try to get some pics tonight.

 

[lizzy]

I've been reading some other threads and i think that the ---- colored stuff might be HLLE. And I saw one other thing that might be the brown stuff...I guess other people call it like a copper...reddish color. but i think its the same thing. I am thinking about setting up a QT after i get off work. but the only prob is i dont have any old filter or anything. I was thinking that I would get a 10 gal with a hob filter and a small heater...i dont think that will cost to much..i dont know how much the filter will cost though. and it would be something i would benefit from in the future i'm sure. I was wondering though...if i just do lots of water changes...and i put the water from my other tank into the qt would that be the best thing to do?? Thanks so much for your help beth! I am sure you are prob the reason a thousands of fish are still living!! even though you arent treating them yourself, your giving us the knowlege to treat them ourselfs! Thank you!!

 

[andretti]

Yes, fresh water dips work great. Follow these instructions and everything will be just fine.

1. Make sure the water is the same pH and temp as the tank water
2. Use R/O water if you can't then use a water condtioner that has a stress coat.
3. Leave him in there for 1-2 minutes. He is going to "play dead" by laying on the bottom...don't worry, he's not dead.
4. DON"T USE THE SAME NET THAT YOU CAUGHT HIM WITH.
5. After you put him back in, mix his food with Kent's garlic extreme. I and most other people swear by this stuff. Garlic will help with their immune system. Don't just use it this one time; use it everyday.
6. Sometimes more than one dip is required. If so, follow the same procedures the next day.
&. The reason it works so well is that saltwater parasites, bacteria, and fungi cannot survive in freshwater; the same is true for freshwater fish...they cannot survive in saltwater.
You really should use R/O water in your tank
To get your trates down, you need more live sand and more live rock, and need to keep up with maintenance on your canister filter. They work good, but you've got to stay on a regular schedule. Saltwater fish cannot handle change very well. If there is change, they stress out, and that's when the diseases like ick, popeye, marine velvet, etc set in. I hope this helps and remember...nothing is a guarante.

 

[lizzy]

Thanks for your help! I was wondering should i take a bucket to catch him and then take a net into the bucket (so i'm not chaseing him around stressing him out with the net) and then from the net into a bucket of fresh water and then get a new net and put him from the bucket back into the Display tank? How long should i leave him in the fresh water for?? Thanks for all your help!!

 

[lizzy]

oh i almost forgot. What should i be feeding him? The lady that gave them to me didnt tell me what she had been feeding him. The guy i got my tank from gave me pellets that have krill and some other stuff in them...and she was eating that but not much of it...i tried flakes soaked in the kent garlic....before i heard thats what i needed to do...but should i get some frozen krill or something?? "fishco" is next door to my work and will still be open when i get off work...so i was thinking i would go over there and get a filter, tank, , net, heater, food...and whatever else i might need. Thanks!!

 

[lizzy]

I dipped him last night, this morning he looks a little better....your right though..he did fall on his side and act like he was dead....my husband was like uhhh liz...i think hes dead....thats not good...that cant be good....look his breathing is slowing down....lol. I was like...well thats what they told me to do and they said that he would do that...sooo...i'll just leave him there for a couple min (i left him in there prob about a min and a half...cuz i wanted to make sure he would be okay) I am prob going to do another dip and leave him in there for 3 min today...and see how he does. I am going to go get some more live rock today!! yay! cuz todays my b-day so my husband wants to buy me more stuff for my tank (even though thats my real present.) anyways...so i'm off to the fish store!! have a very fishy day everyone!!
Oh and i almost forgot. I took pictures of him this morning..i'll try to post them later so you can tell me exactly what will help. Thanks!!

 

[beth]

Any chance of getting a picture up of this fish?

 

[lizzy]

Hey Beth thanks for your help. I know for sure now that the stuff around her eyes is HLLE Its starting to move down her body. I got some really good pictures and i took them to the store with me and the guy there said that the brown red stuff what blood under the skin...so i got a qt to treat him for that but when i got home most of the red was gone. so now i just have to treat for the HLLE. I think i'm going to do a water change. My mom has RO water so i'm going to try to take some of her water to do it with and see what i can do to try and reverse it! but i think things are looking better....the only bad thing is yesterday i didnt see her eat...i was only there for a little while but i fed them while i was there and i didnt see her eat anything. Should i still get the QT up and put her in it?? Thanks for your help..i'll still try to post the pics...i'll be over there tonight...maybe i can get my mother in law to help me then. Thanks a bunch!! Lizzy