Yellow Tang turning red!!

[mproctor4]

When we got home from vacation last week we noticed our Yellow Tang had a small red line down the base of his tail. It spread to part of the edges of his top and bottom fin. Sometimes it fades so it almost isn't noticable. Today the back 1/4 of his body is bright red. Looks like he has a bad rash. Our LFS (who is normally very knowledgeable) said that he sees yellow tangs get red on them all of the time and it doesn't hurt anything. I've had a few yellow tangs over the years and have never seen that before!! Anybody know what this is? Should I be worried? Anything we can do to get rid of it if it is a problem?

 

[meowzer]

I always though red meant infection......have you checked out the pics in this section???
 
Do you have a qt if necessary??

 

[mproctor4]

I thought the same thing. I looked for the pictures a few days ago and couldn't find them. Maybe now that the site has been up running for a bit I will have better luck. So far she is acting normal.

 

[beth]

Yes, this does sound like a bacterial infection. What are your water readings and do you have access to Maracyn Two for Saltwater Fish?

 

[mproctor4]

I haven't checked my parameters since we got home from vacation. I will do that this evening. I did do a 15 gallon water change about 3 days ago, just didn't take the time to check the parameters since they have always been fine and it had only been 11 days since the last water change.
 
I have no idea if we have Maracyn Two available. We have a couple of LFS that usually carry alot of saltwater supplies. Of coarse the main store is closed on Mondays and I work the Tues. and Wens 13+ hour shifts. great
 
I was able to find some pictures on the site now. It does look like a bacterial infection.

 

[mproctor4]

Salinity 1.023 (usually I keep it at 1.024-1.025)
Temp. 79.1 ( +/- 1 degree)
Ph 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40-80 (hard to read on my test kit)
 
I just added Prime to help neutralize the Nitrate until I can do another water change, but honestly that is where it has been ( or higher) for the last few months and it hasn't appeared to hurt anything until now.
 
I don't have a qt tank set up. I do however have some extra filter material in my sump that I could use to cycle one a bit quicker. I also could throw my suncorals and mushrooms in my hubbies tank and put my snails and crabs in a new qt and then treat the display tank if I need to.

 

[beth]

Your pH is too low, and your nitriate are way too high, especially for tangs. Why the high nitrates, and why do you keep your pH so low?

 

[mproctor4]

This is the first time my Ph has been that low. Normally it runs 8.0-8.2. Any recommendations for getting it up or ideas why it dropped so low?
 
I assume the nitrates are that high because I have bio-balls. I have been hoping to slowly replace them with live rock, but it hasn't been in my budget lately. I tried frequent, large H20 changes and a fairly large amount of cheato and didn't notice much difference in my nitrate level. Normally they run 80+ so I was happy that they were a little lower. In my old FOWLR tank (many years ago) the nitrates alway ran 80+ and I had a healthy yellow tang and sailfin tang that lived for over 10 years. I've always been under the impression that nitrates bothered the corals but not the fish?!?
 
Thanks for your help, I really do appreciate it.

 

[beth]

You know, its not engraved in stone, but it has been my experience that tangs especially generally do not do so well with higher nitrates. Do you have LR now, live sand? How big is your tank and what and how often are you feeding your tang?
What other type of filters do you have, if any? Skimmer?
In my view, I've seen enough tangs with the symptoms you describe resulting from environment conditions such as you describe.
I would start doing water changes, and especially be sure to age your change out water for at least 24-48 hours. What salt are you using?