Sick Tang

Reefkeeping, Coral, Fish and Invertebrates.

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lwready
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Sick Tang

Post by lwready »

I got a 1" tang 6 months ago, has been doing great, doubled in size. Now looks skeletal and faded. It looks like when it tries to feed it is either missing the food by a couple of millimeters or that it can't open it's mouth. I have tried flake food, nori, lettuce and brine shrimp. It hits them all but still seems to be starving to death.

Any suggestions?
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AgeDynasty
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by AgeDynasty »

have you tried live brine shrimp
150 Gallon Mixed Reef
75 Gallon Mixed Reef
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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

qt him
medicate and spot feed him
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Buddy08
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by Buddy08 »

are any other fish picking on it? if you do decide to put it in a quarantine tank, make sure the power head isn't super powefull, i lost a sick tang to one in my qt tank a few months ago. As for food, you should definitely feed algae sheets once a day, its very beneficial for tangs and keeps them plump and healthy. brine shrimp is almost like candy to children, no protien for them to build off of. Add mysis shrimp to their diets, will also help promote good health. Like chris stated, live brine shrimp as well.. works wonders for the finicky eaters.
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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

+ 1 buddy
i have lost sick tangs to powerheads before
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JRA95SHO
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by JRA95SHO »

I lost my Thompson's tang yesterday and was quite pissed. They are unique and can be difficult to find at the LFS. I got mine at B&B, and he was about 50 bucks. They said they had him approx. 3 weeks and he was doing fine when I first put him in the tank. I acclimated him for 45 min to an hour and dropped him in. My yellow tang appears to have gotten ich and spread it to him, my coral beauty angel and possibly my sailfin blenny. I also have a green chromis missing in action and a royal gramma missing.

Last night I performed about a 15-20% water change. I may do another one today or tomorrow. When I took a water sample to B&B, they said my water looked great all around. When I tested it at home, my nitrates were through the roof. I don't trust them anymore.

My yellow tang is active and eating as are all the other fish that I've seen. I'm going to do another water change or two and hope they pull though. I'm going to let the tank stabilize a little more before I add anything else. After I set the tank up, I let it cycle for 2 weeks w/o putting any fish in it.
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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

LOOK AT HERBTANA SAFE FOR REEFS ICK AND PARASITE EXPELLANT
I HAVE USED THIS STUFF WITH GREAT SUCCESS WITH NO HARM TO MY CORALS
I WOULD ADD SOME, I HAVE NEVER SEEN WATER CHANGES REMOVE ICK
THE ICK PARASITE WILL CONTINUE TO RELEASE OFFSPRING IN TO THE WATER COLMN EVERY COUPLE OF DAYS
YOU MUST KILL THE PARASITE ON THE FISH AND BOOST THE FISHES SLIME(NATURAL DEFENCE AGAINST PARASITES) TO PREVENT THEM FROM BEING INFECTED AGAIN
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Amphiprion
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by Amphiprion »

The only way to completely prevent reinfection is through quarantine and treatment. That being said, many fish can actively fight against infection, but that doesn't necessarily mean there isnt a chronic ultr-low level infection. Luckily, fish can live with that. Not necessarily optimal, but it depends upon the level of effort you are willing to go through. Even on the off chance that parasites completely die off without proactive treatment, it may not be worth the risk in some situations.

In regard to water changes, they can be effective, but only in relatively impractical quantities/frequencies. I'm talking around 100% daily, along with other measures. Otherwise, lowering potential chemical stressors can help in certain situations.

As far as getting a second test opinion, always press for specifics. If necessary, tell them to write it down. I've never accepted "okay," or "everything looks fine.". Numbers are definitely your friend in this case.
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JRA95SHO
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by JRA95SHO »

I'm finding in this hobby that there are tons of different options, opinions, and views on things. Some say quaratine is the only way to cure it and that if you don't have a quarantine tank, you should scrap the hobby. Others have never quarantined fish, and when they got sick, they stayed on top of the water parameters, did frequent water changes, fed the fish routinely, and kept their immunity up so that they can fight it off. Their reason is that fresh water dips, quarantining all fish in a separate tank, treating them, etc. increases the stress far more than leaving them alone to fight it off. I guess people do different things and try whatever works for them the best. I heard that small doses of vodka will lower nitrates and make for a healthier tank (if you dose it correctly). This hobby seems to be a lot of trial and error (can be expensive error) for newbs.
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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

it can be thats y there are sites like this one and rc to help newbies and save animals and money
do what you think is best, i have seen things done differnt ways to it all comes down to u, and what you feel comfortable with

i usaually try to qt my whole tank when one fish gets sick( thats y i like herbtana)
if that does not work then i move to more aggressive steps

high nitrates will not cause ick, ick is naturally found in all water, fish have a slime coat to protect themselves, ect.. ect... ect...

there is a very nice write up on it on rc (reef central) do a google search and you should find it if not i will post a link [(fyi) its very indepth]
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Amphiprion
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by Amphiprion »

Depends upon what you mean by "cure." In many (maybe most?) circumstances, I actually don't like quarantine that much and only occasionally implement it. It can indeed be stressful. But if your goal in effecting a "cure" is to outright eliminate ich reliably (and do it on a reproducible basis), there simply are no other options other than quarantine. That is one fact. If you would rather simply control it, then the other "method" is a choice (minus FW dips). Implementing either option at the right time can mean life or death for a given fish.
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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

IM LOOKING FOR THE LINK TO THAT ICK WRITE UP ILL POST IT WHEN I FIND IT
VERY INTERESTING...
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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

at long last after hours of trying to find this thing, here it is, enjoy

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1992196
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Amphiprion
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by Amphiprion »

The hotlink is incorrect, so it leads to an error page.
Andrew

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jt3069
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Re: Sick Tang

Post by jt3069 »

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