Bloated Yellow tang

[nemotang2019]

Please see attached pic/vids. Constipation ? Or something more serious? I got him two weeks ago. Arrived heathy. Then about a week ago, I noticed his belly like this, but it’s getting bigger…what should I do? He looks pale too, and now has lost appetite when I moved him to a hospital tank a few days ago for observation.

 

[KrisReef]

@Jay Hemdal
@vetteguy53081

That doesn't look right, or good. Being that unbalanced I would guess a tumor?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Please see attached pic/vids. Constipation ? Or something more serious? I got him two weeks ago. Arrived heathy. Then about a week ago, I noticed his belly like this, but it’s getting bigger…what should I do? He looks pale too, and now has lost appetite when I moved him to a hospital tank a few days ago for observation.

This is the third biota ive seen with this and its unsure if constipation or even an internal issue. I would not use metro or similar with unknown issue, however seachem kanaplex is absorbed by fish and assuming its eating, you can feed it brine shrimp which often acts a laxative and may or may not help but this you may have to see where it goes as its really not a treatment issue

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This is the third biota ive seen with this and its unsure if constipation or even an internal issue. I would not use metro or similar with unknown issue, however seachem kanaplex is absorbed by fish and assuming its eating, you can feed it brine shrimp which often acts a laxative and may or may not help but this you may have to see where it goes as its really not a treatment issue

We’ve seen the same cases! I don’t know what to make of it other than it is from constipation.

Jay

 

[naterealbig]

@nemotang2019 - how's your baby doing? I'm seeing the exact same thing on my yellow tang today from @Biota_Marine .

@Biota_Marine - any thoughts here? My little guy/gal has stopped eating, but literally looks like it's going to explode.

 

[areefer01]

Please see attached pic/vids. Constipation ? Or something more serious? I got him two weeks ago. Arrived heathy. Then about a week ago, I noticed his belly like this, but it’s getting bigger…what should I do? He looks pale too, and now has lost appetite when I moved him to a hospital tank a few days ago for observation.

Did you buy direct from Biota or elsewhere?

 

[naterealbig]

Did you buy direct from Biota or elsewhere?

Mine was direct from Biota, maybe two months ago. Acting and swimming normal, color is good.

 

[areefer01]

Mine was direct from Biota, maybe two months ago. Acting and swimming normal, color is good.

Ok, thanks. If it was LFS or other than we have those possibilities to deal with. Direct at least removes those questions in most instances.

 

[nemotang2019]

Mine died shortly after the post. I have three other biota yellow tangs from the same order , and they are doing well.

 

[naterealbig]

Mine died shortly after the post. I have three other biota yellow tangs from the same order , and they are doing well.

Egh I'm sorry to hear this.

My fish is still alive, but completely bloated to the point I'm surprised skin and/or organs haven't ruptured....

His/her stomach has a blocky appearance. I see it eating small bits of food, but I'm pretty sure it's just adding to the buildup. I've lost hope - I'm not sure how my little guy could recover, but I would have 'called' its death days ago, so who knows.

For anyone reading, this problem started after I began feeding pellets (NLS). I'm not sure if that's what caused the problem, but one thing for sure - if I get another one I won't feed pellets again until it's at least a couple inches. The larger of my two is showing no problems at all.

**edit - and not a 'knock' on NLS - I've fed these faithfully for literally decades (~2) and will continue to use them, as i feel they are a superior dry formula. Feeding pellets however is the only change I made specific to the fish around the time i noticed this anomaly. Also to be fair, sometimes a week or so can lapse in between solid visual inspection of my fish (a poor practice, and a result of a misguided sense of security after an extensive, aggressive fish (and invertebrate) quarantine protocol). So, the distended gut may very well have presented days before I recognized it....

 

[naterealbig]

Mine died shortly after the post. I have three other biota yellow tangs from the same order , and they are doing well.

Did you try any remedies? (Medications, dips, food etc). Is there anything else you might have tried in hind sight? Anything you wouldn't do?

May be in an earlier post, but were you feeding any dry formula at the time?

In threads where yellow tangs from Biota had the same symptoms, I did note on more than one occasion the hobbyist was feeding some sort of dry food.