Blue tang illness?

Badnade · Jun 23, 2021

So my blue tang has been acting strange for the last couple of days.

It started out swimming erratically, and it's black bars turned a really light color almost gray at times. Now it likes to hang out near where it sleeps at night under a cave. It will scratch every now and then. Has no external signs of sickness. However the other day it was swimming almost like it's caudal fin was broken.

Still eats like a pig. When I open the canopy to feed it comes right out and will almost fight the other fish for food.

Any ideas? I was possibly thinking gill flukes.

Also, nothing has been added to the tank for about 4 months.

Jay Hemdal · Jun 23, 2021

Badnade said:
So my blue tang has been acting strange for the last couple of days.

It started out swimming erratically, and it's black bars turned a really light color almost gray at times. Now it likes to hang out near where it sleeps at night under a cave. It will scratch every now and then. Has no external signs of sickness. However the other day it was swimming almost like it's caudal fin was broken.

Still eats like a pig. When I open the canopy to feed it comes right out and will almost fight the other fish for food.

Any ideas? I was possibly thinking gill flukes.

Also, nothing has been added to the tank for about 4 months.

Hi, we'll need more background information., A short video under white light would also really help. Here is a link to tips regarding the sort of background info we need:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Badnade · Jun 23, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
Hi, we'll need more background information., A short video under white light would also really help. Here is a link to tips regarding the sort of background info we need:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

I can take some tomorrow.

Jay Hemdal said:
Hi, we'll need more background information., A short video under white light would also really help. Here is a link to tips regarding the sort of background info we need:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

I can take a video tomorrow. It only showed those external symptoms for a few hours yesterday. It no longer shows them. The only thing it does now is flashing.

Tank has been setup for about 4 months with the biological filtration and live rock at about 12 months as I pulled it from an older tank I have.

It is a reef tank, 90 gallon display, 30 gallon sump.
Ph: 8.1
Salinity: 35ppt
Ammonia: not detectable
Nitrite: not detectable
Nitrate: ~10ppm
Phosphate: .01

Jay Hemdal · Jun 23, 2021

Badnade said:
I can take some tomorrow.

I can take a video tomorrow. It only showed those external symptoms for a few hours yesterday. It no longer shows them. The only thing it does now is flashing.

Tank has been setup for about 4 months with the biological filtration and live rock at about 12 months as I pulled it from an older tank I have.

It is a reef tank, 90 gallon display, 30 gallon sump.
Ph: 8.1
Salinity: 35ppt
Ammonia: not detectable
Nitrite: not detectable
Nitrate: ~10ppm
Phosphate: .01

Pending the video, I’d agree that gill flukes are a possibility. If so, Prazipro can be treated in your DT (with good aeration).
Jay

Badnade · Jun 24, 2021

I attempted to take a video under full white light but my tangs quickly got scared and went into hiding because of the spectrum change. Videos were taken under normal day spectrum.

Badnade · Jun 24, 2021

So shortly after I created this thread yesterday, I made a mixture of pellet food, seachem focus and API general cure. I fed once yesterday and once today.

The tang blue tang has acted normal today and I have not seen it flashing. I'll continue the medication for a couple weeks just to be safe. Though, I doubt the medication worked that quickly.

Jay Hemdal · Jun 24, 2021

Badnade said:
So shortly after I created this thread yesterday, I made a mixture of pellet food, seachem focus and API general cure. I fed once yesterday and once today.

The tang blue tang has acted normal today and I have not seen it flashing. I'll continue the medication for a couple weeks just to be safe. Though, I doubt the medication worked that quickly.

So - the videos were from when the fish was acting normally? I don't see any real issues with it at all.

I guess the oral meds could have worked that fast, but it is surprising if they did - first, the fish needs to eat enough prazi to get into its bloodstream and cause the flukes to drop off. However, there is THEN some lag time that the fish needs to heal the wounds/holes in its gills left by the flukes, that usually takes another 48 hours. In some severe cases, the flukes drop off and then the fish bleeds out, so it isn't unusual for fish to appear sicker after a treatment.

Jay

Badnade · Jun 24, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
So - the videos were from when the fish was acting normally? I don't see any real issues with it at all.

I guess the oral meds could have worked that fast, but it is surprising if they did - first, the fish needs to eat enough prazi to get into its bloodstream and cause the flukes to drop off. However, there is THEN some lag time that the fish needs to heal the wounds/holes in its gills left by the flukes, that usually takes another 48 hours. In some severe cases, the flukes drop off and then the fish bleeds out, so it isn't unusual for fish to appear sicker after a treatment.

Jay

Yes, the video was taken this morning when the fish was acting normal.

Should I stop with the medicated food or keep feeding as a precaution?

Jay Hemdal · Jun 24, 2021

Badnade said:
Yes, the video was taken this morning when the fish was acting normal.

Should I stop with the medicated food or keep feeding as a precaution?

The typical medicated food regimen is every other day for 3 treatments. But, as you are aware, you really don't know what dose your medicated food has in it, so proceed with caution. If it *did* work this fast, it may be at a pretty high dose...

Jay

Badnade · Jun 24, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
The typical medicated food regimen is every other day for 3 treatments. But, as you are aware, you really don't know what dose your medicated food has in it, so proceed with caution. If it *did* work this fast, it may be at a pretty high dose...

Jay

Praziquantel

Edit: this is older information, a new post is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/ Praziquantel (de-wormer) What It Treats – Flukes (Monogeneans), Black Ich (Turbellarians), and intestinal worms. How To Treat – There are a few aquarium products which...

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That is the recipe I used to make the food. I used focus and api general cure.