Bristletooth tang fin concerns

[dtaylor]

Hello,

Purchased this little one about 10 days ago. He looked good at store swimming well and no obvious issues with fins(I will totally admit I’m a newbie and wouldn’t see minor concerns). Since then I noticed he too fin starting to appear shredded and now his bottoms fin looks horrible. He’s been flashing on the rocks occasionally. I thought it was aggression but I’m not sure how to fix it because I haven’t seen anyone going after him. I have a 60 gallon display w/ 20 gallon sump. 2 clowns, 3 fire fish, 1 dotty back, 1 starry blenny, and a fire shrimp. I’ve been checking my ammonia/nitrates/nitrites and everything has been good. No other fish have symptoms that I can see. Is this aggression? Fin rot? Something else?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello,

Purchased this little one about 10 days ago. He looked good at store swimming well and no obvious issues with fins(I will totally admit I’m a newbie and wouldn’t see minor concerns). Since then I noticed he too fin starting to appear shredded and now his bottoms fin looks horrible. He’s been flashing on the rocks occasionally. I thought it was aggression but I’m not sure how to fix it because I haven’t seen anyone going after him. I have a 60 gallon display w/ 20 gallon sump. 2 clowns, 3 fire fish, 1 dotty back, 1 starry blenny, and a fire shrimp. I’ve been checking my ammonia/nitrates/nitrites and everything has been good. No other fish have symptoms that I can see. Is this aggression? Fin rot? Something else?

This is a tear from aggression. What other tank mates do you have in tank ?

 

[dtaylor]

This is a tear from aggression. What other tank mates do you have in tank ?

2 clowns, 3 fire fish, starry blenny, and a dotty back. I thought it might be the blenny because I’ve read that seems to be a thing but I’ve seen the tang rubbing on him and have never seen him bite. Just not sure who to remove!

 

[trevorhiller]

If it makes you feel better, this was mine for the first few weeks I had him. My Flame Hawkfish was going after him (I believe in self-defense, but still not exactly sure to this day). I taped a mirror to the side of the tank for a week.


It got so bad that all the yellow was eventually gone and I was freaking out. It's grown back perfectly now. Every once in a while I see a little nick on him and it heals up fine in a week or so.

 

[vetteguy53081]

2 clowns, 3 fire fish, starry blenny, and a dotty back. I thought it might be the blenny because I’ve read that seems to be a thing but I’ve seen the tang rubbing on him and have never seen him bite. Just not sure who to remove!

The blenny or dottyback my suspect. Set your phone on video mode for about 30 mins, feed the tank and walk away - MUST walk away and come back and review. You should see your culprit. Fish often show aggression during feeding to hog the food