Brown patches on Yellow Tang

[Exus]

So I've been keeping watch on my Yellow Tang that has started to develop brown spots. Today, I also noticed that there is a little red on the underside of its fin. What is this and should I be worried? I haven't noticed any aggression towards it from the other tangs.

 

[threebuoys]

We need a little more history on the situation.
How long have you had this fish?
Any prior issues?
Issues with other fish in tank?
What other fish are in tank?

More here:

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#fishmedic

 

[Exus]

I've had the yellow tang for maybe 3 months now. It behavior is normal, eating fine. All other fish is fine. I have clowns, around 17 of them, and 3 other tangs, all behaving normal.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Anything recently added?

 

[Exus]

I haven't changed anything since the tang was added. It just developed brown spots maybe 2 weeks ago, started out very minor and slowly developed.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I haven't changed anything since the tang was added. It just developed brown spots maybe 2 weeks ago, started out very minor and slowly developed.

This is given the general term “tang petechia”. I don’t know what causes it, although general stress seems to be part of the issue. I’m not sure if bacteria is involved or if it is more of just a skin irritation. Common treatments include gram negative antibiotics in a treatment tank.
This is one of those syndromes that I wish I knew more about…. I do know it goes away on its own in some instances.
Jay

 

[Exus]

This is given the general term “tang petechia”. I don’t know what causes it, although general stress seems to be part of the issue. I’m not sure if bacteria is involved or if it is more of just a skin irritation. Common treatments include gram negative antibiotics in a treatment tank.
This is one of those syndromes that I wish I knew more about…. I do know it goes away on its own in some instances.
Jay

I found this post after looking up tang petechia, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/yellow-tang-with-red-spots-petechiae-fungal-infection.787248/

Based on the pictures, looks like exactly what I have. Gonna try kanaplex and focus in its food. Thanks, just knowing the name of the issue helped greatly in finding resources!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I found this post after looking up tang petechia, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/yellow-tang-with-red-spots-petechiae-fungal-infection.787248/

Based on the pictures, looks like exactly what I have. Gonna try kanaplex and focus in its food. Thanks, just knowing the name of the issue helped greatly in finding resources!

Interesting that they ID'd an underlying fungal issue as a co-infection with the bacteria. I wish they had mentioned what drug they used for the fungus. I use formalin dips to control external marine fungus, but that shouldn't be done on fish with broken skin.

I would be leery about trying oral medicated food on this fish - external infections react better to antibiotic baths. Oral meds are better for internal bacterial issues, they don't get out to the skin very readily. Also, dosing medicated food is really tricky. Here is a write up I did on that:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

This article offers information about developing medicated foods for aquarium fish

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Jay

 

[Exus]

So I think Kanaplex and Focus did "cure" the Tang Petachiae. Medicated the frozen food for 6 days now, and it's completely gone. I can't be certain Kanaplex is the reason, but should be something to try.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I think Kanaplex and Focus did "cure" the Tang Petachiae. Medicated the frozen food for 6 days now, and it's completely gone. I can't be certain Kanaplex is the reason, but should be something to try.

Glad it got better. This issue does go away on its own sometimes, but maybe the Kanaplex helped? Really though - adding medication to food in an unknown dose can only work by pure chance. I rarely use medicated food, and when I do, its usually a group of fish at once, and I calculate a dose for the whole group (by fish weight) and then use gel diet as a binder.

One thing - Focus actually contains an antibiotic itself (Nitrofurantoin). Not much is known about its benefit with fish diseases, but perhaps that helps....

Jay