Does my tang have flukes?

[bjmartie]

Not sure if this is flukes or not....
He does like to hide in rocks alot, especiqlly at night, so not sure if thats what it coule be.

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

The main way to diagnose flukes is a freshwater dip for 5-7 minutes, Jay has made an in depth thread about it in the Fish Disease and Treatment Forum.

Freshwater Dips

“Freshwater dips” (FW Dips) are commonly used to dislodge certain parasites from the skin of marine fishes. This is more of a diagnostic tool, and less of a permanent cure. Dips can be used to lower the parasite load temporarily, while waiting for another treatment to begin. Looking at the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

If it is flukes, hypo salinity or Praziquantel are some of the only effective treatments that I have personally used. If using Prazipro I do a 2-3x overdose right off the bat as some fluke species are resistant to it, I have only lost a parrot fish to this dose level. Tangs are usually all fine, wrasse species are generally sensitive to prazi.

Prazipro is coral safe but may kill worms in the tank such as feather dusters, bristle and spaghetti worms, planaria etc. so watch for an ammonia spike during treatment

 

[JonoH]

Pretty normal for Blue Tangs to hide in the rock - i have 2 and they both do it, wedge themselves into really small places!

 

[george9]

Just my experience but when I had a blue tang, it came down with random abrasions like this when it was new and darting around in the rocks. They would disappear pretty quickly for the most part but mine did end up with a semi-permanent scar that looks similar to your picture.

If it's not breathing fast or scratching I would just monitor for now.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I agree - a few abrasions on a tang may not be a big issue. Watch for scratching and "flashing" as well as rocking back and forth, those are more sure signs of flukes.