Hipo Tang in distress

[Digger76]

Hello everyone!
Yesterday I noticed my 6 years + yellow belly royal tang behaving strangely (swimming eratically in just a portion of the tank twitching and dashing at times and rapid breathing) . I've been feeding all my fishes some caulerpa from my refugium a few days before and he was eating the most of them. He is a voracious eater and I saw him swallowing an entire caulerpa leaf, whole. I feed all my tangs mixed pellets, flakes, frozen mixtures and of course the daily nori sheet. The hippo is still going after food but stops after a few servings. I suspect he could have some digestive issues due to all those caulerpa he ate and cannot pass it out now. I've attached a short video of this.
Any advice would be highly appreciated!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone!
Yesterday I noticed my 6 years + yellow belly royal tang behaving strangely (swimming eratically in just a portion of the tank twitching and dashing at times and rapid breathing) . I've been feeding all my fishes some caulerpa from my refugium a few days before and he was eating the most of them. He is a voracious eater and I saw him swallowing an entire caulerpa leaf, whole. I feed all my tangs mixed pellets, flakes, frozen mixtures and of course the daily nori sheet. The hippo is still going after food but stops after a few servings. I suspect he could have some digestive issues due to all those caulerpa he ate and cannot pass it out now. I've attached a short video of this.
Any advice would be highly appreciated!

The behavior seen may be flukes. You can give it a freshwater dip in tap water in a CLEAN container the same temperature as the display tank. for 5 minutes and see if any flukes dislodge (you can see what looks like fish scales on bottom of container). This method will offer temporary relief and is not a cure.

 

[Digger76]

The behavior seen may be flukes. You can give it a freshwater dip in tap water in a CLEAN container the same temperature as the display tank. for 5 minutes and see if any flukes dislodge (you can see what looks like fish scales on bottom of container). This method will offer temporary relief and is not a cure.

Flukes? how did i get those? I haven't put anything in the tank for years....

 

[vetteguy53081]

Flukes? how did i get those? I haven't put anything in the tank for years....

Flukes at times which are trematode worms live in a fish's skin and areoften triggered by poor nutrition (immunity health), tank overcrowding contributing to poor water quality.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Flukes? how did i get those? I haven't put anything in the tank for years....

Have you added any corals or invertebrates more recently? I've had flukes remain incognito for up to 6 months.

the tang is distressed, the rapid breathing and the shimmy does look like flukes. However, if it is related to the Caulerpa, there isn't anything to do but to wait. Caulerpa contains alkaloids - if people eat it, it makes them sick. Maybe if fish eat too much, it will stress them out also.

Jay

 

[Digger76]

Have you added any corals or invertebrates more recently? I've had flukes remain incognito for up to 6 months.

the tang is distressed, the rapid breathing and the shimmy does look like flukes. However, if it is related to the Caulerpa, there isn't anything to do but to wait. Caulerpa contains alkaloids - if people eat it, it makes them sick. Maybe if fish eat too much, it will stress them out also.

Jay

Last fish added was over 4 years ago. Corals 3.5 years ago. The last shrimp almost 3y. The only thing I did was feeding them caulerpa from the fuge 3 days ago... the other fishes seem fine but they eaten just a little of the macroalgae.

 

[KrisReef]

Have you added any corals or invertebrates more recently? I've had flukes remain incognito for up to 6 months.

the tang is distressed, the rapid breathing and the shimmy does look like flukes. However, if it is related to the Caulerpa, there isn't anything to do but to wait. Caulerpa contains alkaloids - if people eat it, it makes them sick. Maybe if fish eat too much, it will stress them out also.

Jay

I learned something new here regarding about Caulerpa. Should folks not feed it to their herbivores then?

How about Chaetomorpha? Thanks
K

 

[Digger76]

I learned something new here regarding about Caulerpa. Should folks not feed it to their herbivores then?

How about Chaetomorpha? Thanks
K

I don't think they would like Chaetomorpha...

 

[arnavfactoryfishtanks]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your Tang! It's quite strange how they're reacting, especially with the only recent change being the Caulerpa from the refugium added to their diet. The fact that the other fish are doing fine and have only nibbled a little on the macroalgae makes it seem like the issue could indeed be related to your Tang's large consumption of Caulerpa.

Caulerpa is usually safe for fish to eat, and many Tang species actually enjoy it. However, if a fish eats too much at once, especially if they're not used to it, it might cause some digestive discomfort. The fact that your Tang swallowed an entire leaf whole might have contributed to this issue.

Here are a few steps you could consider:

Caulerpa Break: Given the potential link between the Caulerpa and your Tang's symptoms, it might be good to hold off on feeding this macroalgae for a bit, at least until your Tang's condition improves.
Poop Patrol: If possible, try to keep an eye on whether your Tang is passing waste normally. Any changes in the appearance or frequency of its poop could hint at digestive issues.
Symptom Watch: Keep a keen eye on your Tang for any other signs of distress, such as color changes, visible spots or growths, or damage to the fins or body. These could point to a more serious condition.

Just keep in mind that while these suggestions are based on general fish care principles, they may not be exactly the right fit for your situation. If your Tang's condition doesn't improve or worsens, I'd strongly recommend getting in touch with a professional.

Best of luck with your Tang! Keep us posted on their progress.

Cheers!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I learned something new here regarding about Caulerpa. Should folks not feed it to their herbivores then?

How about Chaetomorpha? Thanks
K

Sorry, I don’t know how fish metabolize Caulerpa, many fish won’t eat it at all. I’m actually surprised it ate a lot of it.
It makes people sick, but with neurological symptoms - like hallucinations.
Jay

 

[Digger76]

Thank you all for your replies.
Indeed it had dificulties pooping, releasing only tiny amounts of well digested material. It usualy releases a lot more. Once the lights went off it calmed down and now is sleeping motionless in its favorite lair (only eyes and gills moving). During the day it ate alongside the others but a bit less than usual.
I'll keep on watching it the following days and hope for the best!

 

[Digger76]

Today it passed some long strings of undigested caulerpa, several times but still acting nervous...

 

[Digger76]

I ramped up the lights this afternoon and took another picture of the hipo tang. Are those white brownish translucend spots on its back skin flukes?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I ramped up the lights this afternoon and took another picture of the hipo tang. Are those white brownish translucend spots on its back skin flukes?

Flukes don't show as white spots. I was able to click back and forth between the two photos. The spread of white spots on the black palette section are just scales. However, there is one white spot at the end of the dorsal fin and a couple of other spots on the black stripe that were not in the first photo. They may be nothing, but they could also be ich. You'll want to keep an eye on those.

Jay

 

[joe waring]

Last fish added was over 4 years ago. Corals 3.5 years ago. The last shrimp almost 3y. The only thing I did was feeding them caulerpa from the fuge 3 days ago... the other fishes seem fine but they eaten just a little of the macroalgae.

Agree with prior post regarding flukes

 

[Digger76]

Flukes don't show as white spots. I was able to click back and forth between the two photos. The spread of white spots on the black palette section are just scales. However, there is one white spot at the end of the dorsal fin and a couple of other spots on the black stripe that were not in the first photo. They may be nothing, but they could also be ich. You'll want to keep an eye on those.

Jay

Yes. I was talking about the ones on his back and dorsal fin (they were there when I posted the first video) They are not spots but rather some brownish round patches.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes. I was talking about the ones on his back and dorsal fin (they were there when I posted the first video) They are not spots but rather some brownish round patches.

Tough to say. they could be "halos" that develop around ich trophonts, or they could be from fluke damage. the latter is less likely because the fluke that would be large enough to cause those spots would usually also cause cloudy eyes (Neobenedenia).

Jay

 

[Digger76]

It's been 11 days now and the hippo tang is still acting nervously most of the time, though actively chasing food in his usual manner. I have no clue whatsoever what is wrong with him since noting visible evolved since the last photo posted. The other fish seem ok, all feeding normally. I'm keeping a bucket full of fresh water at hand, to do a FW dip as suggested, but I feel a bit reluctant to do so, since I've never done this before. I've been keeping these fishes for a long time now (some over 14y) and the've been through a lot (ich/velvet outbreaks) and they always managed to pull it through on their own without treatment. Do you think it would be beneficial/safe to do him a FW bath at this point or just wait to see what happens?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It's been 11 days now and the hippo tang is still acting nervously most of the time, though actively chasing food in his usual manner. I have no clue whatsoever what is wrong with him since noting visible evolved since the last photo posted. The other fish seem ok, all feeding normally. I'm keeping a bucket full of fresh water at hand, to do a FW dip as suggested, but I feel a bit reluctant to do so, since I've never done this before. I've been keeping these fishes for a long time now (some over 14y) and the've been through a lot (ich/velvet outbreaks) and they always managed to pull it through on their own without treatment. Do you think it would be beneficial/safe to do him a FW bath at this point or just wait to see what happens?

FW dips are done more often than they probably should be. People go “all in” catching the fish for the dip and then can injure then.
I use FW dips as a diagnostic tool, looking at the settler dip water for signs of parasites. That requires a microscope because only one type of fluke is large enough to see without one.
Dips are never a cure, they only slow diseases down. One technique is to dip a fish and if it improves a few days later, you can pretty much confirm it is a parasite of some sort and treat accordingly.
Jay

 

[Digger76]

The fish is still flashing and he's obviously bothered by something most likely on his skin or gills and I feel I have to do something about it. I'm not really comfortable with the Fw dips but I found this product for flukes called Sera Tremazol (with praziquantel) that claims that a 20 minutes bath in tank water + product will remove certain parasites on his skin and gill... Do you think I should give it a try? Thx!