how long before you panic?

jomatty · Jan 29, 2013

I am having problems with the two tangs in my 150 gallon display tank. I have an orange shoulder that has developed a black spot on the lower right side of his body (noticed maybe a week ago) and a blonde naso that has a bubble like issue on his mouth. The orange shoulder is acting fine and eating like a pig. The naso is not eating much and is hiding a lot. I had originally thought that he may have gotten stung by the new bubble tip anemone, but now that the naso is looking rough I am worried. Water parameters are all normal. All other fish seem healthy and are eating (2 blue throat triggers, pair of perculas, mandarin dragonet). I put a cleaner wrasse in yesterday to try to do whatever good it could do and within seconds the orange shoulder was laying on its side in the water column and the wrasse was going to work on him. This makes me think that something other than anemone stings is going on and something parasitic (not sure if this is reasonable conclusion or not, ive never had a cleaner wrasse before so do not know much about their interactions).

I have a 20 gallon hospital tank that I've set up. To get these fish out will be a huge undertaking though. The tank has at least 175 pounds of live rock that I took great care to build caves and caverns for them to hide in. I would essentially have to take all of that rock out to get these fish out, especially the naso that has not been swimming around very much and has been hiding.

How long do I wait? I will do whatever work will give me the best chance of saving these fish but do not want to disrupt and stress the other fish more than need be if waiting is better. Any information is very much appreciated.

Matthew

revsgirl · Jan 29, 2013

:bump2:

jomatty · Jan 30, 2013

Any info would be very appreciated

ShannPeach · Jan 30, 2013

Can you try to get some pictures? Without them the most we could do is guess. The black spot...I have had fish get those from brushing up against coral and it just creates a more darkly pigmented spot. Has the spot remained the same (darker or lighter, same size, same location...)? Has he been scratching himself on rocks or the sand bed, or has his behavior changed in any other way? Have you looked into "black ich" disease?

The other tang with the mouth issue...it may be a totally different affliction so once again, pics would help. Have you looked up pics of fungal infections or mouth rot?

You may need to treat both fish, but they may actually need different treatments.