I have this poor beatup fish

mah0031 · Apr 17, 2016

First post to reef to reef. Here goes!
Last week on a trip to the LFS in a tank all by it's self was a Blue Tang with a sign free tang ask up front.
Someone brought it in did not take care of it, this borders animal abuse!The owner was going to flush it if the LFS had not taken it Just happen to have a 37 gal with just coral eating varmints in so I took it in front nose is just beat and scabbed up, missing an eye dorsal fin missing a large section tail all tore up. Spends most the time between a couple of rocks or laying on side good eye up. Goes nuts at feeding time eats like no tomorrow. Is there any hope for this poor guy? Sorry for the poor pictures he is either hiding or going 100 mph

millertyler22 · Apr 17, 2016

He's in rough shape good luck at least he is eating

Pacific_rimmer · Apr 17, 2016

I had a purple tang that lost his eye and got beat up a bit from a move, still alive, healed up, eats like a champ, and is the only survivor of the breakdown.

Pacific_rimmer · Apr 17, 2016

Well my uncle has him, got too big, all im saying is that there is always hope. and if he heals, you'll tell yourself that hes the best. good luck

Triggreef · Apr 17, 2016

mah0031 said:
First post to reef to reef. Here goes!
Last week on a trip to the LFS in a tank all by it's self was a Blue Tang with a sign free tang ask up front.
Someone brought it in did not take care of it, this borders animal abuse!The owner was going to flush it if the LFS had not taken it Just happen to have a 37 gal with just coral eating varmints in so I took it in front nose is just beat and scabbed up, missing an eye dorsal fin missing a large section tail all tore up. Spends most the time between a couple of rocks or laying on side good eye up. Goes nuts at feeding time eats like no tomorrow. Is there any hope for this poor guy? Sorry for the poor pictures he is either hiding or going 100 mph

There's always hope. I just got really hungry for waffles for some reason.

Sabellafella · Apr 17, 2016

A couple of fellow reefers [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] can give you a list of some things you could do in the meantime(medication/nutrition).. Well surely but gladly it was the right thing to do. Make sure the fish gets the best nutrition you can give em (also lots if nori) and give it some time. I have a friend completely toast all his fish with a heater explosion and they all survived but were severely beatup. They dont even look like anything happned other then the yellow tangs were missing some spines. Youd be suprized on how fast your fish can come back to normal, not his eye, also there will be some scars. But hope the poor little fella gets better, if you can get the chance- update this thread if anything happens.

thebluecatapilla · Apr 17, 2016

following along

Duke4Life · Apr 17, 2016

@Humblefish @melypr1985

rcmike · Apr 17, 2016

I'd say since he is eating well he has a good fighting chance. If he wasn't eating I'd be worried.

Oscaror · Apr 17, 2016

i saw a yellow tang at one of my LFS's today getting picked on by a jewel damsel and another yellow tang. It had most of its fins torn apart and its sides had slashes because the other tang was cutting it up. I wish there was a way to help the poor little guy but the LFS employees didn't do anything.

Do your best to help that tang, it deserves a chance.

melypr1985 · Apr 17, 2016

Hi! Good on you for taking this poor guy in! First off, I'd like to see some better pictures if you can get them of both sides. From what I can see he looks to have a case of HLLE along with some fin rot and other things. The redness around the gills in the second picture worries me some. Since he's eating so well, I'd suggest a good antibiotic for him in the food like Kanaplex or Furan 2 combined with Seachem's Focus for 10 days straight. Keep him eating the best quality foods. Soak his nori in Vitamin supplements like Selcon, Vitachem ect. for the foreseeable future. Also, be sure to keep the water quality in his tank pristine and if you run carbon, be sure it's the best quality you can get (just in case).

Triggreef · Apr 17, 2016

If he is eating well, I would try some of the reef caviar medicated fish eggs, with kanamycin. I think it might be a dr Tim's product but not really sure. This way you can medicated him with a good anti biotic to help him heal up, without actually treating the entire tank.

Edit she beat me to it.Lol

Naiad · Apr 17, 2016

My old regal completely lost its tail in an accident. With proper foods lots of tlc it bounced back. I would be prepared in case any wounds get infected.

sc50964 · Apr 17, 2016

He will need some serious medicine to get back in shape but there is one thing for sure that can help him to "feel better" by retaining water better in the harsh salt water environment, and that is to reduce water salinity to around 1.016 to 1.018.

melypr1985 · Apr 17, 2016

Triggreef said:
If he is eating well, I would try some of the reef caviar medicated fish eggs, with kanamycin..

This would work too if you have any on-hand. Though I haven't used it before, in theory it should work.

scardall · Apr 17, 2016

add extra vitamins and trace elements please.

mcarroll · Apr 18, 2016

mah0031 said:
Goes nuts at feeding time eats like no tomorrow.

This is the only important info.

I wouldn't do anything but spoil the hell out of him with good food and a clean tank. Be prepared to do some extra water changes for him!
If you can get some fresh, whole clams - or anything live - to supplement whatever foods you're already feeding that would be great. (Freeze and scrape some clam into the water since he's probably not gonna chew up chunks of clam.) @Paul B might have more advice on this front.
Make sure you have some greens on offer all the time - even if it's just dried noori. If he's not eating it, replace the greens with fresh every day (at least) until he does.
No meds unless you have something specific to target.
Meds are likely to mess with his appetite (etc)...and he's a gonner for sure without his appetite.
On the flip side, a well-fed fish will be able to engage a functional immune response and won't need meds.

I love an underdog story!!

Paul B · Apr 18, 2016

Horrible picture but that fish may make it. Most of his problems are cosmetic. They will get along just fine with one eye, the gills will probably heal if you can get something in him that is fresh, like Mcarrol said, clams or worms. They heal very quickly. I also would not medicate him especially if you can get him to eat those foods I said. The live bacteria in the foods will help his immune system (if it is still functioning. Most medications will tend to weaken him as they kill the bacteria. I would not use any. The HLLE he will probably have his entire life.
Poor fish. I would name him Lucky.