Odd tang behavior

[Peter Rozenberg]

About Monday I noticed that my Blue Hippo tang seemed to be digging, or scratching, along a piece of live rock. Almost as if he as trying to get under the rock. I thought he was just being weird, so I left him alone. None of the other fish were acting differently. He has been in the tank since May and has never showed any signs of illness either. I tried moving the rock a bit and he didn't even flinch when i got near. I set up a 20 gallon QT and tried to get him in there. As soon as I tried to get him, he darted around the tank and it was a pain to get him. I finally got him, did a 5 minute freshwater dip, and put him in QT. I started Prazi, and on Wednesday I did a 50 minute Formalin dip. He has not showed any interest in food at all. However, he is no longer "scratching" and is just stuck to the bottom of the rock. I check on him a few times a day, and is always alive. If I move a rock in QT, he will move just enough to get under another rock. He is still alive ad moving, just not eating. The food I tried was Herbivore Frenzy, brine shrimp, and PE mysis. Sometimes with and sometimes without garlic added. I tried uploading a video, but I guess I have the wrong file format. I am attaching some images I was able to get. If I get more I will add as requested.

Some more info... I had bought 4 anthias and three died in QT. The fourth made it to the DT, but died about 2 weeks later. This issue with the tang started about 1-2 weeks after that anthias died in DT.

Other fish in the tank are:
2 Clownfish
Purple Tang
Firefish
Royal Gamma
Flame Angel
Diamond Goby

Tank is 125 gallon
Parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 20 nitrates. It was always about 5 or so, but when the anthias died it rose. I am working on lowering that with water changes and such.

Please let me know if you need anything else, this is my first time posting to this forum. Thanks in advance!

 

[Big G]

Welcome to R2R! Did the freshwater dip show flukes? When tangs feel threatened they will sometimes "wedge" themselves into rocks. Let's get the tang expert in to help @4FordFamily
Is the tang being treated with any meds right now?

 

[Peter Rozenberg]

Welcome to R2R! Did the freshwater dip show flukes? When tangs feel threatened they will sometimes "wedge" themselves into rocks. Let's get the tang expert in to help @4FordFamily
Is the tang being treated with any meds right now?

It is still in the Prazi water in QT. My best friend is a fish guy too and he also thought it was stress or bullying. I am not sure why all of a sudden it felt threatened. I mentioned to him I wonder if it is scaed in QT and would do better to go back to DT, but we are not sure if it is a parasite or just stress. Either way, he is not eating.

 

[UncleSalty]

@Humblefish

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Sounds like a parasite, probably brought in with the anthias. Not just stress or bullying. Was the anthias treated for velvet, or just observed in qt?

Did your fw fip reveal any flukes? It's possible it could be flukes, some of which are resistant to praziquantel. The fw dip should have made them visible if you looked carefully.

If no flukes, I would treat for velvet/ ich.

Good luck, parasites suck

 

[Big G]

Things to consider: on your QT cover at least three of the tank walls with some dark paper to give the fish a bit of "cave-like" setting so it can relax a bit. I actually paint my QT walls with black or dark blue paint. Leave off the tank lights and any really bright lights in the room. Ambient room light from windows are ok.

 

[4FordFamily]

Sounds like a parasite, probably brought in with the anthias. Not just stress or bullying. Was the anthias treated for velvet, or just observed in qt?

Did your fw fip reveal any flukes? It's possible it could be flukes, some of which are resistant to praziquantel. The fw dip should have made them visible if you looked carefully.

If no flukes, I would treat for velvet/ ich.

Good luck, parasites suck

This is my thoughts. Indeed, a hippo tang will wedge in to rocks for nearly any stressor. They even sleep wedged in rocks and hide unlike most other tangs. This behavior is normal. The rest of your synopsis has me worried about ich/velvet -- it's almost a certainty that an unquarantined fish will come with one or the other, if not both. I would treat accordingly.

 

[UncleSalty]

This is my thoughts. Indeed, a hippo tang will wedge in to rocks for nearly any stressor. They even sleep wedged in rocks and hide unlike most other tangs. This behavior is normal. The rest of your synopsis has me worried about ich/velvet -- it's almost a certainty that an unquarantined fish will come with one or the other, if not both. I would treat accordingly.

Knowing the OP how I do, I highly doubt if he knows if there were flukes present in the FW dip. Would you perform another FW dip to evaluate, or would you continue to run prazi in there for hte time being, and then begin a treatment of copper?

 

[4FordFamily]

Would you continue treatment with Prazi for flukes, or would you ditch that, do a water change and dose copper for Ich?

I'd forget prazi. If you want to be thorough, follow the instructions on the bottle for a prazi "bath". It will be less effective, but in reality the flukes come off the fish within the first few minutes, typically. a 30 minute bath or so in prazi should clear it up if it's within 5-7 days of the first dose, then proceed with copper.

Honestly I highly doubt flukes are to blame here anyway.

 

[UncleSalty]

I'd forget prazi. If you want to be thorough, follow the instructions on the bottle for a prazi "bath". It will be less effective, but in reality the flukes come off the fish within the first few minutes, typically. a 30 minute bath or so in prazi should clear it up if it's within 5-7 days of the first dose, then proceed with copper.

@Peter Rozenberg

I'd go get some fresh saltwater, do a WC in your DT, then put that DT water in the QT and begin doing copper. In between that, you may do a Prazi bath as well.

 

[Peter Rozenberg]

Thanks for all the advice!!

So per the majority, I switched from prazi to copper. I took all 20 gallons and the rock out, cleaned the tank, and refilled with new salt water. Dropped some pvc in, and put tang back in. He is now having trouble swimming down, and seems to be either floating on his side or upside-down. He is trying to swim down to the bottom, but seems to be struggling. Also, I am not seeing any spots on him. I tried to get some pictures. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[Maritimer]

This is likely due to a swim-bladder issue. I haven't seen that present in a tang before - @4FordFamily, @Big G, @HotRocks, any thoughts?

~Bruce

 

[HotRocks]

This is likely due to a swim-bladder issue. I haven't seen that present in a tang before - @4FordFamily, @Big G, @HotRocks, any thoughts?

~Bruce

I agree, it has to be a swim bladder issue. Venting the swim bladder may be the only way to correct this.

@Peter Rozenberg the hippo is staying inverted all the time? Never swims upright?

Hippos love to wedge themselves in tight places etc. But if he never moves about the tank in a normal fashion it's likely due to a swim bladder full of air.

 

[4FordFamily]

If the fish is overly "buoyant" it's probably a swim bladder issue.

 

[Stanzo13]

Things to consider: on your QT cover at least three of the tank walls with some dark paper to give the fish a bit of "cave-like" setting so it can relax a bit. I actually paint my QT walls with black or dark blue paint. Leave off the tank lights and any really bright lights in the room. Ambient room light from windows are ok.

THANKS! idea stolen [emoji14]

 

[Stanzo13]

So... Could you get a needle in the right spot to remove air or is their a peaceful way? Maybe even a ultrasound to spot the exact location/problem?

 

[aquariumworks]

This is likely due to a swim-bladder issue. I haven't seen that present in a tang before - @4FordFamily, @Big G, @HotRocks, any thoughts?

~Bruce

I never seen that in a tang before either?
I’ve generally seen this condition in fish collected from deep water and most tangs are shallow water grazers?