Orange Shoulder Tang Spots

[Chris’s fish]

Hey guys,

Ive had this orange shoulder tang for a month or so now and about 2 weeks ago my other tang bullied him and he hid a lot. He wasn't eating and had damage to his tail. He's slowly been coming out again and being more active, but I noticed that he now has these weird marking on him and his color seems off. Any idea what these are?

For background, it is a 125 gallon tang with the orange shoulder tang, some type of Kole tang I think? (picture below to show you), and a few small fish (1 clown, 1 bang eye cardinal). The other tang has been in there over a year. The fish store I got the orange shoulder from said they were compatible. They seem fine and no serious fighting from what I can tell now.

Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys,

Ive had this orange shoulder tang for a month or so now and about 2 weeks ago my other tang bullied him and he hid a lot. He wasn't eating and had damage to his tail. He's slowly been coming out again and being more active, but I noticed that he now has these weird marking on him and his color seems off. Any idea what these are?

For background, it is a 125 gallon tang with the orange shoulder tang, some type of Kole tang I think? (picture below to show you), and a few small fish (1 clown, 1 bang eye cardinal). The other tang has been in there over a year. The fish store I got the orange shoulder from said they were compatible. They seem fine and no serious fighting from what I can tell now.

Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

This can be puncture wounds but look like bite marks from another occupant. What other fish are in the tank with it?
Any urchins or anemones in the tank?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey guys,

Ive had this orange shoulder tang for a month or so now and about 2 weeks ago my other tang bullied him and he hid a lot. He wasn't eating and had damage to his tail. He's slowly been coming out again and being more active, but I noticed that he now has these weird marking on him and his color seems off. Any idea what these are?

For background, it is a 125 gallon tang with the orange shoulder tang, some type of Kole tang I think? (picture below to show you), and a few small fish (1 clown, 1 bang eye cardinal). The other tang has been in there over a year. The fish store I got the orange shoulder from said they were compatible. They seem fine and no serious fighting from what I can tell now.

Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

I don't know what the marks around the face are, but in the second picture, the round mark is how secondary bacterial skin infections often show up in tangs. If it isn't growing larger, it may go away on its own. If new circles are cropping up and are getting larger, you may need to medicate the fish in a treatment tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex.

Jay

 

[Chris’s fish]

This can be puncture wounds but look like bite marks from another occupant. What other fish are in the tank with it?
Any urchins or anemones in the tank?

I have the following fish:

1 small tomato clown
1 banggai cardinal
1 lawnmower blenny
1 kole tang

I also have 1 pin cushion urchin and a few small rose bubble tip anemones.

 

[Chris’s fish]

I don't know what the marks around the face are, but in the second picture, the round mark is how secondary bacterial skin infections often show up in tangs. If it isn't growing larger, it may go away on its own. If new circles are cropping up and are getting larger, you may need to medicate the fish in a treatment tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex.

Jay

Ok thanks for the reply. This was a picture of him a few weeks ago. SO I would say that that spot is bigger?

 

[Chris’s fish]

I am not really setup up right now to have a quarantine tank big enough for the tang. Is there anything that I can do in the tank to help it heal if its an infection?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have the following fish:

1 small tomato clown
1 banggai cardinal
1 lawnmower blenny
1 kole tang

I also have 1 pin cushion urchin and a few small rose bubble tip anemones.

clown and kole possible suspects.
Close contact with urchin or anemones (which I guessed) are also High possibilities. Fish should heal on its own with proper diet and water quality. Keep an eye on the spots for healing and Not infection.

 

[Chris’s fish]

clown and kole possible suspects.
Close contact with urchin or anemones (which I guessed) are also High possibilities. Fish should heal on its own with proper diet and water quality. Keep an eye on the spots for healing and Not infection.

Ok I will. Luckily the clown is very very shy and just stays in the anemone. The tang is what Im guessing. Are these two compatible long term, or is this a problem where I should find the orange shoulder a new home?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok I will. Luckily the clown is very very shy and just stays in the anemone. The tang is what Im guessing. Are these two compatible long term, or is this a problem where I should find the orange shoulder a new home?

They should be compatible, but Kole can be a real jerk and use its tail like a weapon

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok thanks for the reply. This was a picture of him a few weeks ago. SO I would say that that spot is bigger?

Yes, but not by much, if it were my fish, I would just watch it for now.

jay

 

[Chris’s fish]

Ok thank you all for the help. I will keep you updated if something else comes up or it gets worse. Thanks!

 

[Chris’s fish]

Hey all so the spots have only grown larger. Not really sure what else I can do. Any thoughts?

 

[Chris’s fish]

I currently have the following medications on hand. Are any of these reef safe?

Melafix
Metroplex
Ruby Reef Rally
Furan 2
Polylab Medic
Coppersafe

I am setting up a 20 gallon quarantine tank and will have it going by tomorrow. What combination of these medicines would be best? Appreciate the help!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I currently have the following medications on hand. Are any of these reef safe?

Melafix
Metroplex
Ruby Reef Rally
Furan 2
Polylab Medic
Coppersafe

I am setting up a 20 gallon quarantine tank and will have it going by tomorrow. What combination of these medicines would be best? Appreciate the help!

Without doing microscopic skin scrape there is no way to be certain, but this is likely bacterial. The only true antibiotic in that group of meds that you have is the furan.

Setting up a treatment tank on the fly can be a challenge - do you have active bio media you can move over from the main tank to control ammonia?

 

[Chris’s fish]

Without doing microscopic skin scrape there is no way to be certain, but this is likely bacterial. The only true antibiotic in that group of meds that you have is the furan.

Setting up a treatment tank on the fly can be a challenge - do you have active bio media you can move over from the main tank to control ammonia?

I have quite a bit of rubble rock in my sump that I planned to move over. I also planned on doing water changes a lot.

What other medication would you recommend I treat with? Will copper safe help if I added it too?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have quite a bit of rubble rock in my sump that I planned to move over. I also planned on doing water changes a lot.

What other medication would you recommend I treat with? Will copper safe help if I added it too?

Coppersafe only works against protozoans. This doesn’t look like any protozoan disease that I know of, but maybe?