Regal Tang Wasting - Urgent Advice Needed

[John Helm]

About 2 weeks ago I purchased a small tank reared (not captive bred) Regal Tang from the local fish store for my sps reef tank that's been running for 9 years. I have him in a 40 gallon breeder QT with normal temp, pH and water parameters. There are 2 Seachem ammonia monitors, and the tank is filtered by an Aquaclear 70 filter. I also do regular water changes. The fish was doing very well until about two and a half days ago. I've been feeding him LRS Fish Frenzy chopped up fine throughout the day and Nori on a clip. He would come to me at the surface to eat the Fish Frenzy several times a day. Over the last 2 day's he's become extremely emaciated despite eating well. So far I haven't treated the tank with any medications since I'm waiting for my shipment of Chloroquine Phosphate to arrive in 3 days. I know I should have treated prior to adding the fish, but from the attached photo, what if anything can be done in the meantime to save this fish? Has anyone had one with a similar problem come back from this? I'm not very hopeful, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your help.

 

[lagatbezan]

Lets call all the experts #reefsquad @Humblefish to chimes in. But I know that you are not supposed to use CP with hippo tangs since they do not handle it well.
You might be dealing with internal parasites in which case you will need to treat its food with metro and focus.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm going to include @4FordFamily to take a look at this one.

 

[Humblefish]

It looks like a bacterial infection: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

I recommend an acriflavine bath: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acriflavine.282887/

And then use this trio of antibiotics in the QT: Kanaplex + Furan-2 + Metroplex

 

[Humblefish]

It is very possible that this infection is secondary to a preexisting parasitic or worm infestation. Velvet would be very high on my suspect list.

So, you will probably also need to use copper on this fish. CP should be avoided with Hippo Tangs IMO.

 

[John Helm]

Thank you for the quick responses. I'll begin a dose of copper now then and avoid the CP. I'll run out to my lfs for the acriflavine and antibiotics tonight also. Should Prazipro be used as well?

 

[Humblefish]

Should Prazipro be used as well?

Before he enters the DT, yes.

But that’s down the road from right now, so you’ll (hopefully) have time to use Prazipro later.

 

[John Helm]

Ok thanks. I'm in the lfs now. They have the antibiotics but not the acriflavine. They have a product by Kordon called Rid Fungus. Would this be comparable? They also have Rally.

 

[Humblefish]

Ok thanks. I'm in the lfs now. They have the antibiotics but not the acriflavine. They have a product by Kordon called Rid Fungus. Would this be comparable? They also have Rally.

Buy the Rally (it contains acriflavine).

 

[melypr1985]

I agree. That looks pretty severe too. Best of luck with the treatments. Let us know how it goes.

 

[John Helm]

Thank you. I purchased the Rally and he's in a bath of it now. Meanwhile I've treated the tank with Cupramine and Furan-2. The other two antibiotics I'll have to get tomorrow elsewhere.

 

[John Helm]

Well despite my best efforts with the treatment, the fish didn't last the night. Should I break down this QT and bleach it before adding any more fish in the near future?

 

[Humblefish]

Well despite my best efforts with the treatment, the fish didn't last the night. Should I break down this QT and bleach it before adding any more fish in the near future?

I would, yes.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[HotRocks]

Bummer, Sorry for your loss.