Sailfin tang rescue

[Kiwi reefer]

Hi all, today I rescued a Sailfin tang from a 10 liter tank, cannot believe the conditions people put fish in.

he was very confined, and is now in a much larger QT tank swimming around well

there are some marks on him and damage to his fins, the fin damage I’m not to worried about that should recover in time
BUT the marks on the sides of the face and a little towards the rear fin concern me.
Can anyone identify these marks? Should I be concerned

 

[fishguy242]

beautiful fish, good diet,and a good home from what i can see...
@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081 ,thoughts?

 

[Karen00]

I can't speak to the marks but just wanted to say you're a kind soul for rescuing this poor guy! At first I thought you wrote 10 gallons which I thought was horrific enough but then I re-read it and saw 10 liters (2.6g) and my jaw dropped. That person should be charged with animal abuse! Good luck with him. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for both of you!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

This fish appears to suffer from aggression and diet/vitamin deficiency
Assure good water quality and Feed at minimum:
Spirulina brine shrimp
LRS herbivore diet
Small plankton
Hikari veggie diet
Hikari marine cuisine
Mysis shrimp
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract

add selcon vitamins and garlic extract to the foods for immunity health and stamina

 

[Zach B]

Looks like the pros got here first Best of luck with your new fish

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi all, today I rescued a Sailfin tang from a 10 liter tank, cannot believe the conditions people put fish in.

he was very confined, and is now in a much larger QT tank swimming around well

there are some marks on him and damage to his fins, the fin damage I’m not to worried about that should recover in time
BUT the marks on the sides of the face and a little towards the rear fin concern me.
Can anyone identify these marks? Should I be concerned

Glad you got that tang out of there. This fish has head and lateral line erosion. The fin damage and lesions on the head all point to that. Moving it to better conditions will help alleviate some/all of these symptoms. Feed it a good died, keep the water clean and avoid using activated carbon. In some cases, scars will be permanent, but given the poor conditions this fish had been in, I think you'll see improvement. It may take months though.

If you want to take a deeper dive into this issue, here is an article I wrote about it:

Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE)

This article discusses studies performed regarding head and lateral line erosion in captive fishes. Specifically, carbon use and nutrition as they relate to this syndrome.

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Kiwi reefer]

Thanks everyone who has given me advice

The Tang has been with me now for a few days and is doing really well in the QT tank, Eating well and swimmming around

Big thanks to @Jay Hemdal and @vetteguy53081 for the advice and @Zach B @Karen00 @fishguy242 for the support

I'll drop an update after a month or before relaseing into the main display to show his progress

 

[A Young Reefer]

any updates on him?