Tang Acting Strange?

[Steve2020]

I noticed the past few days my Tang doing a stationary lunge. I really never notice this before but really never payed attention to his movements throughout the day so this may not be new. He swims fine. Eats very well ( PIG ) and is a bully once in a while. Is he just trying to stir up the tank looking for some food or is it something I should worry about? I have had him for almost two years. Got him as a rescue from my LFS due to a tank tear down they did for a client.

 

[KrisReef]

Almost looks like it had a stroke and has some kind of paralysis? I don't know any reason/cure for this behavior.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I noticed the past few days my Tang doing a stationary lunge. I really never notice this before but really never payed attention to his movements throughout the day so this may not be new. He swims fine. Eats very well ( PIG ) and is a bully once in a while. Is he just trying to stir up the tank looking for some food or is it something I should worry about? I have had him for almost two years. Got him as a rescue from my LFS due to a tank tear down they did for a client.

This is not a stroke nor neurological, but fish is showing motion issue and not buoyancy either. Chocolate tangs generally tolerate water current which is somewhat strong but understand due to coral you have. While these fish can be skittish, it may have crashed into glass from being startled. Can also be a Myxozoan parasite.
@Jay Hemdal

 

[Steve2020]

This is not a stroke nor neurological, but fish is showing motion issue and not buoyancy either. Chocolate tangs generally tolerate water current which is somewhat strong but understand due to coral you have. While these fish can be skittish, it may have crashed into glass from being startled. Can also be a Myxozoan parasite.
@Jay Hemdal

Had to look up Myxozoan Parasite because I never heard of it. It says there is no treatment so hopefully not it. Not a lot of info on it on the internet. Cant find symptoms either. Sounds like it is very unusual for fish we keep in our tanks. All other fish are fine. He swims around fine but does that lunging motion when still. When he goes into his sleeping cave tonight I will see if he does the same motion. If he doesn't lunge then I will be more confused.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Had to look up Myxozoan Parasite because I never heard of it. It says there is no treatment so hopefully not it. Not a lot of info on it on the internet. Cant find symptoms either. Sounds like it is very unusual for fish we keep in our tanks. All other fish are fine. He swims around fine but does that lunging motion when still. When he goes into his sleeping cave tonight I will see if he does the same motion. If he doesn't lunge then I will be more confused.

Many suspicions why I tagged Jay. Ive only seen similar when crashed into glass and with high nitrates

 

[Steve2020]

Many suspicions why I tagged Jay. Ive only seen similar when crashed into glass and with high nitrates

Nitrates 9.9ppm so that's not it. I just watched him for the last 20min because lights are ramping down and it's almost time for him to go to bed. He was swimming around normally and stops at the back wall to pick at a little algae with no nudging. He then went into his cave for a few minutes. Goes in tail first as always, took a dump as always and then came out where the Duncan and Plate Coral are and started to nudge over them. Swam around a little, went to the left back corner and hovered for a few seconds without nudging then came back near his cave hovering over the Duncan and Plate and started to nudge a little. His buoyancy is fine. Can hover with no issue in other areas of the tank and only seems to nudge near his cave when over the Duncan and Plate. He knows when I spot feed the corals that there is food on them and will pick the food from them but I did not feed the corals today or yesterday. I turned off my Vortech's for a few minutes and there was a few pieces of nori that floated off the Vortech guards and he chased the nori down along with the Foxface. His routine did not change with no flow in the tank so flow is not the issue. Lights go off in 15min so I will check him with my blue flashlight to see if he nudges while in his cave. What would be your opinion if he is perfectly fine while in his cave?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nitrates 9.9ppm so that's not it. I just watched him for the last 20min because lights are ramping down and it's almost time for him to go to bed. He was swimming around normally and stops at the back wall to pick at a little algae with no nudging. He then went into his cave for a few minutes. Goes in tail first as always, took a dump as always and then came out where the Duncan and Plate Coral are and started to nudge over them. Swam around a little, went to the left back corner and hovered for a few seconds without nudging then came back near his cave hovering over the Duncan and Plate and started to nudge a little. His buoyancy is fine. Can hover with no issue in other areas of the tank and only seems to nudge near his cave when over the Duncan and Plate. He knows when I spot feed the corals that there is food on them and will pick the food from them but I did not feed the corals today or yesterday. I turned off my Vortech's for a few minutes and there was a few pieces of nori that floated off the Vortech guards and he chased the nori down along with the Foxface. His routine did not change with no flow in the tank so flow is not the issue. Lights go off in 15min so I will check him with my blue flashlight to see if he nudges while in his cave. What would be your opinion if he is perfectly fine while in his cave?

i LIKE what I just read. See if same behavior tomorrow, but not showing signs of a distressed fish from what you describe. My fish have it made- their lights out is at 11p.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I noticed the past few days my Tang doing a stationary lunge. I really never notice this before but really never payed attention to his movements throughout the day so this may not be new. He swims fine. Eats very well ( PIG ) and is a bully once in a while. Is he just trying to stir up the tank looking for some food or is it something I should worry about? I have had him for almost two years. Got him as a rescue from my LFS due to a tank tear down they did for a client.

IMO - it is just trying to stir up some food off of the coral. It may be misdirected - it thinks it sees some food, but then sculling its fins at it doesn't show the food, so it keeps trying. Captive fish can develop some really odd stereotypic behaviors.

Jay

 

[Steve2020]

IMO - it is just trying to stir up some food off of the coral. It may be misdirected - it thinks it sees some food, but then sculling its fins at it doesn't show the food, so it keeps trying. Captive fish can develop some really odd stereotypic behaviors.

Jay

Hi Jay,

I believe you may be correct. When I spot feed my corals and he takes what food food the corals didn't take he will actually blow water on them to try to stir up more food. This is the first time I noticed the nudging affect but not saying he never did it before but I just never notice this type of behavior from him. The lights are now off on the tank and he is in his cave and I shined by blue flashlight on him and he looks perfectly fine. No struggle to stay buoyant and he is not nudging.
Also he eats very well but always seems to be hungry but I think that is a natural thing.
Appreciate your response.

Steve

 

[Steve2020]

i LIKE what I just read. See if same behavior tomorrow, but not showing signs of a distressed fish from what you describe. My fish have it made- their lights out is at 11p.

When do your lights come on?
Question: How do you attach an @***** on this site if you want someone else to read or respond to a post?

 

[vetteguy53081]

When do your lights come on?
Question: How do you attach an @***** on this site if you want someone else to read or respond to a post?

My lights have various schedules as I use Orpheks. Schedules start at 9am and peak by noon and start coming down about 4p until 11p lights out and moons on until 2am

Using the name of person you want (name is: XXXX), you would put @xxxx

 

[Steve2020]

My lights have various schedules as I use Orpheks. Schedules start at 9am and peak by noon and start coming down about 4p until 11p lights out and moons on until 2am

Using the name of person you want (name is: XXXX), you would put @xxxx

That's simple enough.
When I was ordering everything for my build I was stuck between Orphek and the Mitras. I decided to go with the Mitras due to my controller is the GHL Profilux 4 and I wanted to utilize the Profilux lighting control. All 4 of my Mitras units are a slave with the Profilux Controller as the Master. I really like the Mitras. Very powerful light with a true UV.
Below is my lighting setup. I used to run moonlight but some of my cleanup crew slowed down doing their job at night so I stopped using it for a few months. I run clouds and I am currently in an acclimation mode due to I added a few corals a few weeks ago. I always acclimate when adding corals.

 

[Steve2020]

Tang is fine this morning. Looks like the past few days he was probably fanning his pectorals attempting to stir up some food. I watched him this morning from afar and he was just quietly swimming around with no jerking motion and once I walked up to the tank he got exited swimming fast across the front of the tank as usual because he knew it was breakfast time. It makes me nervous when I see one of my pets acting differently than they have ever before.
Thanks for all your reply's and thoughts. Appreciate it.