Tang disease problem or injury?

patsheridan · Mar 1, 2016

Hi - any help would be appreciated. Tang has developed this on his one side only, and it appears to be both injury and unwanted disease. Any thoughts? He is otherwise normal and active, and eating well.

Thanks in advance!

Techie_ · Mar 1, 2016

Do any of the other fish seem to have anything wrong with them? @Humblefish would know about this.

Humblefish · Mar 1, 2016

Is that actually a hole I'm seeing by his gills?

Techie_ · Mar 1, 2016

Humblefish said:
Is that actually a hole I'm seeing by his gills?

Holy cow! I think it is!

GrandLotus · Mar 1, 2016

What size tank do you have this tang in?

My guess is that your tank is not 180 gallons or larger and your fish is getting serious stress.
Yes; No?

Try feeding some garlic flavored food to the tang. This is only a minor help though.
Do you have any cleaner shrimp or cleaner wrasse in the tank?

hybridazn · Mar 1, 2016

Looks to be an injury. These guys are notorious to finding tight hiding spots. It's possible he was hiding and something spooked him and he rushed trying to get out causing that tear/hole. The white marks could be a infection starting from the injury. I would try a broad spectrum anti biotic

patsheridan · Mar 1, 2016

No other fish seem to have problems. This is a relatively small tang (maybe 1.5") in a 40 gallon. And yes he does like to wedge himself into tight spots come lights out. Cleaner shrimp or two in the tank.

Humblefish · Mar 1, 2016

hybridazn said:
Looks to be an injury. These guys are notorious to finding tight hiding spots. It's possible he was hiding and something spooked him and he rushed trying to get out causing that tear/hole. The white marks could be a infection starting from the injury. I would try a broad spectrum anti biotic

^^This. If that is truly a hole I am seeing, this fish is going to need antibiotics to ward off the inevitable infection and some R&R in a QT. Kanamycin aka Seachem Kanaplex is readily absorbable by the fish's skin and would probably be best for this situation.

patsheridan · Mar 1, 2016

"I would try a broad spectrum antibiotic"

Would this be a quarantine situation? If so, for how long?

hybridazn · Mar 1, 2016

patsheridan said:
"I would try a broad spectrum antibiotic"

Would this be a quarantine situation? If so, for how long?

Yes I would do this in qt. Like @Humblefish said, he will need some r&r and need as little stress as possible to heal. I would plan on at least a 6 week qt, and that's bare minimum I would think

Humblefish · Mar 1, 2016

patsheridan said:
"I would try a broad spectrum antibiotic"

Would this be a quarantine situation? If so, for how long?

QT yes - treat for at least 10 days. I don't think soaking food with antibiotics is going to help much in this situation.

patsheridan · Mar 1, 2016

Sounds like a plan - thanks! I'll report back in a few days.

GrandLotus · Mar 1, 2016

patsheridan said:
No other fish seem to have problems. This is a relatively small tang (maybe 1.5") in a 40 gallon. And yes he does like to wedge himself into tight spots come lights out. Cleaner shrimp or two in the tank.

Just as an FYI, this fish will get stressed in a 40 gallon system and will eventually become very aggressive because of this.

Something to think about in the future.

Until then, follow what the above poster have suggested and best of luck.