Tang in QT - need help ID possible illness

Clarinuto · Dec 30, 2018

New bristletooth tang arrived 12/15 very thin, but eating lots. After trying to fatten him up for a week and noticing his face was still incredibly sunken, I dosed prazipro in case he was battling an internal parasite. Today (12/30), he is looking a little less thin, but I can still see bones, his face is still fairly sunken, and I see a dark spot on one side I didn’t notice previously. Am I overanalyzing and just need to give him more time to gain weight and recover or is something still going on? Thanks!

Following picture from the weekend he arrived (for comparison)

HotRocks · Dec 30, 2018

Have you fed any food saoked with medication yet? Like general cure or Metroplex?

He is very emaciated for sure. Have you seen any white stringy poop?

Clarinuto · Dec 30, 2018

HotRocks said:
Have you fed any food saoked with medication yet? Like general cure or Metroplex?

He is very emaciated for sure. Have you seen any white stringy poop?

I haven’t. I have metro next to the tank that I was planning to use and then decided I should post here and ask people wiser than I first. I also have general cure, if that would be a better option. No stringy white poop currently. He will eat anything I provide so far. I’ve been giving strips of seaweed at night that he finishes off by morning. He also likes seaweed extreme pellets and I also offer some frozen shrimp with vitamins that he is all about. He’s become a super friendly guy. Doesn’t hide when I put my hand in the tank to restock seaweed and watches me all the time. Really hoping to help this little guy.

Frtdrmrose7 · Dec 30, 2018

I had a Kole years ago I stupidly did not QT and I found a similar spot on him. I found it too late as I’m sure it was flukes and he died in the beginning of treatment. Unfortunately it also took down two other fish I had at the time. If you can I would do a FW dip just to check. I would probably wait until you finish GC or Metro as he looks pretty frail.

HotRocks · Dec 30, 2018

I would try adding some GC+focus to the frozen food.

Put the nori in during the day. There should be enough for him to graze upon for 3/4 of the day.

Billldg · Dec 30, 2018

Clarinuto said:
I haven’t. I have metro next to the tank that I was planning to use and then decided I should post here and ask people wiser than I first. I also have general cure, if that would be a better option. No stringy white poop currently. He will eat anything I provide so far. I’ve been giving strips of seaweed at night that he finishes off by morning. He also likes seaweed extreme pellets and I also offer some frozen shrimp with vitamins that he is all about. He’s become a super friendly guy. Doesn’t hide when I put my hand in the tank to restock seaweed and watches me all the time. Really hoping to help this little guy.

@HotRocks knows his stuff, I agree with him, I would soak food in GC and Focus.

Clarinuto · Dec 30, 2018

HotRocks said:
I would try adding some GC+focus to the frozen food.

Put the nori in during the day. There should be enough for him to graze upon for 3/4 of the day.

Okay. I’ll start General Cure right away. Is focus referring to Seachem Focus? I don’t have that but will get some stat.

I started the nori at night because he was too skiddish to come out during the day to eat at first so the only time I could get him to eat was at night. I also have a red dragons macro algae plant that is in there 24/7 that he picks at regularly now. I will shift the schedule we’ve gotten into.

Thanks for your help... I knew something seemed off

Clarinuto · Dec 30, 2018

Frtdrmrose7 said:
I had a Kole years ago I stupidly did not QT and I found a similar spot on him. I found it too late as I’m sure it was flukes and he died in the beginning of treatment. Unfortunately it also took down two other fish I had at the time. If you can I would do a FW dip just to check. I would probably wait until you finish GC or Metro as he looks pretty frail.

Really sorry to hear about your Kole. I will definitely dip him once through with GC.

Billldg · Dec 30, 2018

I'm bringing this up only in case anyone else has this issue, @HotRocks , I currently have a LT tang who would eat anything frozen, but when I soaked it in GC and Focus, all he would do is spit it out, I cut up nori and soaked it also in GC and Focus along with the frozen food and out of sure dumb luck he started eating the nori eventually. I was lucky to get him to eat some food soaked in meds to pretreat for internal parasites, but what can be done to help entice picky eating fish?

HotRocks · Dec 30, 2018

Billldg said:
I'm bringing this up only in case anyone else has this issue, @HotRocks , I currently have a LT tang who would eat anything frozen, but when I soaked it in GC and Focus, all he would do is spit it out, I cut up nori and soaked it also in GC and Focus along with the frozen food and out of sure dumb luck he started eating the nori eventually. I was lucky to get him to eat some food soaked in meds to pretreat for internal parasites, but what can be done to help entice picky easting fish?

In the case that a fish won't accept prepared frozen that is soaked with meds. I would make the same mix of food without meds and get it eating for a few days before trying the medicated food again.

I also add garlic guard to try to "mask" the taste of the medicine.

Obviously this is less critical if it's just being used as prophylactic treatment VS a fish that is showing symptoms of intestinal worms/parasites. If a fish has white stringy poop and stops eating it's very difficult to get them eating again.

I always switch to live foods (varying type by fish) if I get one that won't eat.

Clarinuto · Dec 31, 2018

Billldg said:
I'm bringing this up only in case anyone else has this issue, @HotRocks , I currently have a LT tang who would eat anything frozen, but when I soaked it in GC and Focus, all he would do is spit it out, I cut up nori and soaked it also in GC and Focus along with the frozen food and out of sure dumb luck he started eating the nori eventually. I was lucky to get him to eat some food soaked in meds to pretreat for internal parasites, but what can be done to help entice picky eating fish?

Thanks for bringing this up

ca1ore · Dec 31, 2018

I don’t have the foggiest what that dark patch is. That it is a very thin fish, though, looks to me to be the bigger issue; if it were under my care I’d hold off on meds and address that as the main problem. Once a fish has thinned to the point that the facial structures protrude and there’s material ‘pinching’ behind the head prognosis is quite poor. Bristles aren’t always good nori eaters, so that’s a good sign. Offer it plenty of meaty stuff too - PE mysis are larger than most other mysids and a good source of nutrients (though ignore the nutritional info in the pack as it’s dry weight). Feed as much as the fish will eat. I routinely feed a new fish in QT up to 10 times a day. Don’t really need to worry about things like nitrates (though do be alert to potential ammonia).

It’s interesting to me how the pendulum has swung .... I’m a very long time reef keeper and in the early days it was ‘let the fish’s natural immune system fight it off’ versus now to mdicate with a cocktail, often prophylactically. I personally QT all fish, but only treat as symptoms clearly present. Am on a good roll at the moment - haven’t had to treat anything in over six months. Not suggesting that one approach is necessarily better than another - we all make our own individual choices.

Clarinuto · Jan 1, 2019

ca1ore said:
I don’t have the foggiest what that dark patch is. That it is a very thin fish, though, looks to me to be the bigger issue; if it were under my care I’d hold off on meds and address that as the main problem. Once a fish has thinned to the point that the facial structures protrude and there’s material ‘pinching’ behind the head prognosis is quite poor. Bristles aren’t always good nori eaters, so that’s a good sign. Offer it plenty of meaty stuff too - PE mysis are larger than most other mysids and a good source of nutrients (though ignore the nutritional info in the pack as it’s dry weight). Feed as much as the fish will eat. I routinely feed a new fish in QT up to 10 times a day. Don’t really need to worry about things like nitrates (though do be alert to potential ammonia).

It’s interesting to me how the pendulum has swung .... I’m a very long time reef keeper and in the early days it was ‘let the fish’s natural immune system fight it off’ versus now to mdicate with a cocktail, often prophylactically. I personally QT all fish, but only treat as symptoms clearly present. Am on a good roll at the moment - haven’t had to treat anything in over six months. Not suggesting that one approach is necessarily better than another - we all make our own individual choices.

My approach at first was solely to help him gain weight also. The issue is that he doesn’t seem to be gaining.

it’s possible I haven’t been patient enough but I expected to see some change after a week, given that he eats everything I offer him. I did take your advice and offered him some pe mysis, which he did eat a few. I’ll offer him more today as well. I’ve also been offering him something multiple times per day to try to keep his belly full. I’ll keep you guys updated. So grateful for this forum.

ca1ore · Jan 1, 2019

Can take quite a while to see material weight gain. I had a convict tang a few years ago come in very thin and it took a good three months of daily nori and mysis to get weight on. Persevere!

Clarinuto · Jan 1, 2019

After 24 hours on round two, I think that maybe he looks a smidge better, but it might just be wishful thinking... pictures from today posted below.

Clarinuto · Jan 6, 2019

He’s definitely gaining weight but his face is still pretty sunken. He has regained some color and is still lively and eating voraciously. Do I just need to be patient and see how he does or should I be seeing more results after three weeks?