Yellow Tang Abnormal

[tmcreynolds]

I'm not sure if I'm over reacting or not but my yellow tang is not acting normal. He is usually swimming all over the tank and friendly enough that when I come near the tank he swims up to the glass. Today when I got home from work he was hiding in this cave (which is not his usual cave) and breathing very heavy. I tried feeding and he came out and tried to eat some mysis but spat it back out and went back into hiding.

Below are changes I have made fairly recently.

They are in a 3 month old tank with 4 other fish I have had all together for over a year
2 clowns
1 coral beauty
1 lawnmower blenny

I added a QTd marine betta from Dr Reef 3 weeks ago.
The betta has mostly just hid in his cave except at night, until recently he started coming out and exploring the tank during the day.

I also recently raised my salinity from 1.022 to 1.026, today I reached 1.026 and it took me about 2 weeks to get there.

All fish other than the yellow tang are acting normal.

Parameters:
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026
PO4 .00
NO3 4

Some other notes that may not be worth mentioning.

I feel like recently the yellow tang has been lightly bullying the coral beauty. Today though the coral beauty has been in that cave a lot with the tang and it looks like they are both twitching in place kind of like clownfish do when showing submission.

Maybe nothing but it's a pretty significant change in behavior for him.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm not sure if I'm over reacting or not but my yellow tang is not acting normal. He is usually swimming all over the tank and friendly enough that when I come near the tank he swims up to the glass. Today when I got home from work he was hiding in this cave (which is not his usual cave) and breathing very heavy. I tried feeding and he came out and tried to eat some mysis but spat it back out and went back into hiding.

Below are changes I have made fairly recently.

They are in a 3 month old tank with 4 other fish I have had all together for over a year
2 clowns
1 coral beauty
1 lawnmower blenny

I added a QTd marine betta from Dr Reef 3 weeks ago.
The betta has mostly just hid in his cave except at night, until recently he started coming out and exploring the tank during the day.

I also recently raised my salinity from 1.022 to 1.026, today I reached 1.026 and it took me about 2 weeks to get there.

All fish other than the yellow tang are acting normal.

Parameters:
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026
PO4 .00
NO3 4

Some other notes that may not be worth mentioning.

I feel like recently the yellow tang has been lightly bullying the coral beauty. Today though the coral beauty has been in that cave a lot with the tang and it looks like they are both twitching in place kind of like clownfish do when showing submission.

Maybe nothing but it's a pretty significant change in behavior for him.

Please post you tube video. This one you posted only has audio
Any damage to mouth/facial area?
Any discoloration?

 

[tmcreynolds]

Please post you tube video. This one you posted only has audio
Any damage to mouth/facial area?
Any discoloration?

I can't see any damage to his mouth but he is holding it open
His coloration seems to be the same except maybe right around his gills has a bit of a pink hue?

 

[MnFish1]

It would be best I you could put up a video under white light - as this is difficult to see. Fast breathing usually means a gill disease or low oxygen in the water. A gill disease could be a toxin (ammonia?) or a parasite (flukes/ich/velvet).

Can you give some more information size of tank, size of fish, did you QT the other fish if so, how? What are your parameters. Did you put any non-quarantined rock/coral in the tank?

 

[tmcreynolds]

It would be best I you could put up a video under white light - as this is difficult to see. Fast breathing usually means a gill disease or low oxygen in the water. A gill disease could be a toxin (ammonia?) or a parasite (flukes/ich/velvet).

Can you give some more information size of tank, size of fish, did you QT the other fish if so, how? What are your parameters. Did you put any non-quarantined rock/coral in the tank?

I can get a better video tonight after i get home.

Tank is a waterbox190.5 so display is close to 60x24x24
Fish is probably 3.5-4 inches long. I got him from Biota just over a year ago.
I moved tanks back at the end of march from a 40 breeder. None of the fish in the 40 breeder had been QTd but the yellow tang was the newest fish added so they had all been together disease free for over a year.
I did recently add a QTd marine betta from Dr Reef
Everything added was either new or from that 40 breeder.

These are the only parameters i tested for last night
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026
PO4 .00
NO3 4

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I'm not sure if I'm over reacting or not but my yellow tang is not acting normal. He is usually swimming all over the tank and friendly enough that when I come near the tank he swims up to the glass. Today when I got home from work he was hiding in this cave (which is not his usual cave) and breathing very heavy. I tried feeding and he came out and tried to eat some mysis but spat it back out and went back into hiding.

Below are changes I have made fairly recently.

They are in a 3 month old tank with 4 other fish I have had all together for over a year
2 clowns
1 coral beauty
1 lawnmower blenny

I added a QTd marine betta from Dr Reef 3 weeks ago.
The betta has mostly just hid in his cave except at night, until recently he started coming out and exploring the tank during the day.

I also recently raised my salinity from 1.022 to 1.026, today I reached 1.026 and it took me about 2 weeks to get there.

All fish other than the yellow tang are acting normal.

Parameters:
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026
PO4 .00
NO3 4

Some other notes that may not be worth mentioning.

I feel like recently the yellow tang has been lightly bullying the coral beauty. Today though the coral beauty has been in that cave a lot with the tang and it looks like they are both twitching in place kind of like clownfish do when showing submission.

Maybe nothing but it's a pretty significant change in behavior for him.

No ammonia, right?
Is the tang eating today?
Is it just the video, or are the tang's pectoral (side) fins kind of milky/cloudy?

Rapid breathing is a symptom of a variety of issues; being bullied, gill diseases, system internal infections and water quality issues. Generally, bullying also causes ripped fins (which I don't see) and water quality issues would usually affect other fish to a similar degree.

Jay

 

[tmcreynolds]

No ammonia, right?
Is the tang eating today?
Is it just the video, or are the tang's pectoral (side) fins kind of milky/cloudy?

Rapid breathing is a symptom of a variety of issues; being bullied, gill diseases, system internal infections and water quality issues. Generally, bullying also causes ripped fins (which I don't see) and water quality issues would usually affect other fish to a similar degree.

Jay

I did not test for ammonia. I overlooked that but all the other fish are normal. I will test tonight
The tang did not eat. This morning he came out and looked at the food but never actually ate anything and then went back into the area he has been hanging out in. I feed half a sheet of nori with garlic and selcon every day, but he has not even touched the sheet from yesterday still.
His fins look normal its just the video. I cant see anything on him that stands out other than breathing and behavior.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I did not test for ammonia. I overlooked that but all the other fish are normal. I will test tonight
The tang did not eat. This morning he came out and looked at the food but never actually ate anything and then went back into the area he has been hanging out in. I feed half a sheet of nori with garlic and selcon every day, but he has not even touched the sheet from yesterday still.
His fins look normal its just the video. I cant see anything on him that stands out other than breathing and behavior.

Not eating is a bad sign.

Unless you already have it, adding good aeration can assist a fish that is breathing fast by ensuring the dissolved oxygen levels are as high they can be.

Trouble is, that doesn't solve the original problem. Hopefully we'll see something in another video....

 

[tmcreynolds]

Not eating is a bad sign.

Unless you already have it, adding good aeration can assist a fish that is breathing fast by ensuring the dissolved oxygen levels are as high they can be.

Trouble is, that doesn't solve the original problem. Hopefully we'll see something in another video....

Now he is eating and acting normally... something to keep an eye on?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Now he is eating and acting normally... something to keep an eye on?

Weird, but take what you can get I guess!

Yes, watch for a relapse. Maybe this was just a behavioral issue with the angel?