Yellow tang dying - need help

[brucelee90]

Hi folks, my young yellow is dying and any help would be appreciated.

I received this Biota yellow tang a couple of days ago and it arrived in a very bad condition (breathing rapidly and lying on the side). I put it in QT, hoping things would get better.

Unfortunately, the yellow tang is doing worse today - its upper half body has turned into a darker color and lower half turned white/pale. What possibly should I do to turn this around? Thanks!

 

[Lapras]

wish I could help. what was the starting salinity in bag vs tank? You mention QT: just regular seawater or additions? Did you try to feed it some very small nori flakes? There's another thread here about a Biota YT that went downhill. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/biota-yellow-tang-death.860319/

 

[brucelee90]

wish I could help. what was the starting salinity in bag vs tank? You mention QT: just regular seawater or additions? Did you try to feed it some very small nori flakes? There's another thread here about a Biota YT that went downhill. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/biota-yellow-tang-death.860319/

Thanks Lapras! My QT has 1.024 salinity which matches the water in the shipping bag. No additives or medicines in the QT just clean RODI salt water.

I tried to feed the fish some food (garlic extract + nori + TDO pellet + frozen mysis shrimp) and it took 20+ bites earlier today, which I took as a very good sign.

Unfortunately, things went downhill very fast this afternoon.

 

[JoseQ]

Is there enough water movement on the surface for oxygenation?

 

[brucelee90]

Is there enough water movement on the surface for oxygenation?

Hi Jose, yes I have an air pump providing sufficient oxygen.

 

[Lapras]

temp good? low ammonia levels? looks like u have pipes in there - u prob cleaned them first before putting in the tank? no leftover stickers or residue right? id try to keep feeding him but not overwhelming so the food doesn't go bad in the water.

 

[JoseQ]

Any small salt like spots on the body or abnormalities you can see?

 

[Intense37754]

Do you have methylene blue or NFG available? If so dose per manufacture instructions and aerate heavy

 

[GHOSTLY]

Bump, I wish you the best of luck

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi folks, my young yellow is dying and any help would be appreciated.

I received this Biota yellow tang a couple of days ago and it arrived in a very bad condition (breathing rapidly and lying on the side). I put it in QT, hoping things would get better.

Unfortunately, the yellow tang is doing worse today - its upper half body has turned into a darker color and lower half turned white/pale. What possibly should I do to turn this around? Thanks!

I’ve seen a couple of cases like this. Did you acclimate using Biota’s directions? Definitely contact Biota right away for their advice (may not work since it’s the weekend).
Jay

 

[brucelee90]

temp good? low ammonia levels? looks like u have pipes in there - u prob cleaned them first before putting in the tank? no leftover stickers or residue right? id try to keep feeding him but not overwhelming so the food doesn't go bad in the water.

Yeah everything's fresh and cleaned thoroughly. Trying to feed him as mush as he can take.

 

[brucelee90]

Any small salt like spots on the body or abnormalities you can see?

No small spot found on the body.

 

[brucelee90]

Do you have methylene blue or NFG available? If so dose per manufacture instructions and aerate heavy

Thanks for the suggestion! Are they used to treat bacteria infection?

 

[brucelee90]

I’ve seen a couple of cases like this. Did you acclimate using Biota’s directions? Definitely contact Biota right away for their advice (may not work since it’s the weekend).
Jay

Hi Jay, I followed Biota's acclimation instruction - no drip acclimation. The YT arrived in a poor condition in a bag of cold water. I'm surprised it managed to survive this long...

 

[brucelee90]

Update: the YT survived last night but still in a very bad situation. Will keep you guys posted!

 

[lagnew904]

Update?

 

[brucelee90]

Update: YT has some damage near the lateral line/face area and I’m suspecting bacteria infection. Trying to get some broad spectrum antibiotics online but it’s gonna take a few days to arrive.

Overall the fish is not improving.

 

[brucelee90]

Update?

Thanks for following up. Updated in the thread!

 

[hivelyj6]

Update: YT has some damage near the lateral line/face area and I’m suspecting bacteria infection. Trying to get some broad spectrum antibiotics online but it’s gonna take a few days to arrive.

Overall the fish is not improving.

How did this pan out? Did the antibiotics work?

 

[Intense37754]

Thanks for the suggestion! Are they used to treat bacteria infection?

Sorry missed this until previous post
But NFG is good to have on hand, yes it treats bacterial and the MB helps with ammonia burns and detoxifies cyanide but in this situation not likely since he’s not wild caught

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