Yellow tang no fins

[KM Wrasse]

Lol.....He looks like a new file fish species.....OR a yellow kite...…... I keep telling my wife Im gonna flush him....kidding of course.....but she thinks im serious and gets sooooo fired up at me!.....lol...she is a big fan of his.....lol

 

[KM Wrasse]

That is the craziest file fish I have seen yet.
So it has been this way for 1.5yrs? How long did it take for the fins to disappear? A 93g is a bit small for a yellow tang, so maybe it has not had a chance to recover and recoup the hlle without the extra bit of room (stress). In all that time, has it ever had any growth back to the fins only to fade away again?

Well he was very small when I got him...and yes it started almost immediately .....I thought someone was attacking him. The tank is next to the couch in the family room where I spend a lot of time....so I observe him constantly. There is no aggression in the tank at all. the fins slooowly disappeared over the time I have had him. The decay was very even...so not ragged or chunked out. Yes I know 93 g is kinda small but I have been buying from my LFS since 1991 and have a great relationship.....so he lets me bring anything back I want and also buys frags from me. So my plan, as I do often, was to swap him out when he got bigger. Now nobody will want him...so thats not an option. Guess Ill just have to tell the wife we need to get that 450 g! Thanks for your thoughts

 

[KM Wrasse]

Let's have some of the disease folks take a look.... @Big G , @4FordFamily , @HotRocks ....have you guys seen this before?

 

[KM Wrasse]

Thanks...I am new here...signed up a few years back, but just jumping in now.....so Im not familiar with these guys. I would love to get their opinion though

 

[KM Wrasse]

If it is a version of HLLE, are you running carbon? That can contribute to it.

I do run a small amount of BRS ROX carbon....and have done so for years...all other fish ok...maybe the yellows are just more susceptible?? thanks for the imput

 

[Big G]

There was a study done about 20 years ago in the arabian gulf area researching why some fish present deformed fins. The study generally stated that they believed environmental pollution was the cause. The fish, according to the study, was effected during the egg phase of development. It differed from fin rot as the "rays" on the fins were deformed.

 

[KM Wrasse]

There was a study done about 20 years ago in the arabian gulf area researching why some fish present deformed fins. The study generally stated that they believed environmental pollution was the cause. The fish, according to the study, was effected during the egg phase of development. It differed from fin rot as the "rays" on the fins were deformed.

Thank you for the info....when I purchased him though he was a perfectly formed tang and they just started melting away slowly...the weird thing was that it was a uniform decay process.....very strange.......the way he looks now is no way for a Tang to go through life!...lol

 

[alain Bouchard]

I had similar issue with my yellow tang, not at that level though...No aggression, all other tangs and fishes were doing great. But I was running carbon 24/7. I stopped carbon and the yellow tang got better and his fins are now perfectly formed. I have seen multiple reports about this, and dont know why, but only affect the yellow tangs. I would suggest to either stop carbon completely, or run it only a few hours a day. I have seen absolutely no difference after removing the carbon reactor on clarity of the water or any parameters, so I havent put it back since.

 

[KM Wrasse]

I had similar issue with my yellow tang, not at that level though...No aggression, all other tangs and fishes were doing great. But I was running carbon 24/7. I stopped carbon and the yellow tang got better and his fins are now perfectly formed. I have seen multiple reports about this, and dont know why, but only affect the yellow tangs. I would suggest to either stop carbon completely, or run it only a few hours a day. I have seen absolutely no difference after removing the carbon reactor on clarity of the water or any parameters, so I havent put it back since.

Wow that's really interesting....did you see any increase in algae? Im always afraid of having an algae outbreak. How long did it take to start to see regrowth? I might give that a try. I change my carbon out about every 3 weeks, I use BRS ROX .8 carbon........but I don't use a ton of it about 2/3 of a cup. I have it in a IM min max reactor in the sump. Thanks for your input.

 

[4FordFamily]

I see this in zebrasoma tangs, some believe that it's due to high nitrates, or infections. I think it's due to infections, but I do not know. I do believe these are infections. If it is not actually red or worsening, I don't think I would do anything. It usually doesn't "come back" IME.

Keep him in good quality water, feed good varieties of nutritious foods, and hope for the best.

 

[KM Wrasse]

I see this in zebrasoma tangs, some believe that it's due to high nitrates, or infections. I think it's due to infections, but I do not know. I do believe these are infections. If it is not actually red or worsening, I don't think I would do anything. It usually doesn't "come back" IME.

Keep him in good quality water, feed good varieties of nutritious foods, and hope for the best.

Nitrates and phos drift to 0 quickly ...i have to add both to maintain 1ppm and .03. Fins are not red or pink and I do not see any type of abnormality on the edge of fin ie bumps, spots, strands etc.......It just looks like someone took scissors to him. Just strange stuff. I may stop running the carbon and see if that has any affect at all. Thanks for your help!!

 

[Bryknicks]

Wow that's really interesting....did you see any increase in algae? Im always afraid of having an algae outbreak. How long did it take to start to see regrowth? I might give that a try. I change my carbon out about every 3 weeks, I use BRS ROX .8 carbon........but I don't use a ton of it about 2/3 of a cup. I have it in a IM min max reactor in the sump. Thanks for your input.

The carbon doesn't prevent algae, it's used to remove toxins from the system. Usually from coral warfare. Depending on what your stock looks like, I don't think you will see any adverse reaction by removing it. I would try just to see what happens with the fish.

FYI I have a yellow tang and run carbon 24/7 and don't have this issue. I also run BRS ROX 0.8.

I agree with 4ford that it is some type of infection. I would think the fish would show further signs of issues if it was HLLE.

 

[K7BMG]

I have a Kole tang with HLLE.

He got it when he was in QT because I did not give him proper nutrition.
(Stupid new guy lack of knowledge)
When I got him he had a tattered rear fin but was healthy looking otherwise.
After about two weeks in QT no meds just observation I noticed the white lines.
Learned a few things and got him on a proper diet and his tail healed up, and the white lines stopped growing, but did not go away.

Fast forward several months.

Now in my main DT and he has been doing fantastic, yet after a month give or take, I noticed the white lines were covering more and more of his face. becoming more of a mask than lines. Along with the increase of the white his tail fin split.

His diet was the same the only change was the BRS ROX-8 carbon, and a Marineland filter cartridge I tossed in the sump to collect bacteria for a HOB filter for a QT tank.
Now it may not have been the ROX-8 and it could have been the cheap carbon in the filter cartridge. I will never know as I do not intend to add carbon as long as the Kole is in that tank.
The water volume is about 235G overall, and the Carbon canister was a 2.5X10 inch BRS unit filled with ROX.8.

Once ALL the carbon was pulled from the water column the growth of white on his face stopped, and slightly receded, how ever his tail fin split and has not healed.

My Potters Angel took a beating catching him out of the temp tank, removed every rock, took over two and a half hours.
His fins were quite tattered but in four days were healed and have been solid since.

My hope is the tangs fins don't melt, but have not noticed any of that.
But concerned that his tail will not heal.

 

[KM Wrasse]

I add carbon for the chemical warfare since I have a good mix of softies, lps and sps....also it does take out some DOC which cause yellowing of the water. I think I may have to just set up my quarantine tank run no carbon and try to treat him with aniti-fungal and anti-bacterial meds...to see if any of these help.. thanks

PS catching fish can be frustrating ....i use a trap that I made out of acrylic......just feed them in there and after several times they just go in and i shut the door. Very easy....I learned the hard way however....I caught a yellow tail damsel in my old 200gallon once with just a net!!!! took me like 5 hours....i was up until 3am! I got that little terror tho! lol
Thanks

 

[alain Bouchard]

no difference in algae since removing carbon. Only difference is a more present "ocean smell" in my fish room. I dont say the carbon IS the issue, but it might be. It is an easy option to test. Some tangs seems to be more resistant to HLLE; maybe difference between captive bred and those from the sea? Stray voltage can cause the issue too, some bacteria or infection, poor water quality, poor nutrition. maybe go with elimination, and as usual, all go slow in the sea, so might need 2 month to reverse an issue that appeared in 10 days...

 

[KM Wrasse]

no difference in algae since removing carbon. Only difference is a more present "ocean smell" in my fish room. I dont say the carbon IS the issue, but it might be. It is an easy option to test. Some tangs seems to be more resistant to HLLE; maybe difference between captive bred and those from the sea? Stray voltage can cause the issue too, some bacteria or infection, poor water quality, poor nutrition. maybe go with elimination, and as usual, all go slow in the sea, so might need 2 month to reverse an issue that appeared in 10 days...

Good points.....I know water quality is not an issue, I feed a wide variety of foods especially veggies, Nori, pure spirulina, Lifeline Herbivore to name a few. I Installed a grounding prob about a month ago for any stray voltage. Since it is only one fish having the problem I dont want to take carbon totally offline since I have a good mix of softies, LPS and SPS...so im sure there is some warfare going on. Im going to switch brands of carbon and use less. If none of this works then I guess I'll just have to enter him into the national ugliest fish competition! lol
Thanks for your help

 

[Miller535]

HLLE thought of that too...he does have some white around the eyes...which is a sign of HLLE, but I didnt think that would affect the fins as well. I even installed a grounding probe in case there was any stray voltage which I have read may be one factor in HLLE.... Thanks for your help

I had a hippo tang that had eroding fins due to hlle. Hlle can definitely do that.

My hippo has been recovering over the last year. I can no definitively say what caused it. But anecdotally I think it was heavy metal in my water. After not being able to figure anything out because my water appeared fine on every hobby grade test available I sent a ICP test in, and found copper and a few other elevated metals in my water. Once I corrected the problem, she seemed like a different fish all together. Much more calm and chill, and the erosion stopped and fins started to grow back. The hippo was the only affected fish. Every other fish looked fine the whole time.

 

[Miller535]

As for carbon, I never took mine offline. I in fact change out my carbon every other week. As long as rinsed properly, I do not believe this to be an issue.

 

[KM Wrasse]

I had a hippo tang that had eroding fins due to hlle. Hlle can definitely do that.

My hippo has been recovering over the last year. I can no definitively say what caused it. But anecdotally I think it was heavy metal in my water. After not being able to figure anything out because my water appeared fine on every hobby grade test available I sent a ICP test in, and found copper and a few other elevated metals in my water. Once I corrected the problem, she seemed like a different fish all together. Much more calm and chill, and the erosion stopped and fins started to grow back. The hippo was the only affected fish. Every other fish looked fine the whole time.

Glad the hippo is doing better.....I just did a Trition test beginning of Feburary ...everything was good in the heavy metal department.....only thing that was elevated was lithium....442ug/L vs 200 in seawater........seems like a lot of people have the hi readings of Lithium from what I read. Iodine was up a bit....I dose for my shrooms and zoos.....but nothing else out of whack. Thats why its such a mystery. My next step is to get him the Rosetta Stone ...How to speak english app! lol
Thanks for your help in trying to figure this out.

 

[ID-Reefer]

As someone else mentioned I think this is more common with Zebrasoma tangs. I have a Gem tang that had/has the exact same issue. Ive had him for closet to two years. When he came in his fins were seemingly normal. He and my purple tang are the kings of the tank and ive never seen any aggression towards him from others. Water parameters are fine and I feed very well. He eats great and if anything may be considered over weight. The fins deteriorated swiftly over the first 6 months and now seemed to have stabilized. Not growing back but nothing else deteriorating either. I suspect possibly HLLE but no other tang in my tank shows signs. Ive ran Carbon from time to time but its always well rinsed. Most people assume he is getting picked on but I know this isn't the case. He isn't the prettiest Gem tang around for sure but I still enjoy him and even though he doesn't have