Yellow tang not eating??

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

I have a yellow tang, a clownfish, and a niger trigger in my 110 gallon... The other two fish are fine but the yellow tang won’t eat and is getting skinny and hovering really close to the bottom. I have had these fish for about a year now and they have been doing pretty well up until now... I usually feed flakes, nori, and clams but the tang just won’t eat. I read something about bristle worms can sting the mouth or something like that and cause the mouth to swell so they won’t eat and I have seen a LOT more bristle worms than usual right in the rock cave she hangs out in and they are pretty big bristle worms too... but the water parameters seem to be completely normal... Any ideas/suggestions??? Thanks so much!!!

Humblefish · Oct 18, 2017

Do you see any evidence of a bristle worm sting near/around his mouth? There should be redness and/or inflammation.

Any new additions (even corals/inverts)? Ever see any stringy white poo come out of the YT?

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

Humblefish said:
Do you see any evidence of a bristle worm sting near/around his mouth? There should be redness and/or inflammation.

Any new additions (even corals/inverts)? Ever see any stringy white poo come out of the YT?

There’s a red line along the inside of the YT mouth I can’t get a pic of it because it’s so small but idk if that’s normal because I don’t usually look inside it’s mouth but all I can tell is the YT isn’t looking good... but no stringy white poop there’s been stringy brown before though but it has been over a month since the last time I saw stringy brown poop but I thought that was normal... no, I haven’t added anything new to the tank in at least 3 months. The app isn’t letting me post any pictures?? I just tried to post a pic but it said invalid request...

4FordFamily · Oct 18, 2017

Any other symptoms? Swimming in to powerheads, “dustings”, white spots, scratching, flashing, hiding from light, breathing heavily?

About how large is the fish?

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

4FordFamily said:
Any other symptoms? Swimming in to powerheads, “dustings”, white spots, scratching, flashing, hiding from light, breathing heavily?

About how large is the fish?

He is breathing heavily that’s the only thing in that list no white spots, nothing. He is about 4-5 inches right now...

4FordFamily · Oct 18, 2017

Wilkerson.reed said:
He is breathing heavily that’s the only thing in that list no white spots, nothing. He is about 4-5 inches right now...

Wondering if it’s old age, that seems small but size does not always indicate age. Any other fish showing any symptoms?

It could also be an internal infection we cannot see, perhaps.

Humblefish, @melypr1985, I’m stumped!

Humblefish · Oct 18, 2017

Try logging into the site directly and uploading a pic.

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

4FordFamily said:
Wondering if it’s old age, that seems small but size does not always indicate age. Any other fish showing any symptoms?

It could also be an internal infection we cannot see, perhaps.

Humblefish, @melypr1985, I’m stumped!

No other fish are showing any symptoms... it’s so weird and I don’t know what to do to help him get better...

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

Thanks y’all for the help by the way!!

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

The YT just lays down on the sand bed and is breathing heavy but not moving... how could it have escalated this quickly? I feel so horrible because I don’t have any idea what to do to help I’m just watching her die basically but I have tried everything I can think of...

Humblefish · Oct 18, 2017

Wilkerson.reed said:
The YT just lays down on the sand bed and is breathing heavy but not moving... how could it have escalated this quickly? I feel so horrible because I don’t have any idea what to do to help I’m just watching her die basically but I have tried everything I can think of...

If she tried to eat a bristle worm and it is stuck inside her mouth, that won't end well.

drawman · Oct 18, 2017

If it were me I would be suspicious of a parasite as @4FordFamily was eluding to. If it is breathing heavy it could then be likely that the gills are affected by said parasite. I would personally do a FW dip, then acriflavine bath, followed by copper with the suspicion of velvet at play.

That said I will defer to him and @Humblefish on this one.

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

There are some pics sorry I haven’t scraped the coralline off the glass in a while... but she is still just breathing and lying there... the other pics are from earlier when she was still swimming but I couldn’t post the pics

Humblefish · Oct 18, 2017

The ripped fins adds a new element to this.

He might not survive it, but I'd do a 5 min FW dip to check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

Humblefish said:
The ripped fins adds a new element to this.

He might not survive it, but I'd do a 5 min FW dip to check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

Oh okay I saw my lawnmower blend picking at the fins earlier so I thought that’s what it was but that makes since... I will do a fw dip and see how that goes... thanks!!!

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 18, 2017

Humblefish said:
The ripped fins adds a new element to this.

He might not survive it, but I'd do a 5 min FW dip to check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

I did the freshwater dip and she floated back to the bottom of the tank and sat there a minute then popped up and is swimming around a little but not rlly able to do much she keeps looking like she wants to lay down but was also picking at the side of the tank so I thought she was trying to get food so I put a little food in there but she didnt go for it and now she is laying back down hopefully she gains an appetite or somehow pulls through but thanks so much for all the help!!!

drawman · Oct 18, 2017

Wilkerson.reed said:
I did the freshwater dip and she floated back to the bottom of the tank and sat there a minute then popped up and is swimming around a little but not rlly able to do much she keeps looking like she wants to lay down but was also picking at the side of the tank so I thought she was trying to get food so I put a little food in there but she didnt go for it and now she is laying back down hopefully she gains an appetite or somehow pulls through but thanks so much for all the help!!!

Were you able to see any flukes come off in the FW dip?

Maritimer · Oct 19, 2017

This poor gal hasn't been eating properly for quite some time - or she's not receiving the nutrition she's been consuming. How long have you had her?

~Bruce

Wilkerson.reed · Oct 19, 2017

Maritimer said:
This poor gal hasn't been eating properly for quite some time - or she's not receiving the nutrition she's been consuming. How long have you had her?

~Bruce

I’ve had her for about a year but I went to the beach for 2 weeks and my mom took care of my fish while I was gone but when I came back she said the YT wasn’t eating and it looked worse than it was last night