The Puffer Forum

Hey, all!

So I just got a Yellow Tang from the local pet store. (For those of you who don't remember, I live in the middle of nowhere. So my selection of livestock and medicine is quite small).
The first tang I got from the store died within 48 hours (Still unexplained causes). They had my replacement on back order for a month. I got her (I call it a her!) last Saturday. Her name is "Nori". She's bigger - probably about 4". She is currently in the 10g QT and has been doing very well the past week. Becoming more sociable. Nibbling at her Nori. (Also feeding occasional suppliments of meaty foods). The store is actually attached to an Ace Hardware, so - unfortunately - much of the staff is not fish savvy (one lady didn't even know what a yellow tang was!). She had just come in to the store on Thursday, and I fully expected to see some sort of disease I would have to treat. One of the more frustrating part of the store is that they have a VERY poor selection for medicine. I've recently returned from a three day trip, and while she is still active, my husband noticed "clear spots" on her fins last nite. Upon further investigation this morning, there seems to be a great deal of errosion on fins, esp. the pectoral fins. They look almost shredded, kind of like lace would. Not rotting from outside to in, but just all throughout. The mouth is reddish brown, and there appear to be brown "freckles" throughout the eye/snout/mouth area.

What is this a sign of? What is the best cure? Most of what's available at the store is only the API boxed medicines. Currently at the house, I have APIs "Super Ick Cure" - which contains 3.6 mg Malachite Green and 60mg of Nitrofurazone. I also have "Triple Sulfa". I have garlic, which I can soak food in, but I'm afraid she won't eat enough of it (there's plenty of algae from my live rock too!)

Any medication suggestions from the API series? Any other suggestions? I don't want her to suffer - although she doesn't seem to be now. The water for the QT tank came out of my well established marine tank. Here's the levels:
PH 8.2 NitA: 20 NitI: 0 Amm: 0 Temp:81 SG: 1.021

Thanks all!
Jess

Were the fins whole when you purchased the fish? The spots if brown in color can possibly signify Amyloodinium (Marine Velvet)..it is also possible that it could be Paravortex or Black Ich. Blach ich is easy to treat and usually goes away on it's own but the Marine Velvet if present has to be eradicated from the tank as well as the fish and usually when present on the outside of a fish, it has progressed too much and the fish perishes. Marine Velvet attacks the insides before the outsides. Have you noticed any other odd behavior? Listlessness? Erratic swimming? Not eating?

No erratic behavior. Pictures are nigh to impossible to get w/ my camera, but hopefully these will shed some light. Note: she does not live in a bowl. It was the only way I could seem to get pictures.
Hope these are some help: Hope this helps.
Thanks everyone. Let's save this fish!

It looks like Septicemia to me which is caused by a bacterial infection which is aggravated by stress or poor water quality. Since she is in quarantine, use broad spectrum antibiotics, Nitrofurazone and Furazolidone combination would be good along with antibacterial medicated flakes.

As far as the fin deteriorating, that too can be stress related. Feed a varied diet and keep pristine water quality for maximum results. A vitamin supplement after all the treatment is said and done won't hurt either.

Good Luck.

Thanks Yunachin!
Unless anyone tells me otherwise, the plan of action is to pick up some API Furan-2 (which contains both of those ingredients) today, and medicate with that. May do a water change before if Nitrates look anything above 40ppm.
Will continue feeding nori (should this be garlic soaked?), and meaty supplements.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do!

Thanks,
Jess

All sounds good. Let me know how she does.

Right after I wrote the post about going to get the medicine I went to check on Nori, and she had passed
I've had an incredibly busy week and wasn't sure where to go from here, but since there were no longer fish involved; I figured it wasn't a pressing issue. SO, NOW I have questions.

I've attached pictures at the end of this. I got Nori on March 7th. The store had gotten her on the 5th, and I would have left her there to see how she did, but even though she was promised to me, they had her for sale. SO, I took her home. No signs of anything wrong with her upon arrival. Ate well, started coming out to visit us. Seemed to be doing generally well. Like I said, the water was taken straight from my 75g display - so that was never an issue to me. (PH 8.0, Amm: 0, NitA:20ppm, NitI: 0). She was placed in a 10g qt, with no medicine, adequate food (both Nori on a clip - changed every day, and meaty frozen food every other day), and a little bit of Live Rock w/ algae from my 75 as well. She lived under my care for approx. 9 days. This is the 2nd tang I've lost from this particular store (1st died at 2 days).
Questions:
1 - Is it something I'm doing wrong? I'm almost afraid to purchase anything OTHER than GSPs for my saltwater now. I need to know it wasn't my fault, or if it was how to fix it. (Could it have been water quality? I was going to do a 20% change on it that next Thursday...could it have gone bad that fast, coming from an established tank for over a year - the LR too)
2 - And if not, should I purchase any more fish from the store.
3 - I've left the tank up and running...what should I do with the live rock? Should I scrub and boil it, and then replace it in the main tank to reseed? I would be at a loss if something happened to Ryuu.

Thanks for all your help guys and gals. Hope the pic renders some sort of clues.

Take care,
Jessica

PS - sorry, i know it's hard to see a fish like that.

"Could it have been water quality?"
"May do a water change before if Nitrates look anything above 40ppm."
Nitrates should stay under about 20. 40 is where the real damage starts happening. So, if your nitrates are routinely at this level, then they certainly are causing problems. While nitrates weren't the direct cause of your problem (someone more knowledgeable than I gave the name of this disease), high quantities stress your fish and impede healing.

"Should I purchase any more fish from the store?"
From what you've said, this isn't the greatest store. If the employee didn't even know what a tang was, then that's a problem. Also, you said that it's the second tang you've gotten from this store that's died on you. Probably you shouldn't patronize this store further if you can avoid it. I know very, very little about SW fish, so it is possible that something you've done, and not the store, is the problem, and that it's escaped my notice. I may be totally wrong, but it sounds like they aren't getting healthy tangs.

"What should I do with the live rock?"
Scrubbing and boiling sounds fine.

I'm sorry about how you lost your fish. She was so pretty.