YtangDisF8

FAQs about Yellow Tang Disease/Health 8

FAQs on Yellow Tang Disease: Disease 1, Disease 2, Disease 3, Disease 4, Disease 5, Disease 6, Disease 7, Yellow Tang Disease 9, Yellow Tang Disease 10, Yellow Tang Disease 11, Yellow Tang Disease 12, Yellow Tang Disease 13, Yellow Tang Disease 14, Yellow Tang Disease , & Paravortex/Black Spot Disease,
FAQs on Yellow Tang Disease by Category: Diagnosis, Environmental, Nutritional, Trauma, Pathogenic (infectious, parasitic), Social, Genetic, Treatments

Related Articles: Yellow Tangs,

Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
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by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Yellow Tang Distress 10/22/08 Hi, I am relatively new to marine aquariums, I bought a 65 gallon tank in June. It currently has around 50 pounds of live rock and I use a protein skimmer. I have had my yellow tang since the beginning of July and he has done wonderfully until a week ago. Last week he began scrapping up against the live rock and red blotches began appearing on his side. A few days later he was still doing this and the red began to spread from the areas he was hitting with the rock (around his tail) to the front of his body. He has now stopped eating which is my biggest concern. Other inhabitants of the tank are two clown fish, a porcupine puffer, <Misplaced here... needs much more room... may indeed be a factor> a blue damsel, and a cleaner shrimp. Any advise would be very much appreciated, the store where I have been getting all my supplies and fish was not very helpful with this. Thank you. -Beth <Mmm, there could be a few things amiss, but given that you don't report troubles with the other fish life, the root issue here is very likely environmental... Either social, with some of the other fish present bothering the Tang, metabolite accumulation (NO3 as a measure) or it ill-reacting to its own reflection. Read here please: http://wetwebmedia.com/ytangdisfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

My Yellow Tang, hlth., env. 10/3/08 Hi! Ted K Here Thank everything that's wet your site exists. The problem is my wife think I read to much now. LOL I have been reading so many FAQs, and have come close to finding a description of the problem. I still haven't found the answer??? My tank is 110g tall 120lbs of LR, w/ inverts and fish. Water parameters are all good and have been for a year or so. I have a Yellow Tang that has been in the tank from the beginning and in the last few weeks he has been breathing very rapidly. His mouth looks like its stuck open he stopped eating and there are little red soars around his entire mouth. <I see this in your excellent photo> The soars resemble little red lines. I have attached a pic. If you need more info please reply. I hope you can help!!! Thanks in advance Ted <The reddening is termed "septicemia"... "dirty blood"... evidence of something/s not right water quality wise in this system... Perhaps other life poisoning this fish, maybe simply metabolite accumulation. I would be testing your water, changing a good deal of it, cleaning up your skimmer... Perhaps looking into long-term ways of making the system more stable, optimized. Please peruse WWM re: http://wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm Bob Fenner>

Black string like object on yellow tang 9/6/08 Hi guys hope you can help, I have a yellow tang that has a black string like object coming out of its anus. The fish is otherwise healthy and behaviour is normal. Although some weight loss seems to have occurred. It began growing yesterday and is now about 4cm long. Is this intestinal worms? <Mmm, might be... but could also likely be just something the fish ate, is passing... I wouldn't panic... would wait a few days... Bob Fenner>
Re: Black string like object on yellow tang 9/10/08 thanks heaps for your help, you were right. The tang passed it the next day and is doing fine. Thanks again <Ah, good. Thank you for this follow-up. BobF>

Yellow Tang banging against glass, env.-chemically burned, pH 8.8 8/16/08 Hello Crew, <Cielo> I have a 5 inch yellow tang that I picked out on Mother's day 08 from our LFS. Up until now all my fishes have been healthy. A little background on my tank: I have a 55 gallon tank <Not really sufficient space...> with 60lbs of live sand and 30lbs of live rock, a protein skimmer, and a whisper filter. Three days ago I made a 20 gallon water change. 2 Mornings after that change I woke up to a noise and found that it was my yellow tang banging himself against the light hood of the tank, almost like he wanted to get out. <Mmmm> Then he began darting against the glass and hitting himself against it. I noticed that he had red or pink on the inside of his lips and also across his body. The next day he stopped eating. I checked my levels and they read: Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, but my PH was 8.8 <Yeeikes! Caustic> so I went to the LFS and purchased a buffer. I was told I should quarantine <?> him so that I wouldn't need to medicate the whole tank as the other fish are fine. The medication I purchased is the Myracid Two. <... Maracyn... Minocycline... of no use here> I only had a 5 gallon tank <Much too small...> available to make a QT out of, and so that is where I placed my Tang. Right now he's on his side at the bottom of the tank, he is hardly breathing. <...> At least in the display tank he was still swimming around. Should I place him back in the display tank? I need your advice. ~L from PA <YES, now! Bob Fenner>
Re: Yellow Tang banging against glass... using WWM 8/16/08 Hi Bob, <Cielo> Thanks for responding. I went ahead and placed him back in the tank and he swam around. But within a half hour he passed away. I feel horrible. I'm in the process of purchasing a 100 gallon tank to transfer the rest of my fish into. I don't want to lose anymore of my fishes, so I have a couple of questions: do I need to cycle the new tank if I'm transferring my rock, sand, and the water? Or should I just start fresh? <... please, follow instructions... Search, read (on WWM) before writing us. All this, and the issues with high pH, environmental diseases as such... are posted/archived.> I have a chocolate chip star fish and I know they don't do well in newly set up tanks, so how should I go about his transfer into the new tank? <... posted... along with much other ancillary/useful material you'll encounter in the process.> Your advice is truly appreciated. Thanks, L from PA <Do the directions for using the search tool and indices make sense to you? Please use them. BobF>

Yellow Tang Black Spot, 8/14/08 Hello, <Hi> Just a quick question about "Black Spot" disease. I have a fairly new Yellow Tang, and have noticed the small black spots on him (I would say around a dozen right now). I was surprised to read about black spot disease/Ich as I was unaware of this condition. <http://www.wetwebmedia.com/parasiti.htm> In the past, if a fish in my main display reef gets Ich, I do my best to treat with garlic. I do my best to keep the fish healthy by eating and I use plenty of garlic to resolve the problem. <No scientific data that suggests garlic is anything more than an appetite stimulant.> The thought is that Ich hates garlic causing them to abandon the fish, and as long as the fish is eating the garlic, the Ich has no host and eventually dies off. <Again, I would not rely on garlic.> It can be difficult for me to catch the infected fish, so depending on severity of the condition of the fish, I will however set a trap to catch the fish if necessary for treatment as a last resort. <All the more reason to QT all fish.> I have had good success in the past ridding Ich as long as fish are eating. My question is does black spot behave the same as garden variety Ich, or are they completely different? <Completely different, is a flatworm, Paravortex.> Will my process of feeding plenty of garlic help rid this parasite? <I do not believe it will rid any fish of any parasite, the science is just not there. But for Paravortex, a pH and temperature adjusted fresh water dip usually does the trick.> Thanks. -Chris <Welcome>
<Chris>

Red on Yellow Tang, 8/13/08 Hi, <Hello> I have read your resource pages regarding Red spots and streaks on Yellow Tangs and have gained some great knowledge; however, I can't seem to get my tang better. We have a 55 gallon tank which we recently upgraded from a 33 gallon (4 months ago). <Still too small for a tang.> The aquarium is completely cycled and the parameters are near ideal and I have also had them checked at our LFS. <Near ideal? Numbers please.> We have 20 lbs. of live rock. We have a 2 clowns and the tang. We have had the tang for approx. 3 months. About 3 weeks ago she started having red showing on her face, lateral line and starting to spread on her dorsal and tail fin. We thought it was diet so increased the seaweed in her diet and added vitamins to the water. <This is almost always associated with poor water quality.> The redness continued to spread and the owner of the LFS thought she had a bacterial infection. We put her in a QT and treated her with Erythromycin for 4 days, doing water changes every other day. <Did it improve?> We transferred her back to the large aquarium on day 5 and everything seemed fine. About 4 days later the redness was returning, but this time more severe. <Good water quality in the QT and the fish is fine, back to the main and symptoms improve, think there is a link there.> Back to the LFS where it was recommended to put her back into the QT and treat with Erythromycin for 7 days. 24 hours ago, we put her back in the large aquarium and the red is back. You can almost see it spreading. I have already moved her back to the QT but have not added any medication. The redness disappears quickly when she is put into the QT. <Water quality.> She is eating normally, but her activity seems to slow down after she is in the large aquarium. The two clowns are absolutely fine. <More resilient, tolerate of environmental issues.> I am at a loss to know what to do now. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Lisa <When was the last time you changed the water in the main tank? If not recent I would give it a 20% water change immediately.> <Chris>

Re: Red on Yellow Tang, 8/13/08 Hi Chris, <Hello> pH 8.1, SG 1.020, <I would raise this slowly to more natural levels of 1.025.> Ammonia 0, Temp 80, Nitrite 0.1, <This may be the problem, nitrite is still very toxic, needs to be 0.> PO4 0. <Nitrates?> The redness did improve after 4 doses of erythromycin but returned about 5 days after placing her back in the large aquarium. It disappeared again in the QT with 7 doses of Erythromycin. We use R/O water and do water changes and complete cleaning of all the equipment every 3 - 4 weeks. <How complete, can do too much and damage your biofilter.> It has been 2 1/2 weeks since the last water change. I will do it again today. I put the tang back in the QT last night and today the red is gone. The water in the QT is water siphoned out of the large aquarium. Thanks, Lisa <Do you have any anemones or aggressive corals that it could be coming in contact with. Typically bacterial infections do not manifest themselves is this manner, at least without some outside influence.> <Chris>

Possible Intestinal Blockage +Epsom Salt In Main Display, Artemia cyst involvement? 8/8/08 Hi, Bob & gang. This is a follow-up to my earlier question about my yellow Tang that suddenly stopped eating. After doing more searches throughout your site, I believe my Yellow Tang has some sort of intestinal blockage. <Not actually all that uncommon... Like most Surgeonfishes, Zebrasomas consume goodly amounts of hard material... thought to aid in nutrition... that can clog...> The front of his stomach is very bloated while the back (near the tail) is emaciated. I'm afraid it may have been caused by him swallowing some unhatched brine shrimp cysts that were accidentally mixed into the tank a few days ago. <Would have to be a bunch, but these can really be a source of trouble here> After thinking back to when this started happening, it's too coincidental that the Tang stopped eating the day after I fed them brine shrimp (and accidentally included some unhatched cysts (!)). I'm definitely going to decapsulate my brine shrimp eggs before hatching them in the future! <Highly recommended> Per your advice in the FAQ section, I want to try dosing with Epsom salt to try and get the Tang to pass out whatever's blocking his intestines. However, I'm having a VERY TOUGH time trying to catch him. I tried for the best part of 2 hours trying to catch him. <Do use, practice with two nets...> Since my tank has many live rock caves, it's close to impossible to catch him without severely stressing him out. So, rather than stress him and all the other inhabitants out, I'd like to try adding the Epsom salt directly into my main tank. <Can be done> Your original advice to another guy with the same problem was to apply a dip of 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in 1 gallon of ph-buffered & dechloraminated freshwater. Since I'm not able to successfully catch him, can I just add the Epsom salt directly into the display tank? <Yes> I have a Coral Beauty, 2 true percula clowns, a lawnmower blenny, a Flame Hawk, Black-Cap Basslet plus a Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp in the tank. It also contains some soft corals plus a couple of snails. <... may obviously affect the invertebrates...> I understand it's safe to add the Epsom salt if it's no more than 1 tbsp per 5 gallon of water. This is much lower than your original prescription. Should I stick to the "safe level" or your original prescribed amount? <Yes> Please help since I REALLY want to save the Tang while protecting all my other tank inhabitants. Thank you very much! Charles Tang (yeah, I'm a "Tang" too ;-)) <Neat! I would go ahead as you state... Very likely "This too shall pass". Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Possible Intestinal Blockage +Epsom Salt In Main Display 8/20/08 Hi, Bob & gang. I just want to write this e-mail to thank you and your wonderful team for providing such a great resource. My yellow Tang finally started eating again after two treatments of 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt per 5 gallons of water. It's starting to regain its "plumpness" again. Thank you once again for your wonderful advice. I just bought some Tang Heaven from IPSF.com and most of my more herbivorous fish are absolutely loving it! Thank you very much! Charles Tang (I'm a Happy Tang now... :-)) <You're Welcome from everyone here at WWM, Good luck with tang :), IanB>

Yellow Tang Not Eating 8/5/08 Hey, guys. Thanks for your great resource. I've learnt A LOT from spending many hours reading through the many FAQs. Saying that though, I've tried searching through the site but haven't found a direct answer to my problem. <OK> I have a 35 gallon tank and have a lawnmower blenny, Flame Hawk, <Needs a larger tank> Yellow Sailfin Tang, <Also needs a larger tank.> Coral Beauty, <larger tank...> Blackcap Basslet, two True Percula Clowns and a couple of cleaner snails and Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. The tank inhabitants are all pretty happy. I've had them for more than a year now. The Yellow Tang's normally the "boss" and eats almost everything. However, it has stopped eating for close to a week. I normally feed it baby brine shrimp, Tetra flake food, tiny blood worms, red seaweed and also romaine lettuce. <Not really good foods for this fish, needs vegetable foods of marine origin.> Not all at once, of course. :-). I've stopped feeding romaine lettuce and give more Nori now... <Good> The Tang is no longer eating anything at all. It's still pretty active but now seems to rush against the aquarium glass like it's trying to break through it. <Results of the cramped quarters.> There is a faint whitish stripe along its body, even with lights on. <Stress markings.> There aren't any red streaks or anything, though. Its belly also looks a little bloated with bumps all over it. It looks like it ate a bunch of little rocks or something! It extends its fin every now and again... <Could be a result of the diet, or an infection, difficult to say.> What could possibly be happening? <Too small of a tank, inappropriate diet takes it toll.> I've grown very attached to all my tank inhabitants and would absolutely hate it if anything happened to the Tang. What do you suggest I do? <Get it into a larger tank, change its diet to something more appropriate.> Thanks for your help. Charles Tang <Welcome> <Chris> <<Obviously has NOT done a lot of reading... on WWM. RMF>>

Yellow Tang... hlth., env. 6/23/08 Hello WWM Crew, I have a question, my yellow tang has been acting strange and I'm a little worried. I have had him for about 3 weeks now, and up until about three days ago he had been eating normally and swimming around normally. For the most part he still has most of his color (fading occasionally for reasons unknown). The problem is he seems out of sorts, staying close to the bottom sometimes listing to one side. On a couple of occasions I found him laying on his side but then after a while he gets up and stays in one place next to the bottom. He does not seem interested in food. The only thing that has changed in the tank lately is that I put in 5 green Chromis all about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. My tank is a 75 gallon bow front with approx 85 lbs of live rock. From what I've read on your website is that this tank is too small for the tang. This will be remedied at a later date. There is a scribbled rabbit fish that seems to be ok and a four stripe damsel in the tank as well. water parameters are good accept for the pH which fluctuates from 8.2 to 7.8. <Mmm, this is actually a huge fluctuation> I am constantly trying to get the pH up and stable and I'm buffering the water every day. <Do read on WWM re pH, alkalinity...> My corals seem very good, all of the leathers <Oh!> are fully extended along with the xenia, Kenya trees and my slipper coral. Back to my tang, he also seems to be scratching every once in a while, and there looks to be some rust colored spots on his face. My question is, did I stress the tang out by adding the Chromis? <This may have added to stress> They seem to have taken over where he used to sleep, ( one of the Chromis actually nipped at the tang once that I observed ). I am at a loss on what to do. Please help. Best Regards, Steve Harris <I would "spiff up your skimmer", try to be patient here... I suspect that there is nothing "overt" or pathogenic going on here, but an additive accumulation of stress... from being new, the Chromis as you state, and generalized poisoning from Cnidarian interaction here... Should normalize in time... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm Bob Fenner>

A Sad Little Tang -6/13/08 Hello WWM Crew: <Hello! Benjamin here today.> I have a question for you and it may be somewhat odd but it has saddened me very deeply. I know all of you encourage the conservation of our marine wildlife and I know why. <If I may wax poetic, I believe it was the great William Blake who said "For everything which lives is holy; life delights in life."> Especially recently, as you will understand. I have been dealing with our local live fish store over the past year and have seen conditions continue to deteriorate during that time, especially in their saltwater fish department. I have seen fish stricken with Ich, rubbing, flashing breathing hard, and starving, living in too cramped conditions. I have seen dyed anemones, rose anemones kept in under-lit tanks, and corals too close together in same said tank. <Common conditions, and sometimes an unfortunately necessary evil- though hopefully we will continue to see changes in the habits and techniques used by retailers.> Here is my question and it all started with a little yellow tang. About 3 months ago I ventured into the store to pick up the usual salt, buffer etc. and of course had to wander over to the tanks to take a peek like I always do (have to have a look, don't need anymore, mine are all fat and happy). There was a 2 inch yellow tang that looked like he perhaps had velvet, and I thought to myself he would probably not be long for this world. <Certainly the case, if it had velvet.> A couple of weeks passed and I decided to purchase my first Zoa frag from same live fish store, and saw the same yellow tang, still alive but noticeably thinner and still in poor health. Went today purchased another frag, and was amazed that the same tang was there now so thin that it is almost transparent, and moving very little. <Unfortunate. Either poor nutrition or perhaps copper or cyanide have harmed this fish's digestive endosymbionts/commensals.> Since I have one of my own I know this is atypical behavior. I thought to myself I ought to tell the guys to let me take him home for na-da. So here's my question. I'm sure the little guy would probably not survive the transfer but I don't know what would be worse. Dying during transfer or starving to death in an overcrowded tank. What are your thoughts? <My thought is that sometimes there just isn't anything we can do. If you want to give it a try, make sure you keep it quarantined at your home; this fish will most likely bring/acquire disease. I suspect it has very limited time, however. To have purchased it early on would have supported this store; to wait until it is sick enough they give it away is to doom the fish- but better that one fish should die in the store than to support poor practices. The needs of many outweigh the needs of few, in this case.> By the way, if it were to survive, there is a large marine aquarium in our town it could have been given to. <Make sure they would want it. Yellow tangs are much more desirable to the average hobbyist than to an aquarium. Isn't it unfortunate in our hobby how well we delight in life, but how rarely we observe the first part of that couplet? Benjamin>

Yellow tang with redness around eyes and "nose" 5/6/08 Hoping you could give me some helpful info as what I need to do with my tangs. First of all, all parameters are relatively normal and salinity fluctuates between 32 - 35 ppm. First started having problems with my tangs not eating very well. Had them isolated into two separate tanks sharing same water, it's a 300 gal tank.. One set would eat Nori algal sheets, Mysis and a gel diet but the others would not or very little. Eating habits dwindled down to practically not eating at all for one tank. Put some copper <A poor idea> on the system and did a 50 % water change and put them together. Isolated 3 that were fresh water dipped. One other dipped died the next day. They seem to be eating better and have not lost any since. <Likely the water change...> Today I noticed that they have this redness around the eyes and a bit going towards the lat line on some. <Another clue> Their eyes, on some, are darkened on the upper and lower part of the pupil which makes them look very dilated. <Good observations, descriptions> They are fed a diet of enriched flake food, Nori algal sheets, Mysis and a omnivorous gel diet. Since they started eating better I have been alternating soaking their food in ALGA-MAC enrichment supplement enhanced and High Vite for added nutrition. <Unfamiliar with these products> What else can you recommend I do for my fish. Thanks in advance for all your help. Nat <... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/fishindex3.htm scroll down to the tray on Tangs/Acanthuroids... re Health/Disease in general, the genera, species involved... Something is amiss here environmentally... poisoning likely of some sort... Polyfilter may disclose the nature... Bob Fenner>

Yellow Tang Disease ID 5/1/08 Hello WWM crew. <Hi Julio, Mac here> This is truly an awesome site. The information found here is extremely valuable to us all and I'd like to thank you for that. Attached to this email are 2 pictures of a medium sized yellow tang I purchased 2 weeks ago and was wondering if you can help me ID what is growing on this tang's top fin. When I brought him home, I made sure that I acclimated him with the drip system for about 2 hours before introducing him to the tank. The next day, I noticed about 3 small white growths growing on the top edge of his top fin but cannot ID the exact disease and wish to find a solution to his problem. As soon as he was introduced to the tank, he immediately began eating everything I fed the tank including Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and Cyclop-eeze. I have also added a veggie clip but he seems to ignore it and only wants meaty foods. He appears to be in perfect health other than the white growths he has on the fin and shows no signs of discoloration, Ich or heavy breathing. He has a ferocious appetite and swims around the tank normally. My tank description and water parameters are as follows. 90 gallon tech tank with 30 gallon sump, CoraLife Aqualite pro lighting, AquaC EV 180 skimmer, 4" deep sand bed, and 110 pounds live rock. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all zero, PH 8.4, salinity 1026, and calcium is 470. I would greatly appreciate your recommendations as to what to do with this fish. <Honestly looks like Lymphocystis to me. The good news is that this is a viral disease that usually will clear up on its own in good tank conditions. Good luck, Mac> Thank you!

Brown spots, Yellow Tang, stress, more reading and grammar checking 4/30/08
Hello Crew <Terris> I have spent hours reading your web site great stuff it should be organized into a hard cover encyclopedia. <Run on sentence> I am new at this, but we have to start somewhere right. <A statement?> I have a 110 gallon tank with a small community 4 clown (one is a tomato), 1 Yellow Tang a flame angel fish, coral beauty, a dog face puffer and a beta, <Not this> all living very happy. <Happily> With acceptable water conditions tank is fully cycled and is growing live rock very fast (up till yesterday) I have two sick fish the puffer and the yellow tang have these brown spots. <... in a word, from "stress"> I added quick cure 24 hours ago <An exceedingly poor idea/move... you've poisoned your system... with formalin> and I do not know now what action should be taken now since the fish still have the spots on them. I have added a picture of the tang. The puffer fish fins are starting to look better, but the tang is still not looking like there is any improvement. Terris Cooper <Keep reading... Likely the Tomato is harassing the Zebrasoma... could be nutritional, some aspect of water quality... Bob Fenner>

Yellow Tang Ill? Reading 4/27/08 Hi, I have a question about my yellow tang. He has been in my tank about two weeks. Yesterday he was eating and acting as normal, very active, and ate 'dinner' with all the others (1 blue and yellow damsel and 2 clown fish). This morning he was not out as usual after searching I found him in the back of the tank (30gal) <This volume is too small for a Zebrasoma (or for that matter any) Tang> behind my live rock (25 lbs.). He has since been sitting there all day, propped up against a rock. He will move if I wiggle a rock or coax him with my finger. His color is bright and breathing is normal. I just noticed a brown "string"-like line coming out of his side behind his fin. <?!> I tried to gently pull it off thinking it was hair algae stuck to him, but it appears to be attached!? I called my LFS and they could not tell over the phone and they close in 10 minutes. I attempted to take a picture but it's hard to see it. It looks like fish "poop" for lack of a better term. Any ideas? Thanks! JB <... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/YellowTang.htm and the linked files above. Return this fish... it won't live long under the present circumstances. Bob Fenner>

Help with Strange Yellow Tang Problem Please 4/9/08 Hey Guys- <Brian> I have had 2 mini reef tanks for several years and recently consolidated them into a 90 gallon. There is approximately 90 lbs of live rock which half I've had for 3 years and 60 lbs. of live sand. For filtration there is a protein skimmer and a wet dry. I've just ordered a refugium. Water parameters are where they should be: ammonia= 0, nitrites=0, nitrates=0, PH=8.2, Phosphates=0, salinity= 1.024. I have recently purchased 3 yellow tangs for my tank. <Mmm... too likely to actually fight here rather than get along... Zebrasoma of all species have a mix of territorial behaviors... the dynamics of their stocking... can be complex> The LFS where I buy my fish is a good store as their stock is usually in great shape. The LFS is adding new display tanks in their store and the tank that the tangs where in was not lit with light properly due to their construction. When I got them home I noticed they had the beginning of HLLE. One of the tangs had a weird white spot on his dorsal fin that looked like a wound. It is not ick. In the last week these white spots have appeared on the other 2 tangs and the one with the original spot has a few more. They are in the same location and do not seem to get any better only spreading slowly, meaning they never fall off. The spots are also larger than ick spots and look fleshy. The spots are also raised- similar to ick. I have caught some fresh water fish fishing that had something like this on them. I'm sorry but I can not get a picture of it. The fish are very active and have huge appetites. They are very nervous and spooky. Unfortunately I did not quarantine them and I'm paying for it now. They are the only other fish I've added since the consolidation. <Sounds/reads like either subdermal encrusting worms or perhaps a type of Sporidean protozoan. Have seen such in aquariums and the wild on many occasions, having dived hundreds of times in Hawai'i> For fish I have the 3 juv. 3 1/2" tangs, 2 1" onyx clowns, 1 2.5" yellow wrasse, 1 2" six line wrasse, and 1 yellow clown goby. None of the other fish have this or any other problem. <And not likely to "contract" the stated symptoms> I feed them prime reef frozen and flake, dried seaweed and algae, formula 2, frozen Mysis, and Spirulina brine. I'm going out to buy Nori and Selcon today as well as a cleaner shrimp. <Ah, good> I have been researching this site and goggle for a few days with no results and need your assistance please. Thank you for your help and the service you provide! Brian <Adding the refugium, the other food/supplement and cleaner will help a great deal... but do keep a watchful eye on the Tangs interactions... it may be that definitely one will be "the odd fish out" and in time only one be happy-enough in this volume, size setting to suit you and it/themselves. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Re: Help with Strange Yellow Tang Problem Please -04/11/08 Thanks you for your help. I have caught them out of my main tank and setup a hospital tank which is ten gallons. I returned 2 of the tangs and am going to keep just one. <Ah, good... I had notions of modifying, adding a further note to our prev. corr. re this... Is best> After catching them I did a 3 minute freshwater dip- I know it wasn't long enough as now I've read the correct way to do it. <This is about as long as any good can/will be done> I was able to get a few pics of the problem which I have attached to this email. I have started him on Mardel CopperSafe as per instructions. What do you think? <I would not... See here: http://wetwebmedia.com/fishindex3.htm the areas on Tangs, Disease, Copper... No good to come of exposing this Zebrasoma to such for what is going on here... Just better care, environment...> Thank you again! Brian <Welcome. BobF>
Re: saltwater tank infection 5/5/08 Thanks Bob. The yellow tang seems to be improving, he's eating much better and is out and about more. His color seems to be starting to come back as well. Hopefully he pulls through, thanks for the help. <Ah, thank you for this upbeat update! BobF>

Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
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by Robert (Bob) Fenner

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