cynthia March 31, 2017 Share March 31, 2017 I need some help. I currently have a Vlamingi tang that I have had for six years. I have had him since he was a baby. He is about 6 or 7 inches now. He has always ate very well and swims all over the tank as he owns it. I went on vacation and came back on Monday. He is now not eating and is staying in one portion of the tank. He has a little bit of white on his one pectoral fin and his eyes are cloudy. I called the exotic vet near me (don't laugh but this is my favorite fish) but he is unfortunately on vacation for the next two weeks. I need some help to figure out what I need to do. Here is the current information that I have: He is in a reef 250 gallon. I do water changes once a week. I do three 50 (each week for three weeks) gallon water changes and one 90 gallon water change (at the end of each month). My parameters have not really been an issue. I did do a water change this morning and will test the water in a few once it cycles through the tank. I can set up a QT tank but do not just want to be throwing a bunch of chemicals in there not knowing what I'm treating and adding more stress to him. I have a biopellet and phospate reactor, u/v sterlizer and my skimmer runs 24 hours a day. I'm just at a lost of what to do at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds March 31, 2017 Share March 31, 2017 Have you checked the levels? And is the pump working correctly on the biopellets? That can cause an issue if the pump isn't working properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynthia March 31, 2017 Author Share March 31, 2017 Reactors are running correctly. I'm getting ready to test all the levels. I did a 45 gallon water change this morning and wanted that to cycle through before running tests. I'll post results in a few. All the other fish are fine and eating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind March 31, 2017 Share March 31, 2017 How is it breathing; slow, fast, or normal? vlamingii are usually tough fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynthia March 31, 2017 Author Share March 31, 2017 He is breathing normally. Just staying in the corner and not eating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar March 31, 2017 Share March 31, 2017 cynthia, First, I would check the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis forum on Reef2reef. There are some excellent articles and pinned threads there with pictures of common symptoms to help figure out what's going on. Observe the fish for behavioral symptoms too. Then decide on what/whether treatment is necessary. There are resources there for recommended medications, where to get them, and how to use them. If you can take a clear, focused picture of your fish's symptoms, you can start a thread. Second, I would try to figure out why the fish got sick. It's an unlikely coincidence that the fish just happened to get sick while you were on vacation. It's much more likely that he got sick because you left. Not because he missed you! But something probably caused him stress which allowed him to get sick. Maybe your tank-sitter didn't feed often enough, or fed too much, or unplugged something. But it may be something that you need to address. Good luck! Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynthia March 31, 2017 Author Share March 31, 2017 Parameters are: Ammonia: 0 Nitrates 0.75 (they have always been high since I have big fish) Alk: 9.0 DKH Calcium : 390 ppm Magnesium: 1200 ppm Ph: 8.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arking_mark March 31, 2017 Share March 31, 2017 I'll assume you've had this tank for a couple of years and it's not overstocked. When was your last addition or loss in the tank? While many people like to point to stress as a main contributor to health, I have often found that there is also an external factor involved...such a relatively new or dead tank mate. With a 250gal tank and your maintenance schedule, the water quality/stability should be good. Your testing confirms this. It would take very heavy overfeeding to make conditions bad...typically overfeeding just leads to lots of algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynthia April 1, 2017 Author Share April 1, 2017 I added a Christmas Wrasse about three weeks ago and some corals I bought from Dr. Mac's about a month ago. No, tank is not overstocked. I have not lost anything in this tank in quite some time. Probably six months ago when my Achilles tang died (it was a new addition and only lasted a month) I will definitely check out the Disease and Fish treatment area and read up on it. A good sign today was that he did eat some algae. Not very much but at least it was something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtelles April 2, 2017 Share April 2, 2017 Probably an unknown disease introduced by the xmas wrasse or corals. Unless your quarantine process is pristine, there's no way there isn't a connection between the new additions and the tang's illness. There are various diseases that would cause the white spot on the pectoral fin, but there are tons of online articles that in sure you're aware of on how to identify and treat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynthia April 2, 2017 Author Share April 2, 2017 I started shredding up some seaweed strips and soaking it in garlic xtreme and Vita-Chem and some Furan-2. He started eating that Friday night! I'm soo stoked about that. Yesterday he ate that twice (once in morning and once in evening) and then this morning he ate it again. He is used to me hand feeding him but since he is staying at the bottom corner of the tank, I used some tongs to feed him. Chomped it right up! I'm going to keep doing that twice a day until he is 100% I'm so happy that he is at least eating that. I know he is not out of the water yet but at least we are slowly progressing with him at least eating the seaweed soaked with the vitamins and medication. He looks like he is trying to perk up but only time will tell. Thanks for all the article suggestions. I read them and this is what they advised to try and do. As long he is eating, I do not want to stress him out by trying to QT him at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinap April 2, 2017 Share April 2, 2017 Get a cleaner wrasse from liveaquaria. Those eat everything and do their job. I have not bought new fish in a long time, and now I see diseases that I have not seen 10-15 years ago. Many are asymptomatic or like your case, mild and strange. Keep QT running. If he turns for the worse, put in him in hypo for starters. Can you treat his tank with Prazi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cynthia April 2, 2017 Author Share April 2, 2017 (edited) Right now he is still in my full reef display tank. I'm fearful to move him as I do not want him to stress out since he has been getting better. I will have to do some research on the Prazi and see if it's ok to have in the tank. I know if he gets worse I will move him but he looks to be getting better slowly. I'm afraid to put any new fish in there since I really do not know what he came down with. The other tankmates are doing fine and not showing any signs of getting sick. Edited April 2, 2017 by cynthia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinap April 2, 2017 Share April 2, 2017 Hopefully he will recover on his own. Once tangs have been in captivity for a few years, they become tough. I have a 20-year old powder blue, he is stronger than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k April 3, 2017 Share April 3, 2017 Get a cleaner wrasse from liveaquaria. Those eat everything and do their job. I have not bought new fish in a long time, and now I see diseases that I have not seen 10-15 years ago. Many are asymptomatic or like your case, mild and strange. Keep QT running. If he turns for the worse, put in him in hypo for starters. Can you treat his tank with Prazi? If it's going downhill, dont further stress or shock it by hyposalinity. Don't add meds unless you can id the sickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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