Kole Tang not doing good!

[rju12]

I just discovered my kole tang laying on the bottom of my tank breathing quickly. I think he might be a little discolored kinda patchy and texture. Also i noticed towards the very back fin it looks like a slit on each side.... I have no clue what this is.
I just tested my water and everything is at 0 ammonia nitrite nitrate. the temperature was 80 and ph was 8.2 and salinity 1.022 I have had the tank going for at least three months.
The other fish i have are two clowns and two of the domino damsels I think that is what they are called... Then just a small hermit crab and a few snails. The tank is a 55 gallon also
I have had the fish for maybe 3 weeks and I always see it pecking the tank for food but it doesn't eat much of the food that i put in there. I feel like it isn't eating.

 

[Ziggy953]

What time of day was this when you saw him laying no his side? Was it right after your lights came on or right before?

What are you feeding him?

 

[rju12]

He will lay on his side during the day or night he just gets up when i come around. Lately he hasn't been laying down... I just have some food for herbivores/homnivores but i also bought some nori really recently for him to try and get him to eat more. Im not sure that is even the problem though but it definitely could be.

 

[melosu58]

I would maybe soak the food in garlic to stimulate his appetite. Are you seeing any white specks like sugar grains on his body or fins? BTW welcome to the site.

 

[catmel]

Welcome to the site As Melosu stated, check for white spots that look like grains of salt or a dusty covering. Also is it rubbing against the rock or anything else?

If he isnt in a QT already I would recommend getting him into one to keep a close eye on him and possibly treat, once we get a better idea of what it may be. I'm dealing with a fish now thats having some rapid breathing, theres multiple causes, so we'll just have to try and rule out some things.

some things that cause rapid breathing - ich / velvet ( white spots)
( with the above and below possibilities is he rubbing on anything?)
gill flukes / parasites - can cause rapid breathing, may or may not see 'worms' attached to the gills

bacterial infections ( any other signs?, hard to say for sure by the looks of the picture) may show deteriorating fins, reddness on body etc.

let us know..

 

[Innovator]

Your tang appears thin (hard to say for certain), very discolored, possible infection around the mouth (picture to blurry), and blood streaks/patches from dorsal to caudal hinting an internal bacterial infection. Maracyn 2 (Minocycline) or Furacyn (Nitrofurazone) in QT might be your best options as far as availability is concerned and just my best guesses

 

[rju12]

Yeah i didn't notice him ever rubbing on any thing. Also he now seems to be doing better but im still very worried. You guys keep saying to qt him. Do you guys normally have an entire different tank or just something to seperate the fish? I have it in a really small seperator right now so the other fish dont attack him. I am going to go get the stuff you said. Also I just checked on him and there are white spots but only on his fins, mainly the back one, and it looks like it may also be on his forehead but it looks a little different there. Another thing i noticed is in the seperator there is a bunch of tiny white grain sitting on the bottom... I have no clue what this is. lol last question... I freaked out when he wasn't doing good and the pet store was closed so i went and bought roasted seaweed or nori... Is this the same as what I would buy at a fish store? ha I'm not really sure but whatever. Thank you guys so much for your advise and opinions! I really appreciate it!

 

[melosu58]

When I get home I`ll send you a good QT link.

 

[Innovator]

Use the 'Search' button; There should be quite a few threads including links of how to set up a QT.

 

[melosu58]

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com