Regal Tang Lesion?

[RAB22]

Hey all,

Was wondering if anyone could help me with my Regal tang? Iv'e had it for around 10 months now and up until a couple of days ago it's never really had any problems other than a couple of bouts of pop eye which cleared up after i put some epsom salts into the system.

What i noticed though was that he had what looks like a white scab appear on his side overnight, it's about the size of a fingernail on a little finger and the fish is around 3 to 4 inches long. Iv'e seen it scratch itself on the rocks a few times but see no signs of any parasites such as ich and other than that the fish is fine, eating well, darting about just as usual.

I also have two ocellaris clowns around 1.5 inches, a six line wrasse around 2 inches, a yellow tang around 3 inches & a cleaner shrimp.

They'res a couple of photos attached if anyone has an answer for waht it might be i'd be very grateful.

Ps if needed ill get some better photos only he's so fast it's almost impossible to get a clear shot.

 

[ccCapt]

Pop eye is an infection which can normally be cured by just improving water quality. Lots of water changes always does wonders. I'm not sure how the epsom salts would have done anything since it's just a magnesium supplement that's very often used in reef tanks.
I can't see anything on the pics, but I would guess some type of bacterial infection. Improved water quality does wonders again.
What size tank do you have? Can you post some of your water parameters?
temp, salinity, nitrate and ammonia (if any)

 

[Innovator]

From a past post of mine on another board regarding epsom salts: Epsom salt has been used in the industry for years as a weak treatment for popeye (fluid reduction), swelling, and triggering bowl movements in fish. It is not a fast acting "cure-all" and should not cause any adverse affects; Feel free to Google it as I'm sure Fenner's name will pop up amongst others The dosage for a muscle relaxer and laxative is 1tblspn/5g or 10g.

Anyways, I agree with watching your water chemistry and aggression between tangs. Could also be lateral line, but just a guess at this point.

 

[ccCapt]

Not to hijack this thread, but let me take a quick detour.

Epsom salt has been used in the industry for years as a weak treatment for popeye (fluid reduction), swelling, and triggering bowl movements in fish.

At what concentrations? I never heard that before. Maybe that's why my fish are never constipated.

 

[Innovator]

See post directly above your last It's mainly used for fish that are gluttonous feeders and those that are not fed a varied diet.

 

[ccCapt]

Ahhhh...I don't wanna Google it myself.

OK..detour over...back on topic.

 

[Innovator]

No silly, I gave the concentration XD Unless I am misunderstanding the question? Hmmmm.....last line of first paragraph: The dosage for a muscle relaxer and laxative is 1tblspn/5g or 10g.

 

[melosu58]

I`ve never used epsom salt so I cant speak on that but I would like to say also keep a close eye out on your water parameters. Pristine water conditions are a must. I would like some betters pics if possible because I`m like James thinking HLLE.

 

[ccCapt]

No silly, I gave the concentration XD Unless I am misunderstanding the question? Hmmmm.....last line of first paragraph: The dosage for a muscle relaxer and laxative is 1tblspn/5g or 10g.

Maybe we both misunderstood each other or maybe I phrased the question wrong. What's the therapudic level (in ppm) of mag as a cure for popeye? Even if you add 1 tblspn per 5 or 10g of water, what should the new mag level be...if I normally keep my mag at 1300ppm, for example?
Since epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate, I assume the elevated mag is supposedly the cure?

gheez....sorry for the detour again.

 

[RAB22]

Hi guy's got some better pics for you, noticed today that it now has some smaller dark patches on the skin in front of the gil though it's still acting normal. I checked the water quality and everything seemed ok, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, ph 8.3 except i seem to have had a nitrate spike and it's shot up to 80 which im currently working on with water changes, could this be the cause by any chance? My other fish all look fine. Oh and the tank size is 65 US gallons.

By the way on the topic of epsom salts the reason i used it was i found on the web somewhere (Wetwebmedia i think) that it helps with swelling and was recommended in a few of the posts, so i tried it and the swelling went down in a day or two. Can't remember the dosage off the top of my head though.

 

[melosu58]

That almost looks like HLLE area. It will run straight across down to the face area.

 

[RAB22]

Cool thanks for the info, any ideas on how to treat it?