Sick tang...

[tsaraber]

We're currently doing hypo in a 20 gallon [acronym:f5fe63ce17="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:f5fe63ce17] tank to treat ich, everyone was doing fine until today. The tang is breathing hard and he's developed a white splotch on his side. He's barely using his fin on that side either.

He hasn't touched the nori I put in today and usually he loves his nori. The [acronym:f5fe63ce17="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:f5fe63ce17] tank is still cycling though we've done our best to keep the nasty stuff (ammonia and nitrites so far) under .25 with lots of water changes.

[acronym:f5fe63ce17="Specific gravity"]sg[/acronym:f5fe63ce17] right now is at .009 as per the hypo instructions I found online and through this forum. They've been in hypo for about two weeks now. There are 3 other small fish in there with him and they're all doing perfectly.

Any idea what this may be and is there anything we can do to help him?

[TCTFish]

What I would do...is take the tang out of the hypo treatment slowly and start treating him for infection. Could the tang have abrasied himself on something? Just a thought. Also, what other fish are in with him?

When treating fish, they are already under stress from whatever is ailing them. The levels of ammonia and nitrite put even more stress on the fish...and you've got very low salinity...which adds to the stress...even if it is for treatment. The heavy breathing can indicate a respiratory problem...perhaps due to the low salinity and toxicity of the water. Check pH. Increase water flow and aeration. Use Prime or Amquel Plus water conditioner to help protect the fish against ammonia and nitrite poisoning. You can also add a bio additive like Nitromax Marine. OK to double dose.




Use Stress Coat and an anti bacterial medication to treat the tang.

[tsaraber]

Most everything in the tank looks pretty safe ([acronym:8670a3a098="Plastic pipe"]pvc[/acronym:8670a3a098] bits, powerhead, [acronym:8670a3a098="Hang On Back"]HOB[/acronym:8670a3a098] filter) but I suppose it's always possible that he hurt himself somehow. I don't think so though. His other tankmates are a potters angel and 2 percula clowns.

We have been using Amquel Plus half dose between water changes and it worked great with the ammonia but it just isn't cutting it with the nitrites, even full dose.

The [acronym:8670a3a098="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:8670a3a098] is currently at 8.2 (we're using a [acronym:8670a3a098="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:8670a3a098] monitor) however over the weekend there was a problem with the buffers we're using (Marine Buffer by Seachem) and the [acronym:8670a3a098="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:8670a3a098] shot up to 8.6 - not good obviously.

On top of which I forgot to turn the [acronym:8670a3a098="Hang On Back"]HOB[/acronym:8670a3a098] filter back on after my water change last night so the only flow in there was the powerhead.

At this point it doesn't look good. I've heard that bringing a fish out of hypo needs to be done slowly, over the course of a few days and it doesn't look like that's going to be an option. If we take him out of hypo too fast it's just going to stress him out even more won't it? And if we wait the week or so to bring him out properly then it may be too late to do anything about the infection - assuming that's the problem of course.

[TCTFish]

If you don't have a spare tank laying around, you can use a five gallon bucket and increase the salinity within a couple of days. At this point it may be a do or die situation and just hope for the best. I've used buckets before in emergency situations with just a heater and a water pump and/or airstone. You can do small daily water changes and cover the top with some sort of screen or plastic mesh to keep the fish from jumping out. You could start treatment while increasing salinty. Good luck. I know it's not easy. Sometimes we need to treat before we know exactly what it is that's being treated. We do know that it's not parasitic so we know parasite meds won't do any good. There are many meds available that treat for both bacterial and fungal infections. Stress Coat just adds a protective layer of slime and acts sort of like a band aid...keeping bad bacteria out and electrolites in. If you are worried about stress levels with increasing salinity at the same time as treatment, you can half dose meds until salinity is back to normal or just use Stress Coat and see what happens. Use your best judgement.

Those water conditioners do not remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, but rather seal the toxicity temprorarily. Adding bio additives like Nitromax Marine will help eat away the nitrites and any ammonia. Doesn't do anything for nitrate. That's a whole different bacteria.