Yellow Tang Sick, please help

[HalfAmazing]

Sup Everyone

Im fairly new to this site and I have a concern. My yellow tang's fins are tearing in the back and a little up top. I was told it could be his nutrition.

Im currently feeding him : New Life Spectrum pellets
Tetra Spirulina flakes
and Sea Veggies ( green sea weed )

I also have a purple gamma in the tank as well and he seems fine.

If I can please get some advice on what to do. At first it was just the bottm it looked like it was bit by another fish. Now it is in several places like bites, but Im positive its not bites. Please someone help me out

Thanks

 

[e-cat]

what are your water perimaters?
was the tank cycled?
i hear that gammas can get nippy to tank mates, what size of tank is it?
i hope your yellow tang gets better my yellow is my favorite fish in my tank.

 

[HalfAmazing]

The tank was cycled, it is a 20 gallon. I dont know my parimeters I get my water checked every 2 weeks but at the store. How can I get my parimeters checked for myself and my main concern is the tang please help

 

[e-cat]

20 gallons is too small for a yellow tang and i think you should invest in a ammonia, ph, nitate, nitrite test kits asap, the tang is porobably stressed out being in a 20gal tank causeing its immune system too weaken.

 

[HalfAmazing]

that would cause for his tail to tear?

Thanks for your help

 

[e-cat]

it could, some one else will have a better ansewer for you, im sure it wont take long for some one else too come along.

 

[HalfAmazing]

thanks buddy

Also if someone can answer how often should i change 20% of water in the 20 gallon tank and also how often do I feed. Im investing in books as we speak but If you can help please

 

[e-cat]

i feed my tang every day and just started putting in the green sea weed the other day for him too graze on along with the algae in the tank, do you have live rock and or sand?i change 5 gallons every week or so on a 70gal and im sure i could go a lot longer then that.

 

[HalfAmazing]

yes I have sand about 1 1/2 inches of sand and I have about 7 pounds of live rock , do i need more live rock, I think I do

 

[e-cat]

iv been told 1.5 - 2 pounds per gallon, i have 45lbs and need more.

 

[HalfAmazing]

oh ok cool thanks buddy , Can anyone else give me any ideas or suggestions.
Ill greatly appreciate it.

 

[steve-s]

oh ok cool thanks buddy , Can anyone else give me any ideas or suggestions.
Ill greatly appreciate it.

As already stated the tang does not belong in a 20 gal tank, as it's far to small. The cramped space will definately have a negative effect on the tangs health as it is most likely under continual stress. The torn fin can be a sign of stress, aggression from tank mates or the sign of poor water quality. Without having the neccessary tests on hand you will not be able to accertain immediately for yourself when there is a problem.

Getting confirmation from an LFS when unsure is one thing but you should have the proper basic tests on hand. When starting out, they are a must.

I would suggest returning the tang as well as investing in some quality marine test kits.

Cheers
Steve

 

[HalfAmazing]

Im new here whats LFS?

Thanks Steve

 

[cmor1701d]

LFS=Local Fish Store.
When you see a word or acronym in RED hold your mouse over the word for a few seconds and you should get the meaning.

 

[HalfAmazing]

oh ok cool thanks, anyone else have anymore advice on what could be wrong with my tang?

 

[thorn]

Sup Everyone

My yellow tang's fins are tearing in the back and a little up top. I was told it could be his nutrition.

I also have a purple gamma in the tank as well and he seems fine.

Thanks

It could be nutrition... but it's more likely your gamma is a bit on the aggressive side and your tang is a bit on the passive side. Torn fins is normally a sign of harassment. Most likely if it were nutrition, you'd see line disease set in. But if you want to rule that out, pick up some Zoe or Zoecon http://www.kentmarine.com/html/zc.html and rub about 5 -10 drops (just a quick squirt) into your seaweed before you put it into your tank for your tang. Zoe has a lot of essential amino acids that the herbivorous fish sometimes get too little of in the tank.

In the meantime, it's probably best to separate the two and see if the condition improves. That way if it is malnutrition (which leads to lower immunity and therefore disease), it won't effect the gamma by spreading anything and if it is harassment, they will get a time out.

Hope that helps.

 

[HalfAmazing]

Thanks, question though, when I put the seaweed on the clip, I never see either one of them pick at it? Why?

 

[thorn]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't unless they are eating other food/other macroalgae. Do you have other macroalgae in the tank with them?

Another thing you might want to try... and this is just from my own experience... is avoiding the clip. I picked this up from working at a marine aquarium store:

take your algae and lay it out flat
squirt your Zoe or Zoecon or Garlic guard (whatever you use) onto your algae
spread the liquid over the algae with your fingers
quickly fold the algae into a square about 1"x1"
take the ragged end of the square and roll it into a tube of algae
grab a rock fragment from in the tank and, using a rubber band, attach the algae to the rock
put the whole thing back into the tank and let it sink to the bottom, algae facing up

I'm not sure if it's the position of the algae or if it's because that's how most tank-raised herbivores are used to getting it, but it tends to work a lot better and keeps a lot less of the algae from breaking up and drifting around the tank. I know the tangs at the LFS I work at go nuts every time I throw in a new rock with it... and they tear at it for days until the algae is all gone.

Of course, every once in a while someone bites off the elastic and the algae goes everywhere. But such is life.

 

[HalfAmazing]

bump