Blue tang having difficulty swimming down

[WillyG]

Hi

Has anyone had experience of a blue tang (hippo, regal, palet etc) having trouble swimming down?

I have two, one seems fine yet the other (slightly smaller) seems to be having trouble, flapping really hard to get below the top 6 inches in the tank - seems to pop up quickly when he stops fighting.

 

[Maya]

You should research swim bladder disease and see if that sounds familiar. If so, frozen peas are a good answer. However the underlying cause might be more important. You should consider also researching constipation and intestinal parasites.

 

[Just.A.Bit.Salty]

Hey willG, could you give a little more info on the tank. Size, water parameters, filtration method? How old is the tank? How long have you had the tangs? Is the tang "flashing" could be as maya said possibly a swim bladder problem.

 

[Innovator]

Most likely air is trapped within the swim bladder and must be aspirated. The easy option would be to hold the animal underwater with its head upwards and massaging the sides gently until air is passed. If this does not work than you would need to aspirate via needle/syringe (take to exotic vet, if you can find one, if you don't feel comfy performing this).

 

[Maya]

A quick reminder before you handle your tang to watch the spurs on the side of the fish. You don't need an injury for yourself. 

 

[WillyG]

Thank you - sound advice. He (?!) seems fine now. Maybe a case of trapped wind

 

[WillyG]

Info for just.a.bit.salty
The tank is 200 gallons (assuming you're American) with bio filter media in a sump of approx 60 gallons
The blue Tangs are a recent addition having plopped in around two weeks ago - today the problem seems to have gone away but I'm keeping a beady eye on him.
All readings are 0 for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and the ph is sitting at 8 - all seems well in the wetland - having had some poor experience with differing test kits I now cross check all readings with more than one manufacturer - I'll continue doing this until I settle with one I trust.

Friends of the blue Tangs (2) include a large sail fin tang, zebra moray eel, black spotted puffer, cream angel, banner fish and a large rabbit fish (magnifica).

W

 

[WillyG]

Unfortunately the little blue tang died last night after almost 2 weeks of looking better than it had been when I started this thread

 

[carey]

Oh, I'm really sorry about your tang. :-(

good luck...