Injured yellow mimic tang

[Betaton]

I found my yellow mimic tang stuck to the back of my wave maker and it destroyed its fins. He is not able to swim, he just sinks to the bottom and lays sideways on the ground but is still alive. What do I do? Humanely uthenize the fish or try and get it to heal?

 

[Andy Sager]

I found my yellow mimic tang stuck to the back of my wave maker and it destroyed its fins. He is not able to swim, he just sinks to the bottom and lays sideways on the ground but is still alive. What do I do? Humanely uthenize the fish or try and get it to heal?

The trauma may have been too much for it but if you can isolate it from the other fish in the tank ( or put it in a separate hospital tank), I'd see if it can recover. Marine fish can take a lot more abuse than we give them credit for so it's it's breathing, it's got a chance IMO.

 

[Betaton]

Thanks for the help but unfortunately he ended up dying about an hour ago. Do you think he was too weak to get away from the current of the wave maker? I added some new fish yesterday so he may have been weak because of stress. I’m very hesitant to turn my wave maker back on.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for the help but unfortunately he ended up dying about an hour ago. Do you think he was too weak to get away from the current of the wave maker? I added some new fish yesterday so he may have been weak because of stress. I’m very hesitant to turn my wave maker back on.

He does look like he had nothing in his belly so that could mean he didn't have the energy to get away from the current. It's a good idea to turn off the wavemaker whenever you add new fish just so they can get used to their new environment and YOU can see how they are doing.