Urgent Atlantic blue tang went pale

I have had a very healthy Atlantic blue tang for at lease 6 months. Today I get home and he is very pale and a bit spastic. Breathing more heavily than usual. I fed rods food and he ate very very well. Other than the coloration he looks fine, just really pale. All other fish, corals and inverts are fine. Water quality is excellent. I was afraid he may have gotten into our anemonee. We just gotit 2 weeks ago. It us a large 6-8" bta.


I cut the lights off for the night to help calm him... no ich signs or anything else.

 

Hi pickupman

possible he/she ended up in a brush with the nem that shocked him/her for as while hence the pale colours

any possibility of a fight occuring (someone got annoyed due to browsing on favourite rock or something) with one of the other residents, as the pale colouration and breathing may also indicate some chasing has occured

 

Although I have a larger naso, this blue is the boss...

 

Sorry if I am stating something you are already familiar with.

Tangs are just one of those fish that show displeasure and stress by changing pigmentation. There is actually a scientific term for this coloration change in tangs, right now too tired to hunt it down.

I sure would consider contact with the anemone as a possible reason.

Eating is always a very good sign.

 

Yea... that's what I was thinking but needed some other opinions...

 

Or the Naso got the better of him tonight. I have a desjardini and a powder blue that fight quite often. The desjardini is usually the dominant just because he is larger. however the powder blue will become the aggressor from time to time. When this happens, the PB turns a very bright blue and the desjardini will become quite pale. This is just giving an example of what Corailline is talking about.

 

No. Have never in 2 years seen the naso exhibit any aggression. The paleness was rather splotchy and over two hours it worsened.

 

Naso Tangs IME are very passive.

@pickupman occasionally my Yellow Tang will do the same thing. He just got stressed and should be fine could be anything really. I swore one time he looked at his reflection and flipped out scared.

 

According to the wife, Blue looks good today. WOO HOO!