Yellow Tang Woes

Hey everyone. Before the Tang Police arrest me.... It's the same size as my clown. He's pretty small.

That being said, the poor guy looks like he's panting and has some white stuff hanging out of his mouth...kinda looks like fangs.

Water chem checks out fine. He was eating fine, except for yesterday and today. He will eat the dried algae strips and graze... but he was never late for dinner before.

 

26 gal Eclipse tank with live rock. that's your problem. Not trying to be rude but that tank is too small for any tang. it's not the size of the fish that's the problem, its the room that the fish needs to move. it's sorta like putting a human in a 6x6 box. After a while, that human is going to get pissed. Well the tang gets pissed too but when they get upset, their immune system goes screw wacky and they suffer things like this.

 

I would recommend at least a 55 to start with before I get around with Tangs. I first started with a 55 gal when I got into the reef business =)

 

i wouldn't put one in anything smaller than a 120 and then only the ones that stay under 10"

 

I personally think its fluke - i suppose the smallness of the tank doesnt help but surely the fish being so small negates that?

 

no, the smallness of the fish doesn't negate it. It's like what was previously stated. No matter how small they are they need lots of swimming room. They aren't like clown fish who typically hover around one area. I'm willing to bet it is stress from a small tank, but obviously this won't help you immediately.

My recommendation is to move it to a bigger tank ASAP, but until then make sure he's not getting bullied. A picture would help. I normally recommend a cleaner shrimp, but if it's an actual disease we're talking about here you may have to actually QT him and treat him. Don't do so if he's not acting to off. Tangs are sensitive to stress and often times catching them to treat them just pushes them over the edge. Unfortunately in my experience with them its 6 one way and half a dozen another. Observe him for right now, and use your judgment on whether or not to medicate him. If you do have to medicate him, talk to people to see what meds they prefer. There are some that are too strong for fish like tangs and angels, and the actual treatment kills them.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated on him.

 

Hi i had a similar thing happen to me
fish panting and looking stressed in the morning when i first got up
but after a while when i put the lights on they seemed to improve.
Turned out to be the PH dropping overnight when the lights were out.
All tanks will suffer a ph drop when the lights are off so if you have a low ph it will get worse overnight.
Suggest checking your KH reading Good luck.

 

I learned my lesson with a blue hippo tang.. It was only about 1 1/2 inches long.. I tried it in my 12 gal nanocube.. It became serpent star food within 24 hours...... 40 bucks down the drain..... I will never make that mistake again....

 

He's ok. Out and about swimming right now. The white stuff on his mouth seems to be going away, but he's still panting. There's also a reddish hue kind of under his eyes... but that comes and goes.

I just put a pinch of food in the tank. Seems he's got his appetite back.

As for his normal habits, he usually just hangs out with the clown. He'll graze on the rocks from time to time and check out what the blenny is up to. I've never seen him swim around like he's pent up in a box.

I'm thinking a cleaner shrimp, but I don't want to screw up the bio load. I'm pretty maxed out as it is.

 

Here he is. He was cruising around and wouldn't be still for the photo op.