QT tang not doing well.

[viodea]

I got a Kole Tang a week ago. It's been in the QT since then.
I have lower half of the QT tank covered on the back and 2 sides. Also, the left half of the front is covered too. I've been lowering the salinity for hypo. It's not reached hypo yet.

It has been doing fine until today. I started to see little tears on the fins maybe 2 days ago. I didn't notice that before.

I saw a little discoloration on the tip of the fin this morning. So, I uncover the front taking pictures of it and forgot to cover it back up.

Seems like it lost some appetite today. It's been eating every thing I throw in in seconds until today.

I just came back home today notice white dots all over the body and not eating much at all.

Should I keep lower the salinity to the point of hypo?
What else can I do?

I'm going to do a water test and post the result and some pictures.


thanks in advance.

[viodea]

SG is 1.017.
Free Ammonia is 0.
Total Ammonia is off the chart.

I've heard Total Ammonia is not going to hurt as long as I keep free ammonia low. Apparently not the case. I'm doing water change and try to lower total ammonia. Initial finding both nitrite and nitrate are very low or undetectable.

[Patrick12]

Water change. You can go to 1.009 today! You can lower to hypo conditions on hours, it is raising that must be done over days. Telost fish....such as tangs....maintain an internal osmolality that is 1/3rd of NSW. Lowering the salinity will do the fish no harm....in fact it will greatly reduce the stress they are under.

If the tang can survive this round of parasites, you may have better luck. You have to keep the salinity less than 12 ppt. The fish may also be experiencing a concominant bacterial infections as well from the description you have posted, so be mindful of that as well. Melafix can help it heal.

Hope it all goes well. Nut, you gotta get that salinity down TODAY for sure.

[viodea]

lowering SG now. I hope it's going to be alright.

[viodea]

it doesn't look good. color is so pale. Breathing heavy on the bottom of the tank at the corner. Having a hard time keeping itself upright
I feel so bad now. I should've checked both FA & TA instead of checking FA only.

[viodea]

I did a few more search regarding FA & TA. FA is toxic to fish but TA is not. If so, what would cause my Kole Tang's condition going south so quick. Virtually going from excellent to dying within 24hrs. The only change was food from formula 2 to formula 2 + prime reef.

[raggie]

scrap a lil bit of garlic into the QT it will help the immune system of the tang mine was doing bad a few weeks ago, broke out in ick and back fin was starting to rip added some garlic did a few water changes and now the tang looks healthier then ever

[viodea]

It's getting worst. it's laying on it's side on the bottom of the tank
Just dropped some chopped up garlic in there. Will do another water change tomorrow.

[viodea]

I lowered SG to 1.014 last night. I didn't want to go further because of the condition of the fish. It looks much better this morning. Most white dots (ich/ick) felt off it's body. It's swimming around. I'll continue to lower SG to 1.009 and another 50% water change.
Then, I'll deal with the fin rot.

[viodea]

Looks like it wants to eat but something is wrong with the lip or throat. He tried but spited it out and not wanting to try again.
When I look inside it's mouth, it's kinda dark brown inside, is this normal?

[tmz]

The fish was likely going trough a reinfestation of ich (cryptocaryon irritans) Second infestations are much worse than the first since the parasites multiply 220 to 300 fold within a few days to a week of leaving the fish.
Hyposalinity needs to be at 1.009 to kill the free swimming parasites after they leave the cyst. This is why it is rather urgent to get the salinity down quickly. It will not hurt the fish as long as it doesn't go below 1.008(the approximate internal salinity of the fish) use a well calcibrated refractometer to measure your sg. Swing arm hydrometers are not accurate enough.. Coming back up should be slow, aprroximately .001 per day if you want to insure no stress.Marine fish drink alot and process very concetrated urine to remain hydrated in their natural world salinity of 1.0264 .When they are in lower salanity they do less work and need time to adjust as it goes up.
You can use a piece of seeded sponge or even some seeded substrate in a bag to establish biofiltration.DEtoxifiers are good but it would be better to get a biofilter going in qt.

If hyposlainity fails[there are resistant strains of ich or the fish may get amyloodinium(velvet) which is not vlulnerable to hyposalinity] move on to copper treatment. My preffered medication is Cupramine.

You could also try the tank transfer method in the alternative. This requires the use of at least two tanks and moving the fish to a clean tank every threee day for four transfers. Each time you move it you leave the parasites and their cysts behind.

Melafix is useful against some bacterial infections ;it is claimed. I prefer treatment with Furan 2.

[viodea]

I'm sure I'll reach 1.009 today. What's the sign of velvet?
I don't have another tank, so, tank transfer method will be my last resort.

What's good about Furan 2 compare to Melafix?

[viodea]

I just noticed the Kole is having a mouth fungus. So, I got the E.M. Erythromycin.

[tmz]

Melafix is an herbal extract. Furan is a more direct antibiotic. Melafix is claimed to work on some bacteria but not all bacteria and to promote regeneration of lost tissue. If you like it. I would personaly use it after an antibiotic treatment.

[viodea]

sad news... battle is over and lost

[fender4string]

I'm really sorry to hear that-it sounds like you were really trying though

[tmz]

Sorry