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03/27/2018, 02:22 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 140
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White Tail Bristletooth Tang facial abrasions or ??
Pics are attached. have 112 gallon tank, mixed reef. We noticed 2 weeks ago that our tang keeps getting abrasions on the front of his face/nose. At first we thought it might be a disease, etc. but so far within a few days the abrasions heal up and he's back to normal.
He is the most aggressive addition we made and we introduced a smaller blue throat trigger at the same time. We've had issues off and on after they had been together for weeks, the tang decided he wants the cave where the trigger hooks himself into the back of it at night or when there had been some occasional food aggression between the 2. They had a couple of fights early on with the trigger being EXTREMELY patient particularly when he was bitten. Finally he bit back. Things seemed to calm down after the trigger had declared he had 'enough'. The trigger is about 2 inches smaller than the tang. We added an additional prize looking hiding hole/cave hoping to lure either the tang or the trigger into claiming it for their own. It was higher up on the rock work though so I'm not sure if they are both wanting 'floor level' hiding places as opposed to a 'penthouse' hiding place but although the tang swims through it, he didn't claim it. We did talk to some local LFS and they thought what our tang had was just abrasions from pecking/diving through the rocks and while they DO heal, they keep happening. I don't know if at night is he getting into it with the trigger in the dark and trying to pry him out of his hole but the trigger shows absolutely NO signs of a scuffle at all so I'm stumped. Is what you see below just abrasions and we need to find any sharp edges and do something about them (this did NOT happen the first few months we had him though)? Or is it something more serious - disease, parasites...but why would they heal so quickly over and over? Any help is really appreciated. Sorry pics aren't better, he swims so fast, especially if he sees us trying to take a picture. |
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03/27/2018, 03:00 PM
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#2 |
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Saltwater Addict
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Vandalia OHIO
Posts: 11,624
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Hard to tell from the pictures but it sort of looks self inflicted, if not it’s HLLE and a varied enriched diet and good water quality are the cure
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Fish are not disposable commodities, but a worthwhile investment that can be maintained and enjoyed for many years, providing one is willing to take the time to understand their requirements and needs Current Tank Info: 625g, 220g sump, RD3 230w, Vectra L1 on a closed loop, 3 MP60s, MP40. Several QTs |
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03/27/2018, 06:08 PM
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#3 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 2,447
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+1 looks like he scraped his nose on the rocks. My Blue Hippo has all sorts of scrapes from sleeping in the rocks.
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120g DT 100lbs LR / 200 lbs LS, 45g fuge, VectraM1 Return, Herbie drain, 4x RW-8, 2x AI Hydra 26 w AWM, ASM G2, Apex controller, Apex BoB w floats ATO |
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03/27/2018, 07:10 PM
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#4 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Huntington, WV
Posts: 677
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Quote:
It can be problematic to supply Paranthurus hepatis all the nutrition they require. The ones I've kept eat very well, but can still become ill. I believe they need to eat certain inverts like sponges or corals. To the OP: It's certainly more likely your trigger is the cause of this wound than getting cut by rock work. It does not look like HLLE to me. They may simply need to get used to each other. |
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