Hello, I have been trying to find out exactly what is wrong with my Yellow Tang and decided this was the best place.
Background:
I started a 70 Gallon saltwater fish tank a little over 2 months ago with live sand. Two weeks later I added two damsels. They did great, kept them in for a month, then traded them back and got a live rock, 2 Hermit crabs, a red banded shrimp, a feather duster, 2 clowns, a midus blennie and a yellow tang. They all have done well, except for the yellow tang.
Current Issue:
Today my wife noticed our yellow tang had white spots all over it. The white spots are hardly visible unless it is facing you and you can see down its sides. I can also see it on his pectoral fins. Doing some google searches, my best guess is that he has velvet instead of ich as the white spots are much smaller and spread tightly all over his body. I also noticed some "peeled skin/mucus" floating in the water.
What I did:
Step 1
I went out and bought a 10G tank, filled it with water from the display tank, put on a filter/heater/bubbler and made sure the parameters were good and added QuICK Cure (Formalin, Malachite Green) and Melafix(melaleuca).
Step 2
Prepared a freshwater dip (insured temp and pH was same as the DT), placed the Yellow Tang in the dip for 2.5 minutes (scary process as he just sank to the bottom and did not move except for gilling) and then placed him in the 10G quarantine tank.
Current situation (3 hrs after placing in the QT):
The Yellow Tang has started swimming around the QT now (as opposed to hiding in a corner), but he appears to be losing his mucus layer. It is stringing off his fins and floating around the QT. I know he was losing some of it before the QT process, but it appears to be worse now.
3 Questions:
1. What might be causing the Yellow Tant to lose his mucus? Bacteria?
2. Considering I did not have a QT tank set up, is what I did above an ok solution? What should have I done?
3. Should I do more freshwater dips and if so, how frequent?
As a final note, the Tang has always been the shy one. He spends most of his days either in cover or very near his favorite hiding spot. His activity level has not changed since I got him, but he does have a healthy appitite. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Background:
I started a 70 Gallon saltwater fish tank a little over 2 months ago with live sand. Two weeks later I added two damsels. They did great, kept them in for a month, then traded them back and got a live rock, 2 Hermit crabs, a red banded shrimp, a feather duster, 2 clowns, a midus blennie and a yellow tang. They all have done well, except for the yellow tang.
Current Issue:
Today my wife noticed our yellow tang had white spots all over it. The white spots are hardly visible unless it is facing you and you can see down its sides. I can also see it on his pectoral fins. Doing some google searches, my best guess is that he has velvet instead of ich as the white spots are much smaller and spread tightly all over his body. I also noticed some "peeled skin/mucus" floating in the water.
What I did:
Step 1
I went out and bought a 10G tank, filled it with water from the display tank, put on a filter/heater/bubbler and made sure the parameters were good and added QuICK Cure (Formalin, Malachite Green) and Melafix(melaleuca).
Step 2
Prepared a freshwater dip (insured temp and pH was same as the DT), placed the Yellow Tang in the dip for 2.5 minutes (scary process as he just sank to the bottom and did not move except for gilling) and then placed him in the 10G quarantine tank.
Current situation (3 hrs after placing in the QT):
The Yellow Tang has started swimming around the QT now (as opposed to hiding in a corner), but he appears to be losing his mucus layer. It is stringing off his fins and floating around the QT. I know he was losing some of it before the QT process, but it appears to be worse now.
3 Questions:
1. What might be causing the Yellow Tant to lose his mucus? Bacteria?
2. Considering I did not have a QT tank set up, is what I did above an ok solution? What should have I done?
3. Should I do more freshwater dips and if so, how frequent?
As a final note, the Tang has always been the shy one. He spends most of his days either in cover or very near his favorite hiding spot. His activity level has not changed since I got him, but he does have a healthy appitite. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.