Yellow Tang Looking Sick

galonso52

galonso52

Reefing newb
I got a yellow tang about 2 weeks ago and he has been doing great till yesterday. I noticed that he has some scratches on his sides and his forehead area. He has been hiding between the rocks. I thought he was just exploring but after reading on the web I think it could be beginning signs of ich. Even though the behavior seems like ich he doesn't have any white spots. :frustrat: Any recomendations? I am not sure if i should give it time or should I act now. I was thinking of going to buy a cleaner shrimp tomorrow. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Its stressed. This has happened to me before and my tang didnt make it. If its eating, soak the food in garlic. I dont know if a QT tank would help. Depends on how strong the fish is.

How big is the tang? If its in the 55 gal, its probably stressed because there is not enough swimming space.
 
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Soak the food in garlic oil and vitamin c liquid. Keep him eating and perhaps keep the bright lights down for a day and see if he gets bettter. Cleaner shrimp is helpful also.
 
Thanks alot! I know he is a little big for size of tank he is about 2.5-3 inches. I will go buy a cleaner shrimp today. The garlic oil can I use any store bought from the grocery store or is it something specific for aquariums?
 
Nothing special, you can even crush a garlic clove from the grocery store. Vitamin c is at the lfs, mine is called Vitamarin C from Brightwell.
 
On no not another icky thread.If it is ick(sounds like it)a cleaner will not help in anyway.The shrimp simply eats the dead tissue around the ick spot.They don't eat ick!They are pretty to look at though.I'm not sold on the garlic and c ,although it seems to be popular here.If you QT and monitor ,then treat you will have no ick in your DT.a 55 is tight for a tang also,but i did have one in a 75 for a year before i upgrade.Good luck...
 
brightwells vitamarin C is a great product, id also suggest their AminoOmega to supplement in some marine cuisine, i used those to fight off HLLE and had awesome results, been using them ever since
 
I just added a cleaner shrimp last night. I have to say it was pretty amazing to see the Yellow Tang imediately approach the shrimp asking for a scrub. It looked like the shrimp was still not ready to go to work. The tang kept coming buy every few seconds to see if he would do anything and he wouldn't. I notice though after the lights went out the shrimp was much more active. Thanks for all the advice from all of you. I will let you know how it goes.
 
I have to sadly I lost the cleaner shrimp he died yesterday. I am not sure why because the first day we was ok but I noticed yesterday morning that he was a little slow. When I cam home from work he upside down. The good news is that it looks like the Tang has settle down. He is not as a aggressive swimmer now and he has stopped scratching himself with the rocks. Any ideas why the shrimp would die.
 
Are you positive the shrimp didnt molt,:shock: (shed his skin) alot of us have found old shrimp skelotons and thought our shrimp died. :frustrat:Then found out they were still alive, and just shedded their skin:bowdown:
 
I thought that same thing when I first saw it but it was the real shrimp not just the skin. I acclimated him for 3 hours floating the bag and putting a little bit of water every ten minutes from the tank to the bag. Should I have waiting longer to release him?
 
its hard to poinpoint the cause of its death.. Dont worry about it, 3 hours is good time, sometimes they just die when they are taken away from their other environment. It really could be anything...
 
If you have tangs, you should always have a cleaner shrimp. They do wonders for your tank. Also, I dont know if I agree with the shrimp not eating the parasite. I would like to know where that info is from. Also,, the fish does not have to have visible white spots to have if, they can be infestedon there gills and be undetectable to the naked eye. Glad to hear your tang is coming around. Once they get settled, they are long lived pets. Also, i would protect your investment and buy another shrimp.
 

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