friend's blue tang is very sick

[denimous]

Hey there...
I am a freshwater tank person, but my friend recently got a saltwater tank and needs advice on his sick fish. Unfortunately, I have not seen the fish myself (he lives a distance away from me). I will try my best to describe the situation and symptoms of the fish.

He is a saltwater tank newbie, but began his 90 gallon tank the proper way, by cycling it and testing the water. He has to date, a moray eel, a lion, a panther gripper, a big blue tang, and 4 little damsels. His big blue tang is showing signs of sickness. He described it to me as sitting near the bottom, not eating much, and losing color. He says it looks "dirty". I think his fish must have some sort of bacteria or fungus.

I told him to call/visit the pet store, test his water, and do a water change.

I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer! If you have questions about his set up, I will ask him and do my best to answer them.

 

[1979camaro]

blue tangs are notoriously unhealthy inhabitants and they do need very good water quality to thrive. unfortunately, your friend's 90 gallon is stocked (borderline overstocked with the grouper) with some very big eating, messy fish and that does not help. it could be the end result of HLLE if there is pitting on the fishes body as that is usually what gets tangs...other than that, i don't know...doesn't sound good though. any idea how long the fish has been like this?

 

[jammerz]

i had a blue tang that got ich really bad. After he died i saved the rest of my fish he infected in a QT with mardel copper treatment. Works relly well but kills LR and corals so make sure he does it in a Quarantine tank....

 

[S.Reef]

Lets see, hes turning brown? Thats a good sign of malnourishment probably from poor water quality or an internal parasite. If I was your friend I would move him to a seperate qt tank. Medicate with copper and use garlic and zoecon in some frozen mysis or something.

I personally dont believe he has a bacterial or fungus infection.

 

[yamahaguy06]

cant tell you anything more then that, I probably couldn't of told you that, lol. But I hope the fish pulls out of it and turns out ok! good luck

 

[denimous]

Thanks for your prompt advice!
He has visited the pet store, the guy at the lfs gave him medicine for his fish (he's had a long, difficult day...couldn't find out more beyond that). The fish has been in this condition for a few days, he called me as soon as he noticed the strange behavior. Unfortunately, instead of suggesting a quarantine of his tank, the lfs guy just told him that tangs can get sick easily, and allowed him to get two more fish in the same day! Its like after all my hardwork of trying to teach him about taking care of fish, one visit to the pet store and its all undone. He mentioned the guy at the lfs saying something about the gills, he also said later that big blue tang was scratching...which would've helped with my previous post if I knew that earlier.

I try to tell him as a friend, what little I know about saltwater, and some general knowledge about fishkeeping...but I find it more difficult to teach a friend, especially since friends are often unwilling pupils. (arg) I was able to warn him to feed his fish carefully, and to increase his water changes. Is his tank really overstocked? He got another lion and another kind of eel. I will tell him he should return some fish to the pet store. With his current bioload...which fish would be best to return? How often should he water change?

This is so ironic, I didn't get a saltwater tank for myself, bc I didn't feel I could manage the upkeep and research right now (also my parents are being patient with just one tank for now). It seems as though I could get my own, with all the research I need to do for his ><.

 

[wayne]

The tank is horrbily overstocked, and it sounds like it's suffering from rubbish water quality. The tang is most sensitive so is first to suffer. If he's really unlucky ick will kill the whole lot.
That is a very depressing prediction, but entirely likely. A 90 could hold the moray, the tang and a lion, but panther groupers get huge fast , and those damsels won't be around for long. If he has a good setup with decent filtration and a good skimmer this can work, but with a bad lfs advising him you have to fear the worst.

 

[denimous]

wayne...
he is doing a big water change today...bc from what i gather, he hasnt been doing them consistently. i told him if he wants to keep an overstocked tank, he will have to do much more tank maintenance. the glamour of having a full tank can quickly wear off if it requires constant work. i think he will get rid of the grouper soon. i told him to be careful from now on when going to the lfs, bc they seem more interested in selling him fish than ensuring the fish a happy home.

will the damsels be ok in this set up? was there a particular reason they wouldnt last long?

thanks everyone for your advice! i will most likely be on the saltwater part of the boards more often, as i find out more about my friend's setup...and battle his lfs =b.

 

[yamahaguy06]

some LFS dont know crap, I had my tank for a year and was working with my LFS(SUCKED) they dont know about fish and cant tell you didaly about tank stuff. know I'm shure some LFS are really good you just have to find one, lol, not Pet Extreme

 

[1979camaro]

without the grouper the damsels will not become lunch right away so they should be ok until the eel gets them

 

[denimous]

oi...i dont see him missing the damsels much if they were gone...but i think thats a rather expensive snack for his grouper or eels. i will warn him about that, in case he's named them already =b. i really think the grouper must go, but he's determined that he "wants it to get big". i dont know if he realizes exactly what that entails. i guess some things a person needs to learn firsthand?

 

[aresgod]

agreed its not whether they get eaten just when, really most likely when he forgets to feed everyone he will notice them missing

 

[yamahaguy06]

that is crazy, lol, cool though

 

[1979camaro]

tell him it entails about an 18in fish which won't be able to turn around in his tank and a major pain in his behind...or the premature death of a fish stunted and deformed by poor, cramped conditions

 

[denimous]

he's not going to be happy to hear that...but i have a feeling with all my "nagging" he's probably not too happy to hear from me about fish tanks anyhow. hahaha...well, i guess now he rues the day he ever asked me about my little hobby. i warned him he was opening up a can of worms!

 

[denimous]

ooooh, this just in...his tang died.
he is looking into having someone come in to do his tank maintenance. i think that may be best...><

 

[wayne]

Surprise surprise. If he wants to get big fish he should get a big tank.

 

[denimous]

well, he feels really bad about what happened. i dont want to be too hard on the guy, he's trying...but in this case he wasnt in time for the tang. he may have to tear the tank down, bc he's going to be real busy this upcoming month...he doesnt want to be responsible for more fish deaths if he doesnt have the time. i dont want him scared to come to me with questions, bc he's afraid ill lecture him. but i dont know what else to do ><.

 

[1979camaro]

don't lecture, just explain that there are natural consequences of poor planning and maintenance. natural consequences prevent you or him from being the bad guy, its more like saying "clearly mistakes were made and these are the natural result so if the plan is changed the result will change"

 

[yamahaguy06]

don't lecture, just explain that their are natural consequences of poor planning and maintenance. natural consequences prevent you or him from being the bad guy, its more like saying "clearly mistakes were made and these are the natural result so if the plan is changed the result will change"

well said........ *PEACE!*