Bacterial or Parasite infection in Purple Tang?

[Almiti86]

Hello all, sorry for this being my first post, don't want to seem like a noob but I've been lurking and learning from here since 2019, finally made an account today because I NEED HELP!

I've searched high and low for answers for this issue with my purple tang, can't quite figure it out.

Quick stats:
90 gal FOWLR tank
I don't dose any cal/alk/mag 440cal 8.5dkh 1350mag, whatever my saltwater mixes to at 1.025
PH might be a little low 7.8ish
Hanna Nitrate HR~20ppm
Phosphate ULR~ 0.20-0.75 ppm recently creeped up
1 larger bristletooth Tang plus 8 other small fish, 4 shrimp, nassarius snails and a conch
Water changes as needed and/or during maintenance
I run Biopellets in a reactor
Don't use GFO or Carbon unless Needed
Currently running Rowaphos and BRS Rox .8 carbon both in reactors with slow flow, neither tumbling, sandwiched between filter pads, brought back online yesterday to help water quality to try helping.

Feeding frozen mysis/brine/spirulina mysis 2 cubes total day, hikari marine carnivore pellets, maybe 20 total pellets a day
Food always soaked in Brightwell Vitamarin M, AminOmega, and 1 drop garlic power
Occasional green nori, wasn't supplementing much because rocks grow a little algae, now supplementing to try help the tang.

Tried prazipro in watercolum a week ago, seemed to help him a bit but he's not better.

Here's pics of the subject, I'm seeing white hazy patches, and he's losing weight, not eating like he used to. No new stock additions to tank in over 6 months, had him over a year, was extremely healthy.

I have a quarantine tank always ready if needed, just looking for what could be wrong with him.

 

[Mark Novack]

It looks to have a lateral line problem extending to the head. The white patches may be symptomatic of that. Velvet or Brooknella are whitish but it does not look ragged finned.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello all, sorry for this being my first post, don't want to seem like a noob but I've been lurking and learning from here since 2019, finally made an account today because I NEED HELP!

I've searched high and low for answers for this issue with my purple tang, can't quite figure it out.

Quick stats:
90 gal FOWLR tank
I don't dose any cal/alk/mag 440cal 8.5dkh 1350mag, whatever my saltwater mixes to at 1.025
PH might be a little low 7.8ish
Hanna Nitrate HR~20ppm
Phosphate ULR~ 0.20-0.75 ppm recently creeped up
1 larger bristletooth Tang plus 8 other small fish, 4 shrimp, nassarius snails and a conch
Water changes as needed and/or during maintenance
I run Biopellets in a reactor
Don't use GFO or Carbon unless Needed
Currently running Rowaphos and BRS Rox .8 carbon both in reactors with slow flow, neither tumbling, sandwiched between filter pads, brought back online yesterday to help water quality to try helping.

Feeding frozen mysis/brine/spirulina mysis 2 cubes total day, hikari marine carnivore pellets, maybe 20 total pellets a day
Food always soaked in Brightwell Vitamarin M, AminOmega, and 1 drop garlic power
Occasional green nori, wasn't supplementing much because rocks grow a little algae, now supplementing to try help the tang.

Tried prazipro in watercolum a week ago, seemed to help him a bit but he's not better.

Here's pics of the subject, I'm seeing white hazy patches, and he's losing weight, not eating like he used to. No new stock additions to tank in over 6 months, had him over a year, was extremely healthy.

I have a quarantine tank always ready if needed, just looking for what could be wrong with him.

Welcome to R2R! (at least in posting!)

The fish is a bit thin and in poor color. The random white blotches are not HLLE, but it does have a minor case of that around the eyes and down the lateral line.

I think you are looking at a chronic issue, not an acute disease. One thing I've noticed - when I hear people say they feed "X" amount of food, my first question is, "Does the fish need "X+1" amount of food? If the fish's caloric intake is say, 1% less than it needs on a daily basis, over time, the fish will starve. You should always let the fish tell you how much they want to eat - feed to slight excess twice a day for example. If you are feeding to the point where the tang just stops because it is full, then you are feeding enough. Even if the fish has internal parasites, feeding this way will help keep the fish's weight on.

Then, it is possible that this fish has another chronic issue like Mycobacterium (also causes wasting and poor color). There is no effective treatment for that and it isn't super contagious, so better to focus on the food amount aspect to see if that helps.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all, sorry for this being my first post, don't want to seem like a noob but I've been lurking and learning from here since 2019, finally made an account today because I NEED HELP!

I've searched high and low for answers for this issue with my purple tang, can't quite figure it out.

Quick stats:
90 gal FOWLR tank
I don't dose any cal/alk/mag 440cal 8.5dkh 1350mag, whatever my saltwater mixes to at 1.025
PH might be a little low 7.8ish
Hanna Nitrate HR~20ppm
Phosphate ULR~ 0.20-0.75 ppm recently creeped up
1 larger bristletooth Tang plus 8 other small fish, 4 shrimp, nassarius snails and a conch
Water changes as needed and/or during maintenance
I run Biopellets in a reactor
Don't use GFO or Carbon unless Needed
Currently running Rowaphos and BRS Rox .8 carbon both in reactors with slow flow, neither tumbling, sandwiched between filter pads, brought back online yesterday to help water quality to try helping.

Feeding frozen mysis/brine/spirulina mysis 2 cubes total day, hikari marine carnivore pellets, maybe 20 total pellets a day
Food always soaked in Brightwell Vitamarin M, AminOmega, and 1 drop garlic power
Occasional green nori, wasn't supplementing much because rocks grow a little algae, now supplementing to try help the tang.

Tried prazipro in watercolum a week ago, seemed to help him a bit but he's not better.

Here's pics of the subject, I'm seeing white hazy patches, and he's losing weight, not eating like he used to. No new stock additions to tank in over 6 months, had him over a year, was extremely healthy.

I have a quarantine tank always ready if needed, just looking for what could be wrong with him.

Not a prazi issue and the elevated phosphate suugest slight overfeeding. I just scanned through the thread and Jay mentions about feeding. You want to feed what the fish will consume in a couple of minutes. Its easier to add food than to remove it. I spoon feed mine from a little restaurant solo condiment cup. If they had enough, I cap it and place in fridge for another feeding.
While fish does not seem thin, it does seem to be needing vitamin-fats-aminos which is essential for color and immunity health.
Some foods, having 20 tangs I generally suggest but not limited to are :
-Spirulina brine shrimp
- LRS Herbivore diet
- mysis shrimp
- small plankton
- Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
- Hikari Marine cuisine
- Formula 2 flake and frozen
- Hikari veggie marine

Add selcon vitamins to the foods 2-3X per week and on alternating days, garlic extract for stamina and immunity health

 

[Almiti86]

Welcome to R2R! (at least in posting!)

The fish is a bit thin and in poor color. The random white blotches are not HLLE, but it does have a minor case of that around the eyes and down the lateral line.

I think you are looking at a chronic issue, not an acute disease. One thing I've noticed - when I hear people say they feed "X" amount of food, my first question is, "Does the fish need "X+1" amount of food? If the fish's caloric intake is say, 1% less than it needs on a daily basis, over time, the fish will starve. You should always let the fish tell you how much they want to eat - feed to slight excess twice a day for example. If you are feeding to the point where the tang just stops because it is full, then you are feeding enough. Even if the fish has internal parasites, feeding this way will help keep the fish's weight on.

Then, it is possible that this fish has another chronic issue like Mycobacterium (also causes wasting and poor color). There is no effective treatment for that and it isn't super contagious, so better to focus on the food amount aspect to see if that helps.

Jay

This was very helpful and informative, I really appreciate you fully reading my post. I usually don't run GFO and I put it back online so phosphate should drop and I'll have no issue feeding more. I'm actually relieved it's most likely not a curable disease, and that it isn't contagious per se because I know my other fish won't be affected. The whole reason I started adding vitamins and aminos was because of the HLLE starting and it helped him a lot and has gotten better in regards to that.

I appreciate the reply, and he's looking better today so hopefully I'll see him gaining some weight again, thank you!