Hi everyone & Merry Christmas! My yellow tang recently became extremely ill and I almost lost him. He got into a fight with another tang, got a few scratches on his side and it progressed into a nasty looking red rash. I began treatment with antibiotics because all the information I could find seemed to point to a bacterial infection. After a week of antibiotics the spots just kept getting worse. On Tuesday I took him to the exotics veterinarian at my clinic and we did a skin scraping. Turns out this is fungal dermatitis and a secondary systemic infection that had gone septic. The “rash” on his body is petichiae which is due to ruptured capillaries as a result of the infection. Its easy to mistake these for a rash especially when they won’t be still long enough for you to get a good look. He’s been getting antibiotic injections and has begun increased salinity therapy to knock down the fungal issue. For now I’m avoiding a more aggressive anti fungal because he’s still critically ill. The petechiae is getting better and he’s active again. Today he was eating again and I’m cautiously optimistic.
I just wanted to share these pictures as a reference for any other fish owners who are having issues with aggressive red spots that aren’t responding to antibiotics. The first photo is from today, and the one below is from Tuesday. The picture from today is blurry because he’s swimming around again! Yay! He’s got a long way to go, but I’m hoping for the best.
I just wanted to share these pictures as a reference for any other fish owners who are having issues with aggressive red spots that aren’t responding to antibiotics. The first photo is from today, and the one below is from Tuesday. The picture from today is blurry because he’s swimming around again! Yay! He’s got a long way to go, but I’m hoping for the best.