Worried About My Kole Tang

[KennyZush]

OK,
It is a long story but here it goes...
A couple of weeks ago we bought a new Sargasum Trigger. It did well for the first couple of days, then started to twitch a bit. Eventually it developed popeye. We were able to remove it from our system, QT and try to give it some antibiotics. Sadly, the trigger passed away in the QT tank yesterday.

So, for the past few days we have been watching our other fish closely. The only one acting different is the Kole Tang. It has a small white mark between its eyes, could be a bruise, or it could be something else (see attached thumbnail). She is eating well, but tonight she has begun to act strange. She is twitching a bit and hiding more than before. The worst part is that it seems that she has stopped using one gill. Although she does not seem to be in distress, it can't be good. She generally does not allow the cleaner shrimp near her at all and tonight has been no exception.

At this point it is nearly impossible to get her out, we have been trying. Even when we re-did our aquacaping, she had to stay in the tank. She was too fast, and it was not worth stressing her.

Any how, I think we are left with few options. We cannot treat the entire display tank because it will kill all the inverts. We can not catch her now, and if we wait until she is as weak as the sargasum was, it may be too late.

If anyone has any tips or pointers it would be great, but I am not sure what my options are at this point.

Hope to hear from some of you.

Kenny & Elizabeth

P.S. The Hippo on the top of the photo appears to be acting OK.

 

[monsterfishkeeper]

You could try a fish trap

 

[DaveK]

The first thing I'd do in this case is a large partial water change. That's "reef safe" and not going to cause a problem for anything else. Also test all your water parameters.

Then wait.

If the wound/infection keeps looking better, then keep making water changes. If the wound/infections gets worse, then you'll need to get the fish out. The fish trap is one way. Another is the hard way of removing most of the LR and stuff so you can remove the fish to a QT tank.

 

[Phyl]

Garlic, selcon and a large water change. It looks more like a bruise from as best I can tell from the photo. Feed more often than normal, keep nori hanging. Soak it in garlic.

Hopefully that will do the trick and removal won't be necessary. Good luck.

 

[KennyZush]

Garlic, selcon and a large water change. It looks more like a bruise from as best I can tell from the photo. Feed more often than normal, keep nori hanging. Soak it in garlic.

Hopefully that will do the trick and removal won't be necessary. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice...
Being that this fish has been in the tank for several years, I would like to hope that it has the strength to overcome infection. To that end, are there any vitamins I could be dosing to help her along?

Kenny

 

[KennyZush]

So,
We went to see Will @ AO and we picked up some Garlic, some Selcon and a cleaner wrasse. (even though Will refers to these as "rental fish") it should do the job if we have a parasite present.
We are also going to do a water change today for good measure.

The good news is the tang looks better today and both gills are working.

Keeping our fingers crossed.

Kenny Z.

 

[Brian]

Hope it works out for you guys!

Selcon works great...I try feeding with that a few times a week.

 

[Erich]

Multiple water changes as some one suggested.
One large change then a few small changes of 10-15% over the next 10 days. You need to minimize the spreading or of it getting more infectous. When in doubt change the water.

 

[KennyZush]

Just an update....

Everyone is hanging in there.
The wrasse seems to have worked wonders!
He has not quit since we put him in the tank.
It was remarkable...As soon as the wrasse was put in, the Kole found it, and opened its gills. It was quite a sight. He as also been cleaning up the hippo and the antheas.

I hope I am not speaking too soon, but everyone is looking good, so I hope we were just being "hypersensitive" after the loss of our Sargasum.

Thanks for all the advise.

Kenny Z.