help/advise needed for Yellow Tang

[Swim74]

Picked this fish up not that long ago (2wks tops) and its been a finicky eater. but I think also its shy, because its not getting skinny.

anyway, now the tang is swimming like he is drunk, and no I have not been putting vodka in my tank..

I mean were talkin loop de loops, sideways, not totally upside down but practically.

I know from freshwater fish there is a swim bladders disease, but not sure what the heck is going on here.

its kinda sad, so if anybody knows anything about this, I would appreciate it. Hope i'm not too late.
thanks all,
Mark

 

[NateHanson]

Mark, while you wait for a response here, you might try the fish disease forum on Reefcentral. Lots of good folks over there, and it sounds like your fish is definitely not right. Good luck.

 

[clamm]

doesnt sound right...is this a constant movement or only for a few mins/day?

 

[clamm]

do you think putting him in a quarenteen tank would work? maybe try some live brine at first... but in a small observation tank you can really do alot of water changes and give him the best chance.

 

[NateHanson]

I wouldn't recommend putting a large sick fish in a small tank. If anything it will stress him and make him worse.

If you are concerned about transmission to other valuable species in your tank, and you're considering sacrificing the tang to avoid a disease problem, then a small quarantine would be ok, but I wouldn't do it automatically, at least not before attempting to get information on the symptoms.

My first guess would be that there is something wrong with this fish from collection/handling, and dangers to your other hale and healthy fish are probably minimal. (But certainly do all you can to learn about the condition.)

I know folks have different philosophies on hospital tank use, so that's just my disposition, to tend to leave the fish in it's home tank until there is specific reason to do otherwise.

 

[Swim74]

thanks everyone. its def. getting worse, the fish is spinning around and around. oh well, thats the hobby sometimes I suppose.

I took the fish from the fish only and put it in my sump on the reef, at least that way he wont keep crashing into everything.

 

[Ray]

is this the tang you got from me? Let me know if it doesnt make it poor guy

 

[wsonner]

There are a lot of things that can cause this I think. Poison in the tank, errant electricity, brain disease etc. What else is in your tank? Did you quarantine him before adding to the display tank? How big is your tank? Give more details please. Are there other fish in the same tank acting loopy? How long did you have him before it started acting like this? What changes have you recently made to the tank?