Is my Bristletooth tang alright?

[Derbird]

Hello everyone,

Tonight during feeding time I noticed some blotchy marks on my 5" Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus binotatus). It looks like he has had the right side of his / her head scrapped up pretty bad but I don't want to jump to conclusions just in case it is something more serious.

Sorry for the dirty glass

A couple of videos so you can get different angles


I believe I got this Tang back in Feburary. He / she has been very active and eats like a pig. This fish is a brat baby. The last fish added to my system was a Green Mandarin Dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus) two months ago.

Tank info (tests taken two weeks ago)

125 gallon 6'
40 gallon fuge
Salinity 1.025
Temp 79
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 2
Alk 8
Mag 1250
Cal 420

I really cant QT him / her. I have a 20L or a biocube I could use but that would be a death sentence for such a large tang.
Thank you for any advice or ideas :help:

 

[leebca]

I remind hobbyists fairly routinely that 'eating like a pig' doesn't mean a healthy fish, nor that the fish has been given proper nutrition. In fact, 'eating like a pig' could be an indication of an undernourished fish. Please read this: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/fed-properly-proper-nutrition-57474/

I write the above since, what I see here is often from some time in captivity where the fish is lacking in nutrition. The fish is not repairing its mucous coating very well. The lost of the coating in this area is usually the fish signs of this.

I would not think this so much a physical issue (injury) because of how the area is spread out. If you care to share the fish's diet and frequency of feedings, I may be able to spot some deficiency.

The second most likely cause is water quality. Tangs are especially sensivtive to water qualtiy. They react like this at the start -- losing coating and showing signs of skin infection. Check water quality closely and even though you don't find anything out of order, it could be something we don't test for. Perform a huge water change (over 80%) making sure your source water is ultra pure first. Follow the guidelines for a proper water change in this particular change out: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/how-make-safe-water-change-fish-27191/

With proper diet and better water quality, the fish should be able to get rid of this appearance, and keep it from happening again.

Good luck!

 

[Derbird]

Here is my feeding schedule

Algea

They get half a sheet of algea daily, 5 days a week green 1 day purple 1 day red

Every morining they get shrimp pellets enriched with spirulina

Every other day they get brine shrimp enriched with spirulina, mysis shrimp, and rods food. I also use cyclopeez and oyster feed every other day but the tangs show no interest in this.

I have a new batch of saltwater starting. My RO/DI is slow so I only have half the amount needed but I'll do a large water change as soon as it has made enough water.

Thank you for your reply

 

[Derbird]

I should also share the tank mates of the Tang

Fish

Blue Damselfish (chrysiptera Cynea)
False Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) X2
Dragon Goby (Amblygobius phalaena)
Eight Line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus octotaenia)
Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus binotatus)
Melanurus Wrasse (Halichoeres Melanurus)
Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma desjardini x Zebrasoma veliferum)
Green Mandarin Dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus)

Inverts

Blue leg hermit crabs (Clibanarius tricolor)
Scarlet Hermit Crab - Paguristes cadenati
Emerald Crab - Mithrax Sculptus
Sand Sifting Starfish - Astropecten polyacanthus
Brittle Starfish (Ophiocoma paucigranulata)
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp - Lysmata amboinensis
Banded Coral Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus)
Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni)
Condy Anemone (Condylactis gigantea)
Nassarius Snail (Nassarius vibex)
Cerith Snail (Cerithiidae sp)
Feather Duster (Sabellastarte sp)
Sally Lightfoot Crab (Percnon gibbesi)
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)

 

[leebca]

The thing about Tangs is that they eat throughout the day a large amount of algae. At this size, this fish should be consuming mostly a vegetarium diet -- that is, mostly algae. It may not be getting enough. Feed macro algae according to this recommendation: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/how-feed-macro-alage-marine-fishes-41649/

Stop feeding pellets. They contain wheat. Wheat is not digestible to the fish and which mask the true amount of protein the food contains -- that is, the protein content includes protein from wheat which the fish can't take advantage of. Take this information into account: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/different-forms-marine-fish-foods-30026/

Brine shrimp has too little nutritional value to be used more than once a month. Because you are using one that is gut loaded doesn't improve it much. Switch to more of the prepared food. Do not use prepared foods that contain land products. Our marine fishes are on a strict seafood diet.

For more details on specific foods you might find available, read through the list in this post: Fish Health Through Proper Nutrition

Make the above changes in diet and after the water change you might want to include some immune boosters for a short time:
Immune Boosters

Using a fat and vitamin supplement would be helpful, overall.

Looking over your list of marine life (thanks for including that), be suspicious of the hermit crabs. I would catch them as you see them and get them out. They can be problematic as they get bigger, especially. They are opportunistic feeders, meaning they pretty much will eat whatever is available, including killing marine life to eat it. Some will eventually attack fish as they sleep at night.

Lastly, Tangs aren't too smart. Watch your tank for a couple hours straight and see what its habits are like. It takes an hour or more, just for it to get used to you being around. See if the Tang is bothering or getting in/around the anemones. They can get so hungry that they will think they see food in an Anemone, and/or try to take food from one.

Watch for how these patches progress. They should go away with the above modfications, in a few days. Check your filtration system especially skimmer and chemical filters to be sure they are keeping dissolved organics down.

Like I mentioned, the condition should improve. However, do keep an eye on the fish. This is one of the first steps to a serious bacterial infection and if things start looking worse you'll need to treat the fish for this. You might want to setup a hospital tank -- get it going just in case.

 

[Derbird]

I will phase out the brine, I thought with the gut loading it would be better but it is good to know it isn't much better.

I know some of my fish need to be fed at least once a day, that's why the pellets came in. Would a good marine flake be a good choice for a mix of herbivors and carnivors? I read your link with the pros and cons, the flake sounded like a better choice but less then ideal. Or do you have a good recomondation for a daily feeder?

Thank you for helping me out

 

[leebca]

It's always been a challenge to deal with our (human) patterns and the needs of these fishes. With the exception of predatory fishes, our fish have digestive tracks that evolved to handle small quantities of food almost constantly. You might be able to get some ideas from this thread: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/feeding-marine-fish-throughout-day-27065/

An alternative that is harder on you (but better for the fish) is to get up in the morning at 6 a.m. (The auto lights on your tank have come on gently and slowly up to full power starting at 5 a.m. and up full power by 6). You do a feeding. Then, before you leave for the day (work or school), you feed again. At this time put in the right amount of macro algae (the right amount you determined by experimenting you did to the other post on how to feed macro algae). When you leave for (work/school), light go out shortly after and come back on before you or the next person returning get back. (Timed to come on 1 hour before, slowly ramping up). Feed again. Wait a bit, then feed macro algae. Then just before bed time, feed again. You get three feedings in, plus two more of the macro algae feedings. You've accomplished 5 feedings in one day, for the herbivores in your collection. Just for your information, this is similar to what I have done for 17 years now. (I get up at 5 a.m., feed fish, go out to eat breakfast at local diner, return and feed again, lights out, go to work. . .). These feedings are done until the fish show a reduced interest in the feeding. With multiple feedings of the good foods, they don't try to gorge themselves at a meal. With an almost constant pattern, they relax and 'know' their next meal will be coming on schedule.

Flake isn't much better than pellet, if it is any better at all. Still the flake food contains land products and just isn't the level of nutrition as frozen or fresh. It certainly is better than nothing, but for the long term health of the fish (as you can see) it requires more than just the feedings using flake and pellet.