White patch on my purple tang

[Anonymous]

I was looking at my tank yesterday afternoon and noticed two white/light gray patches near his left pectoral fin. I didn't think much of it. Last night though I looked again and the patches had grown. It went from two small patches (one the size of a dime and one the diameter of a pea) to one about the size of a quarter - maybe a little larger. Upon closer inspection I could see that the speckling (what do you call the freckles on a purple tang?) was still there. It's just the background color that has faded. He's out, active, behaving normally, and eating well. He's been in the tank for ~6 months but was a long term resident elsewhere before coming to me. I haven't been home to see him yet today. I'm not expecting anything to come of it but I was wondering if anyone has ever seen anything like this. All of my other fish are fine and well. Tank parameters are NSW+ but I've been fighting a low pH as of late (7.5 or 7.6 in the mornings to ~8.0 in the evenings).

 

[Len]

I've heard and seen tangs with pigment disorders. Maybe this is what your tang is going through. If it's just the purple that's fading (and no other symptoms), it can be one of these rare pigment disorders that leaves your fish looking blotchy. The other possibility is a fungal infection.

Any way of getting a pic?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Len. Let me check him out tonight. If he's still blotched I'll try to snap one. It doesn't look like any fungus I've ever seen.

 

[Len]

Is the splotching occurring after lights out? If so, this is pretty normal for tangs and butterflyfish.

 

[Anonymous]

It's not the night time blotching but it does look very similar. The lights had been on for 3 hours when I first noticed it, 7 hours when I noticed the spots had grown.

 

[Anonymous]

It could just be stress. First, fix the pH problem. Why is it swinging so low? Do you have enough circulation? The second thing you can try is taking a really strong powerhead and putting it right in his face. The jacuzzi thing works, I've done this to tangs and have seen almost immediate results.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to imagine cornering him and blasting him with a powerhead.

The blotchyness is gone.

I don't understand the low pH yet. It's definitely not flow related. I haven't done a CO2 off-gassing test or recalibrated my probe yet. Honestly, I haven't blinked twice at pH in more than 10 years. As long as the corals/fish have been healthy and the alk has been slightly NSW+, I've dismissed it.

 

[Anonymous]

My guess would be a pigment disorder as well.

As for the Ph problem, that is strange. Any chance your probe/test kit is old or needs to be calibrated?

 

[Anonymous]

My guess would be a pigment disorder as well.

As for the Ph problem, that is strange. Any chance your probe/test kit is old or needs to be calibrated?

Yeah I'd check that first.

 

[Anonymous]

I think you guys/gals are right - the probe has to be out of whack. We had the windows open all day yesterday and the pH peaked at 7.8. The dKH is 10.0 and the circulation is strong enough to go surfing. The pH definitely should have climbed to at least 8.0.

 

[Anonymous]

Silly :lol: Just place a powerhead at one end of your tank, direct the flow across the front of it, in an area where the tang does most of his swimming. Hard to illustrate, each tank requires different current strategies. Anyways, unlike corals, tangs like swimming in direct flow, so you should be able to configure the placement pretty easy. I've actually seen tangs recover from ich faster when pheads are directed right at them. I've done it enough times, and with enough different sized tangs to be convinced. I've taken tangs on the verge of death and brought them back. Right now I have a whitecheek tang about 5 inches long in a 20L quarantine tank. Been there about two weeks. As soon as I started to see ich, I added another MaxiJet at one end, and a Korallia 2 at the other, and it disappeared. This tank is a frikkin Jacuzzi :lol: When he needs to rest, he goes behind the rockwork. Most of the time he is bopping away in midspace, pretending he's a salmon I've named him Bubbles

 

[Anonymous]

Gwen, that's fascinating. What even brought you to try such a thing in the first place?

 

[Anonymous]

Gwen, that's fascinating. What even brought you to try such a thing in the first place?

Haaa! Read it on wetweb... 8) :twisted: :!:

 

[Anonymous]

No shti! :lol: Man, the stuff that's buried there.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow...it makes complete sense when you think about it.
I learned something from Gwen today. 8O

 

[Anonymous]

LOL@Jim

Marina, I think it was Anthony Calfo that said most hobbyists tanks are seriously under-oxygenated. Tangs are strong swimmers and really seem to love the feel of strong current all up in their faces This made sense to me, and I've since become an advocate of over-circulation. Go Jacuzzi

 

[Anonymous]

When it comes to salt and other high-O2-loving species I've always tended towards lots of water movement. I just don't ever remember reading or learning from anyone, including the Bobster, about using current or circulation to help treat disease. I think that kicks butt.

 

[Anonymous]

I think so, too. Actually, anything we do to help relieve stress helps treat disease, including water quality and lack of aggressive tankmates. I also read on wetweb that stress is the number one factor when it comes to treating tangs...find it, remove it, and your work is half done. The rest involves the health of the fish and its ability to keep its immune system strong. I powerfeed all new fish, I got the whitecheek onto spirulina brine shrimp/garlic on day one, then flake food and garlic within a few days. He gets fed three times a day, four if I'm at home. Fatass This is a fish I am babysitting until a friend gets his tank upgraded, he is building a coast to coast 180 for this fish.

Here's a pic to give you an idea of the flow: check mah flow LOL

PS Ignore the aiptasia. It's an experiment, and those are rescued corals from another friend who is taking his tank down. Little wonder LOL

 

[Anonymous]

Very cool - thanks for the tip. I love WWM.

I'm pushing 5000+gph in a 140 cube. Does that count?

I just got back from taking lunch at home. The faded area has not returned.