Question regarding Regal Blue Tang   1/8/07
Dear Bob,
<Hey Amir, JustinN with you tonight, sorry to disappoint *grin*>
Your website is one of the best websites ever honestly. I have learned so much about tropical and marine fish . it's unbelievable. Thank you. Thank you.
<I thank you on behalf of the entire crew, it is truly a labor of love.>
I am new to the marine fish keeping so kindly excuse my sometime stupid statements or questions.
<Hey, we all start somewhere!>
Also I wasn't able to locate a place on the website where I can pose a question to you so taking the alternate way to get in touch with you directly (via your direct email).
<This is in fact the method for contacting regarding a question. See this page for information on our question and answer conventions: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm>
The situation is that I have about 5" or so Regal Blue Tang which was one of my first fish in my 55 gallon with lots of personality and quite healthy. I had that fish for about a year and during that it had survived two big outbreaks of ich which only affected him.
<Mmm, no. Only showed on him, all were affected.>
But using the dip method prescribed by you and garlic laced fish food really helped it to recover.
<Was a quarantine/fallow procedure followed here? If not, then the ich remained in the tank.>
Now about 2 months or so ago, I had upgraded my tank and the Regal Blue Tang along with its partner in crime the Yellow Tang were both slowly moved into the new larger tank which currently had about 40 lbs of rock and some corals. The water parameters are perfect.
<Actual numbers are much more helpful here.>
I am using a Coralife super skimmer for 120g tank and 2 powerheads as well as a Fluval 404 to give you some idea about the equipment.
<Amir, you don't mention what size tank you upgraded to. I feel I must mention that your Regal Blue tang was in a woefully too small setting for a long period of time, and this may just be the effects catching up. Zebrasoma sp. tangs such as your yellow tang require a minimum of a 75 gallon aquarium for a healthy lifespan, with a Regal Blue requiring a minimum 100 gallon for its duration.>
The problem which I noticed was that the blue tang now seem to be laying down on its side in one of the crevices more often (used to do it before in the 55 gallon but only for a short while) and the stomach seems a bit pinched and the bright blue color it used to had seem to be fading a bit and become lightish or whitish blue.
<The laying behavior you speak of is very common with these fishes, however the pinched stomach and discoloration are disconcerting.>
Now there are absolutely no ich in the tank and there are no white spots on the fish nor it is showing any scratching behavior
<Mmm, if you never treated your tangs in a quarantine tank for an extended period, while leaving either the old 55 gallon or the new tank fallow for a 6 week period, then your tank does in fact still likely contain the parasites.>
and the best thing is when it comes time to feed, it is still crazy as before and would even eat from my hands.
<Very good>
I am currently feeding my fish NLS marine fish formula, frozen foods (mostly plankton, mysis shrimp and blood worms) as well as Cyclop-Eeze and dried sea weed.
<Excellent.>
I will be more than happy to provide you with a before and after picture of the fish but was hoping that based on the information provided above, you might be able to give me a fairly good feedback on how to get the regal blue back to its original shape.
<Well, Amir, it reads to me like there's something amiss in your water quality, either an excess of nitrogenous wastes, or some other factor not directly visible. May I ask, what do you test for in your tank? Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, calcium and alkalinity? How about your make up water, are you using water from a Reverse Osmosis system, or dechlorinated tap water? Beyond these possibilities, my only other thought is that the potential stunting of being in too small of quarters is beginning to show in this specimen, but I cannot say with absolute certainty.>
I sincerely thank you for your time and advise in advance.
Best Regards,
Amir Sherani
Toronto, Canada
<Amir, I don't feel I've been terribly helpful here, but beyond what I've pointed out, nothing really appears amiss from your descriptions. Feel free to shoot back some more info as I've outlined, and I'll gladly take a closer look. -JustinN in Texas>

3 months still with HLLE disease on Pac Blue Tang  9/21/05
HI! Thanks so much for your help. We have a 100g tank with 1 clown, 4 Chromis, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2 large snails. We had gotten a Pacific Blue tang. He's of small=medium size. He was lively in the store.  We brought him home and he immediately hid under a rock where he stayed for 2 days, all the way UNDER between 2 rocks, we thought he was dead one morning and had to poke at him (only to discover he was alive) to get him to move.  He eventually started coming out when people were in the room.  He always ate though.  But always swam away and hid under his favorite rock as you approached the tank. Well then he started looking funny. The yellow tang we had at the time, got an infection, septicemia possibly secondary to some protozoan disease. We tried all kinds of things only to end in disaster each time. We fully and accurately diagnosed it too late ( all the literature on the net and in books- we have tons- is difficult to navigate in terms of disease identification. I've even pored over your site even! No real good pictures, and when there's something secondary going on it makes it really hard. Anyway, back to the blue tang, he wasn't looking so good either- we were now adding erythromycin coated Nori, Melafix, Stress Zyme, Vitamin C powdered- food grade -buffered ,and  good filtration and water changes and we lost our friendly Yellow Tang, now it was time to move on and try to save
our quirky Blue Tang- we finally learned of HLLE and because he was "so far gone" so to speak- it was hard to tell. All of the bright shiny blue on his face is gone, he was major wide streaks of color gone on his body laterally.
His tail was sort of mealy but still yellow. (I know you must think we suck at this, but honestly we care and are deeply disturbed by all of this) By now, our electrician came over with a fancy meter and measured 35 volts
zipping along randomly in the water! wow huh?! So we grounded the tank and bang! zero! and another bang! the blue tang came out of his rock- all swimming around like a dolphin! there was 3 of us standing right there next to the tank. He never would do that before, anyhoo, (I'm getting to my question- I promise) we've since then added more Nori to diet, Formula One frozen foods, better water, and more changes. Oh, and added Ecosystem Aquarium- 'Fish Solution' (minerals, iodine, strontium, magnesium etc) This was back in early August, he got livelier, ate more, and the blue he does have definately got brighter, good thing is the blue on him
is centralized around his major organs, so I feel he's at least not getting worse and probably "feeling" ok, but his color every where else- is just not getting better, - I was trying to convince myself for a few weeks that he
was, but I just couldn't tell because I was obsessed with it. But my friends who don't see him everyday like I do, have said, that sorry no, he's not getting much better, except his color he does have is good, and his tail is
better. So (thanks for bearing with me) how do we get him better? What ELSE can we do? We've considered getting rid of the tank because we cant stand losing these fish, and its not fair to them if we can't heal them when sick.
So what can we do? Id really appreciate some advice. So what do you think?
Thanks so much!! Best to you- Kathryn
<Kathryn, sorry to hear about your tang.  In my opinion, there is no better filter system for keeping tangs/angels and preventing HLLE than Ecosystems Miracle Mud filter.  I've posted a link to their site.  There are many testimonials from prominent people in this hobby that swear by this system.  Keep in mind, it's my opinion and what I would do if I decided to keep tangs and angels.  http://search.hp.netscape.com/hp/boomframe.jsp?query=ecosystem+filter&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Df65ed7e8fd0cd8f%26clickedItemRank%3D1%26userQuery%3Decosystem%2Bfilter%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ecosystemaquarium.com%252Fhtml%252FComparison.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3Dnsispclient%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecosystemaquarium.com%2Fhtml%2FComparison.html
Good luck.  James (Salty Dog)>

3 months still with HLLE disease on Pac Blue  9/27/05
Thanks for replying, but it didn't really address my question, which is WHEN will he get better and when should we give up and go another route? Its been about 2 full months, and  very little physical improvement, but major attitude/social improvement. He still looks like s&*t   Thanks so much.
Sincerely, <Kathryn, that's difficult to answer.  It would be like saying that all people who contract the flu will be well in 72 hours.  In fish, it depends on a good vitamin rich diet, 10% water changes weekly and excellent water conditions.  It could take six months for that matter.  Keep in mind, tangs are not one of the easier fish to keep to start with.  Did you search our WWM on HLLE?  James (Salty Dog)>
Kathryn

Hepatus tang and Cryptocaryon 9/19/05
Dear WWM Crew, I am writing to you because I have reached a point where I have nowhere else to turn.  I have had this Hippo Tang in a bare quarantine tank for over 9 weeks now and I cannot get this fish to stop contracting "ich". I have used every possible resource on your site and I only wanted to write as a last resort.
Treatment Details:  Originally I started with hyposalinity (1.09 SG, using a refractometer) for 4 weeks to no avail.  I slowly returned the SG to normal and then started treating with Coppersafe (using a test kit to monitor the levels) for 2
weeks.  Again, the ich has re-appeared, or should I say never disappeared. I then tried several formalin (Rid-Ich+) baths, and I would leave the tang in the solution for an hour.  You guessed it, ich is still showing.  I have now picked up a bottle of SeaCure but of course the Aquarium Pharm copper test kit I have doesn't have a reading for this type of copper level and I'm treating "blindly" at the moment till I can find a test kit (I drove to at least 4 LFS the last two days to find a simple test kit without luck and I'm fuming).  <I can only imagine your frustration!  I am surprised that this barrage of treatments has not been successful.  I would suggest confirming 100% that you are dealing with ick.  As for the SeaCure, I am not sure that a test kit exists to accurately monitor it.  I would simply follow the package directions precisely.>
Conclusion: My WWM Friends, I am totally desperate. I just bought a neon goby and it's been "going to town" on the tang but the white spots still remain, and the tang still scratches too.  All in all, the tang is doing EXTREMELY well considering what it has gone through but I worry it will never have a chance to go into the main tank.  What else can I do?  For what it's worth, I had ordered this tang online through saltwaterfish.com.  When I received this poor tang it was so tiny and skinny it was almost transparent.  Through TLC and Nori feeding it has gotten plump and much larger but the crypt is our nemesis. Please help "us". Thank you!! - Jeff <See here for some great information (as well as part 2 of the linked article): http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php  I also have one last suggestion (assuming you are 100% sure you are dealing with Ick).  Set up a second hospital tank and fill it with water from your main display.  Move the fish to the second tank.  Drain the first hospital tank and allow it to dry COMPLETELY.  After the fish has been in the second hospital tank for three days, fill the empty tank from the display and move the fish to the new tank. Repeat this tank transfer procedure through a total of four moves and the fish should be ick free.  Best Regards.  AdamC.>

Blue hepatus tang HLLE  9/13/05
Hello,
<Hi there>
I have a blue hepatus tang which I got in Oct. 04, he was fine, all color in tact, he now has all around his eye a large patch on both side where the blue color is gone, it is a gray color and even the texture looks like a pit. I have looked at pictures of HLLE but none look like mine. please help.
<Is a case of this syndrome... almost always nutrient and/or water quality derived... Please read on WWM re... and strive to correct per the FAQs there. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hllefaqs.htm
Bob Fenner>

Sick tang? 8/20/05
Hello,
<Evening>
I am having troubles with a Blue Tang I recently purchased.  I have read tons of FAQ's and Googled till I'm blue in the face, so I thought it was worth asking the crew. <Fire away, that's what we are here for.>  At the petstore there were three tangs: 2 about an inch long and this one was about 2 inches.  I picked out the larger one and he was kind of hiding out underneath a rock.  I didn't think anything of it
(next time I will). <Yes hiding fish or inactivity is usually a sign of disease or stress. Best to avoid these fish and make sure all your fish eat and swim well in the store.>
Anyhow, after acclimating and releasing, he sat on the bottom of the tank.  
This was fine, until hours later he was on his side, frantically moving his fins.  I have had him for about 3 days and he hasn't moved.  He lays on his side, just breathing, and moving his fins.  It appears as if he is trying to
get under the live rock but it is not possible.  There is nothing wrong with my water (that I know of at least.  0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 15 Nitrates, pH 8.3, Sal 1.025, 78 degrees).  First I thought he was deprived of oxygen but that was not likely the case and I even added another powerhead w/ air intake and saturated the water w/ microbubbles.  He hasn't eaten any foods since I've had him.
<hmm no Q/T? It may be stressed out from the move or poor handling by the store or a shipper.>
I talked to the store and they said tangs are weird sometimes when they are new to a tank or young.<Not true generally the younger tangs just don't ship well since they cannot tolerate the changing water and temperature conditions of shipping as well as their larger brethren.>  I can buy that, but I can't buy the fact that he
hasn't moved nor eaten. <Not good signs at all.>  He doesn't even move at night (thought it could be light sensitivity but doesn't appear so).  He has no visible signs of spots, film, or fin damage and his color is brilliant (at least so far).  I added some carbon to the filter to pull out anything that may be annoying in the
water.  I have no idea what to think.  Is it more likely he is sick/has a parasite or could he just be impaired or something?  It doesn't look like he has any competence or coordination.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Thanks so much,
Mike
<Hmm.  Do you know what part of that world it was caught in?  If it is a pacific blue tang, It may have been cyanided and is now showing the symptoms of its toxicity.  However it is more likely that it is been poorly shipped and is either severely stressed or was burned by ammonia or nitrites in transit.  I would keep the water quality as high as possible and try to coax it to eat formula one, two, emerald entree, or any algae you have on hand such as Nori.  Also check the LFS top see if it ate for them at all and how long they have had it in their tanks.  If it was just brought in or it never ate for them that will help you to see what you are dealing with.  If it goes on for over a week, you cannot get it to eat, it is from the pacific ocean but not from Hawaii, it may have been cyanided so check with the LFS, who if they are reputable will call the distributor to ask where it came from.  If they wont tell you or cannot tell you, I would try another store for your fish needs.  Such information is crucial to success in saltwater and if the trade of cyanided fish is not supported such techniques will be used less.  Unfortunately the only way to truely know if it was cyanided is to check the gills and see if they are a deeper red.  Pink is great, red is bad and the fish will die eventually if not very soon.  (Mostly this is checked post mortem and is not possible when the fish is alive without possible injury to the gills themselves.)  I am very sorry to be the bearer of such news.  Good luck and I hope it is simple shipping stress and it recovers.>
<Justin (Jager)>

Blue tang got a slice out of him right behind the pectoral fin 8/19/05
Bob/Team,
<Okay>
Here is my tank.
<Where? Oh>
135G Long
60G Sump
150lb Live rock
Inhabitants
1 Camel Shrimp (sold to me as a peppermint while it was small. man I almost kicked the guys at Jeff's)
<Unusual mistake>
1 Cleaner Shrimp
10 Turbo Snails
10 Astrea Snails (In sump and overflows)
10 Bumblebee Snails
5 Scarlet Hermit crabs
10 Blue leg hermit crabs
10 Left handed hermit crabs
1 10 leg sand star
1 Purple Tang
1 Purple Firefish
1 Red Firefish
2 Percula Clowns (True)
3 Pajama Cardinals
1 Unidentified Hermit crab (about the size of a nickel) with white legs and claws 1 Unidentified Almost mantis shrimp looking thing, but it is white/pale grey and only about an inch long.  It burrows under the live rock and is very skittish.
Anyways. my perfectly healthy 2.5" blue tang (QT'd for almost 4 weeks) has been in my display tank for about 10 days now.  Tonight while feeding I noticed what looked like a cut from a scalpel about 2mm behind his right pectoral fin.  The cut is about 6mm long.  The inside of the wound is black, and the skin lip (around the cut) is white.  Doesn't look infected.  So far I have started feeding garlic (freshly minced).  He seems to eat very well still, and swims about normally.  Questions:
1. Is there anything else I should do, or just leave him there and hope the wound heals?  
<The latter>
2. Any idea what in the tank might have caused such a wound?
<Likely the tang itself... zooming about... hung on a rock or such>
3. How can I get that camel shrimp out?  I have tried spear fishing with stainless steel barbeque skewers, but no luck yet.
<Perhaps a baited trap>
Something else, I recently found my solar wrasse.. Well at least his bones. behind some live rock.  I thought I had a jumped, but he just disappeared one day after being in the tank for almost a month without issue.  So. if
you have any ideas/advice for me to save my little blue friend, let me know.
<Happens>
Thanks again.
Shane Thoney
<Bob Fenner>

Re: Blue tang got a slice out of him right behind the pectoral fin. 8/19/05
My Blue Tangs' wounds are healing very well.  It is about half the size it was yesterday, and he isn't bleeding anymore.
<Ah, good>
Thanks Bob.  See you on Saturday.  
<Oh, yes... at MarcT's OCMAS do. BobF>

Unhappy Hippo (Paracanthurus hepatus) - 08/11/2005
Help! My Blue Hippo Tang is dying. I have a 75Gal tank and she has only been in there 2 weeks. She's lying flat on the sand and breathing so hard.
<Too many possibilities, too little information....  I would immediately do a major water change (be certain to match pH, temperature, and salinity) and add a great deal of aeration....  And begin reading here:  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm  and here:  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/paracant.htm .>
She can't get up and I have no clue what to do. Can I save her, or is it too late?
<Without actually seeing the fish, I could not say.>
Please help!  Christina Rafiyan
<Wishing you and your tang well,  -Sabrina>

Blue Tang with Blisters on Dorsal and Ventral fins 8/11/05
We have a small salt water tank in our office.  The Blue Tang has developed blisters on his dorsal and ventral fins.  The "Fish Guy" who cares for the tank doesn't know what it is and doesn't know if it is treatable.  
<Me neither... could be "worms" of a few sorts, possibly environmental...>
I've surfed the net and thought I get "blisters and blue tangs", I can't find a specific reference to the subject.
Please help.  Oddly, I seem to be in love with these fish.  
Thanks.
<Please have your "fish guy" contact me... I would try some vermifuges here first (Praziquantel my first choice), and if this doesn't reduce the blisters, Metronidazole... as well as bolstering this fish's immune system with soaking foods in Zoe, Selcon... Our various input on this species, other tang disease, nutrition, habitat can be found here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/paracdisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Blue Tang with Blisters on Dorsal and Ventral fins 8/13/05
Ol' Blue passed away last night. I'll bury him at the beach. bring him close to the ocean out of which he arose.
Gabrielle
<An appropriate place, gesture. BobF>

Tiny Hippos
Hi,
We have a 200 gallon tank reef tank that has been setup for 3 months (and most live rock came from an existing tank). The only fish are a 3" Yellow Tang and 4 Green Chromis. They are still in quarantine in order to ensure the new tank was stable and free of any ich. 
<Good>
We would like to add 2 Hippo Tangs and have them grow up in the tank. Both our LFS and LiveAquaria have Tiny Hippos (body=3/4") in stock.
<This IS small... but this species is quite hardy, caught, shipped at this size... providing they've been and kept fed>
In fact this is the only size available. We have a cycled 20 gallon setup. If we quarantine them for 6 weeks and don't add the Yellow or Chromis to the big tank until the same time, would that size work out okay in the large system?
<Mmm, if it were me, mine, I'd pH adjusted freshwater dip them on the way into quarantine, only keep them there (with some PVC pipe fittings to hide in) for two weeks... and then dip them again on the way to the main/display tank... this is all that is necessary with small Paracanthurus, and about all the stress they can take>
We intend to feed both live algae red and Zooplex (with possibly flakes and/or the meaty mix we feed the others) a couple times a day (because of their size). Once in the big tank, they should have plenty of copepods and amphipods, etc. on the rocks as supplement because we have stocked both and they have multiplied like crazy while the tank has gone fallow.
<Good>
Would we be crazy to get 2 this size?
<Nope>
If you think it is okay to get them - should we do the usual freshwater dip pre-quarantine as small as they are?
<Ahh! I've got to adopt my own suggestion to read all input before responding... Yes my friend. Bob Fenner>

Re: Tiny Hippos Did the DO (wah) Dip
Hi Bob,
Just wanted to let you know the baby tangs are doing great! They are very outgoing for hippos and started eating right away. They are starting to get a little rounded as they should (they were pretty skinny when they first came in). They play together all day and sleep together at night. No signs of ich at all so far (or even any stress)!
<Good>
We had already done the freshwater dip with RO/DI when we received your e-mail. Luckily, it does not seemed to have hurt anything this time (I stopped just under 3 minutes.. they were just so tiny). I am sure our tap water is loaded with metals/minerals and who knows what else. Would Spring water pH and Temp adjusted work better/be safer?
<Really matters very little here... for such short duration/exposure. Bob Fenner>