What's wrong with my fish!!??

[-JB]

My fish are stressing what's going on??

I don't know what the problem is, so please give me some advice. My tank is a 180g reef tank that is going on it's 4th month. All corals are doing great. I have 6 fish in the tank. 2 false percs. a 4" coral beauty, 4" foxface, 4" fairy wrasse and a 5" Kole Tang. they were put in in the following order: Fisrt the two perks 5/26. 2 weeks later a coral beauty 6/8, caught ick treated with garlic went away waited 2 weeks before getting another fish, total of 1 month before next fish. 1 month later wrasse and foxface 7/6 added at the same time. 1 week later Kole tang 7/14. Nothing has been added to the tank in 3 weeks.

Last tuesday 7/31, the foxface had a brown stripe across his back, and was flicking his fins a lot, the fish has stopped flicking his fins but continually has the brown stripe, almost goes away when eating. About 3 days later I notice the Kole is hiding a lot, only comes out during feeding then quickly runs back into the rocks and the back of the tank. Today I notice the coral beauty has a few orange splotches on his head behind his eyes. Looking in the tank further I see the kole seems to have a few of what looks like scrapes on his forehead.

All fish acclimated with little trouble (under 12 hours), all fish seemed fine and dandy until I noticed the foxface. The only thing I did recently is re-arrange the rocks on the right side of the tank where they sleep three days before the foxface started stressing and I raised the tank temp from 80F to 81F with the chiller.

They don't seem to be fighting. The kole and foxface definitely are stressing. I don't know why, all other fish are fine and happy even the coral beauty, even though he just started to show the splotches. All fish, except the kole, are eating like pigs. AAARGH! I am beginning to think the kole tang is the problem and might need to be removed but I don't see him bothering anybody.

Any Ideas??? Forgive all the info but I wanted you to get the full picture.

Tank parms
amon 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, Ph 8.35, Phos 0, alk 12 dKH, temp 81, SG 1.024

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: -JB ]

 

[naesco]

Your tank is a large tank but it still is a new tank. I would put no more than one fish in a month.
I would suggest you add carbon filtration for the short time. Stick an air diffuser in the corner. Feed garlic as you have done.
Your fish are exhibiting signs of stress so you don't want ich around again.
Try keeping the lights out for a day and don't hang around and bug the tang. Kole tangs get really finicky when you first get them and this behaviour is normal and he should settle down. Direct food for him separtely from feeding the other fish. ie(the other end of the tank). In moving the rocks around you changed his home which is worrying him a bit.
Was it eating at the LFS? Try wrapping some nori on a rock near where the tang feels safe.
Good Luck

 

[naesco]

I forgot to mention that sometimes fish get fidgity when electricity is present in the water. If you so not have one, invest in a good grounding probe. Its good for you as well.

 

[-JB]

The tang was eating at the LFS. He does eat frozen food(I feed them Prime Reef), but only a little bit then he goes back into hiding. Before he started getting skittish he started eating flake but now doesn't come out to eat flake, only frozen. I have a grounding probe on the tank. The kole is always hanging out at the back of the tank on the side that I feed. Any suggestion on how to get food to him?

 

[JMKirk]

JB:

Do you feed Seaweed Selects or Nori to your Kole? Mine loves it (so does my Flame Angel). You can also soak it in Selecon or garlic (if you are worried about ich).

 

[jdeets]

I can't be certain about the stripe on the foxface since I can't see it, but have you ruled out HLLE? Symptoms include deterioration of the tissues around the head and lateral line. It sounds like these spots, being in the head area on one fish and a "stripe" down the side of the foxface could be the beginning of HLLE.

If you don't already do it, get some fish vitamins (Selcon or Zoecon). When you feed, take some tank water in a cup, add vitamins as directed, and soak the food in the vitamin solution fir about 30 minutes before putting it in the tank. When you feed, pour the vitamin solution in with the food. You can also add the garlic to the "soaking cup."

Also, make sure your tangs and foxface have food to graze on all the time. I can't stress enough the importance of grazing fish having food available to them whenever they want it. The best way to do this is to put some sheet algae on an algae clip in the tank. I feed my tangs 1/2 sheet of nori a day--that's about how much they can finish off in 24 hours. Don't leave it in more than 24 hours. Before long you'll get a feel for how much they can eat.

If it's the beginning stages of HLLE that you're seeing, good nutrition and a varied diet is the best defense.

 

[-JB]

Here is a pic of the foxface

I'm not sure if it is HLLE, the spots on the kole and CB look like it was either rubing against the rock or niped at.

I haven't really been feeding any seaweed to the kole or others in the tank. I recently bought green seaweed selects and some altantic nori (all I could find). But was having deficulty getting it to stay on the clip while the fish picked at it. Bought a new clip yesterday.

 

[jdeets]

IME, the Seaweed Selects will stay on the clip pretty well. My clip occasionally falls off the glass but they'll still clean it off within a day, even if it's laying on the bottom of the tank.

Keep that stuff in there for them to graze on and see if they look any better in a couple of weeks. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get some Selcon, too. (Aquatic Technology has it for $9 a bottle--pretty cheap!)

 

[naesco]

Yes selcon will assist with Head and Lateral Line Errosion (HLLE)as the vitamins contained in it appear to fix the problem in a short time.
You probably noticed that the Kole Tang sucks algae off rocks and glass. If you have any 'smoothish rocks' put them near where he is hiding along with the nori and leave him alone. Do it before you turn the lights on. Do the garlic as I would be concerned about ich.
In my experience (IME) with kole tangs and some other tangs as well, this skittish behaviour is common and settles once we leave them be for a while.
The skittishness of the Kole may have rubbed off on the Foxface.

 

[JohnD]

I feed my tangs Seaweed Selects, but I have given up on my clips years ago. They kept coming off of the glass. Try putting a sheet under a rubber band wrapped around a piece of PVC. Then you can place the PVC where ever you want in the tank.

HTH

 

[-JB]

Ok, for a few days things seemed to be improving. I started putting seaweed and nori in the tank for the fish to feed on. The Kole was more active in the front of the tank, no change in the foxface though. Yesterday the kole seemed to be hiding a lot. This morning I check the tank before going to work and the kole is hiding in the back of the tank again. But I notice that he has a horizontal gash near his tail fin. right where the body slopes into the tail, that little V, is where the cut is. I call home a little while ago and my wife says the kole also has a cut near the dorsal fin as well. and that the foxface has been going to the back of the tank, near the kole, and showing his fins a lot.

My current theory is the foxface is harassing the kole and even attacking him at night, maybe slicing him with those deadly fins of his. They are both about the same size. Now that the kole is starting to show some battle wounds I think I may have to remove the kole and bring him back to the LFS

Thoughts?