This is a new one for me. Yesterday a customer brought in 2 of his fish (unannounced) - a yellow tang and an engineer goby. Both have been in his system for quite some time. The Engineer had stopped eating and has definitely got ich. We're not in the habit of taking in sick fish but our quarantine was available and we're able to treat... so we've got both fish for now.
The Yellow Tang looks clean (no visible ich) but its keeper reports that the fish has been swimming in circles non-stop (How long? Not sure.) We quarantined him in the same system (different tank)... but right away we noticed that his eyes are twitching back and forth rather rapidly. Reminds me of one of those wall clocks shaped like a cat, with the tail as a pendulum and the cat's eyes shift back and forth every second - except the yellow tang's eyes are twitching more rapidly than that.
We've had the fish for nearly 24 hours now. Engineer looks a bit better, seems to be mildly interested in food.
The yellow tang is still swimming in circles and his eyes are still twitching. Scott thinks the fish may be blind as he put his hand in the tank and the fish seemed oblivious to his presence until he touched the fish.
We're at a loss as to why these fish got sick in the first place. Customer's parameters checked out perfect - to him and to us. He also lost a Possum Wrasse (that has been in captivity for a few years now), he said it was swimming normally and just literally keeled over, dead (might have been age - I know this fish has been around for at least 4 years or more).
I know there are some who don't think voltage creates health problems but in the absence of any other things being out of whack, I instructed the customer to check his tank. He still has a black Ocellaris clown (also in captivity for a number of years) and it's just fine - no visible signs of any ailment, no behavior issues. I'm waiting for the customer to let me know the results of his findings on that test.
Has anybody ever had something like this happen? The ich I can deal with - dealt with it plenty of times, but I've never seen anything like what this tang is doing, and I have no idea what might have caused his condition. I want to help the fish but not sure where to start. I asked Scott if the tang is eating - he doesn't appear to have eaten the nori we put in there last night but Scott is preparing to feed the fish now so we'll see if he sees food or eats.
Perplexing - any input on this would be appreciated.
Jenn
The Yellow Tang looks clean (no visible ich) but its keeper reports that the fish has been swimming in circles non-stop (How long? Not sure.) We quarantined him in the same system (different tank)... but right away we noticed that his eyes are twitching back and forth rather rapidly. Reminds me of one of those wall clocks shaped like a cat, with the tail as a pendulum and the cat's eyes shift back and forth every second - except the yellow tang's eyes are twitching more rapidly than that.
We've had the fish for nearly 24 hours now. Engineer looks a bit better, seems to be mildly interested in food.
The yellow tang is still swimming in circles and his eyes are still twitching. Scott thinks the fish may be blind as he put his hand in the tank and the fish seemed oblivious to his presence until he touched the fish.
We're at a loss as to why these fish got sick in the first place. Customer's parameters checked out perfect - to him and to us. He also lost a Possum Wrasse (that has been in captivity for a few years now), he said it was swimming normally and just literally keeled over, dead (might have been age - I know this fish has been around for at least 4 years or more).
I know there are some who don't think voltage creates health problems but in the absence of any other things being out of whack, I instructed the customer to check his tank. He still has a black Ocellaris clown (also in captivity for a number of years) and it's just fine - no visible signs of any ailment, no behavior issues. I'm waiting for the customer to let me know the results of his findings on that test.
Has anybody ever had something like this happen? The ich I can deal with - dealt with it plenty of times, but I've never seen anything like what this tang is doing, and I have no idea what might have caused his condition. I want to help the fish but not sure where to start. I asked Scott if the tang is eating - he doesn't appear to have eaten the nori we put in there last night but Scott is preparing to feed the fish now so we'll see if he sees food or eats.
Perplexing - any input on this would be appreciated.
Jenn
