Tang lips

[joshtih]

My tang has white lips today... It looks as if just his lips got burned and a layer of skin is peeling off. He wont sit still long enough to get a picture. Ideas?

 

[lifestudent]

What's the pH in your system?

 

[joshtih]

I will double check it when I get home. I do weekly water changes, and do not have any fancy equipment. I dose everything manually, use RO, with IO. Would a pH problem single out one fish? I have other tangs that all seem fine, as well as other fish. Thanks for the help.

 

[jennm]

How long have you had the tang in question?

Could be lymphocystis, which is brought on by stress.

Pictures would certainly help.

Jenn

 

[joshtih]

This is. Recent addition, 2-2.5 months. It has been eating really well from day one. Flakes, pellets, pe mysis, and I always have dried algae/seaweed available for them. I will try to get a photo this evening.

 

[joshtih]

I looked up lymphocystis, not sure if that is it. That looks like a growth, my fish's lips just seem to have turned white. Like I put lipstick on it. But at the very corner, it looks like the white layer is peeling up just a bit. I will definitely try to get pics.

 

[jennm]

Could be a number of things... yep, pix would definitely be helpful.

Is it eating and otherwise behaving normally?

 

[joshtih]

Other than the lipstick, everything is fine!

 

[jennm]

What kind of tang is it, and what time of day did you observe this? Lights on or lights off?

 

[joshtih]

It is an achilles. It was lights on, about 6:30 pm. Fed mysis. He is in a 6' bowfront tank, with plenty live rock to graze. I have a 20 gallon fuge and another 20 gallons for skimmer and filter pad and return. I run carbon and phosgaurd in socks in the return section. The only thing that I did differently this week, I started dosing strontnium (sp?). I added it after my water change Saturday. The only other thing I do that seems to be "controversial" would be vacuuming my dsb. But I do it every week, and I have done that from the beggining, so I don't think there would be much buildup of anything in my sand. I do also have a pretty decent bio-load. But I don't skip water changes. Every Saturday, and every 3 weeks or so I will do one on a Wednesday. I did also add an acro frag Monday evening, forgot that, but don't think it would be a cause, UNLESS the super glue gel was not totally dry... maybe he nipped at it? It does actually resemble dried super glue. If I glued my tangs lips, I am gonna feel like a real idiot!

 

[joshtih]

My pH is between 7.8 and 8.0. Everything else is fine. Got home, tang is gone, female purple sided wrasse is also dead, and one of my false percs jumped into the overflow.... Two days ago everyone was fine. Not sure what to do. Any way the carbon could be bad? I am going to check the labels on everything I dosed, make sure I didn't overdose something. Do any of the lfs keep a wide array of uv bulbs instock? I would like to change that out too...

 

[jennm]

Achilles are very difficult to keep to begin with.

The clown jumping into the overflow is likely a coincidence.

Doubtful that carbon was "bad".

Test all your parameters and post them.

UV won't help unless it was a parasite (and it's not a fix-all even then), you have no evidence that it was a parasite.

Sorry for your loss - it just leads to more questions than answers at this point.

There's no substitute for quarantining new acquisitions - especially fragile ones.

Jenn

 

[joshtih]

I am sure the clown was coincidental, just adds to the day I am having. The tang was quarantined. My nitrates are at 10, ammonia and nitrite are 0. I will test calcium and post that.

Edit: Thanks for your continued help, Jenn.

 

[jennm]

How long was he quarantined? Odd that this happens after the fact unless there's some sort of toxin introduced, etc.

Are there any other fish in the tank, and what is their status?

 

[joshtih]

There are other fish, crabs, shrimp, snails. The only toxin would maybe be from a bug getting in the tank (the pest control guy came last week, but I walk around with him to make sure he doesn't spray near the tank. I wonder if a bug that had come in contact with the poison, and then got in the tank, if that would have enough toxin on it to hurt? And why not all the fish? I had him a couple weeks, and he seemed fine, so I moved him to the dt. After I moved him, he did get what looked to be a few spots of ich, but it went away pretty quick. At least I couldn't see any spots anymore. He only had a few spots of it, and it lasted maybe a week... he always ate well, never acted strange. Until the last 24 hours.

Edit: 3 clowns, flame angel, pink spot shrimp goby, 2 naso tangs, 2 sargassm triggers, 4 anthias, dwarf lion, 1 wrasse (now), 3 emerald crabs, 2 cleaner shrimp, bunch of snails.

 

[jennm]

I'd rule out toxin if the remainder of the fish were fine. Could the lion have tagged the wrasse?

3 clowns will eventually be 2 once two pair off and kill the third...

Not sure I'd try 2 nasos together either...

Jenn