pescadero
01/12/2008, 01:52 PM
I've got a Yellow Tang that won't eat. I've tried a variety of foods to try to stimulate his appetite, but I haven't had any luck yet.
He was given to me a couple of days ago by the previous owner who was revising the profile of the livestock in his tank. He had had an ich outbreak earlier that had wiped out a number of his fish. Three fish had survived, and the Yellow Tang was one of them.
The fish were treated by hyposalinic quarantine at 1.009 in a 20L hospital tank for 6 weeks. The other fish were returned to the original aquarium, but the Yellow Tang was left in the hospital tank because he was not eating well. The salinity was gradually increased to normal levels (about 1.025) and he hasn't fared any better. The owner decided to give him away.
Now I've got the fish, but he's not eating. Here's our current status:
- On arrival, re-accommodated to hyposalinity at 1.010
- Freshwater dip. 15 minutes without any symptoms
- Hyposalinic quarantine at 1.010 in a 55g hospital tank. I'm using a larger tank to give him more room for mental health.
- Very timid -- Hides in the far corner of the tank.
- When grazing, only grazes along the tank bottom. Doesn't leave the tank bottom.
- Refuses to eat. Previous owner said that he used to eat from a veggie clip, but won't do so now. Also refuses veggies that are rubber-banded to a rock.
- I have tried feeding general marine flakes, spirulina flakes, spirulina flakes tainted with garlic, blanched lettuce, blanched cucumber, and mysis shrimp. No interest in food. I just bought some Cyclop-Eeze that I haven't had a chance to try yet.
There are no observable external manifestations of active disease. No white coloration that would suggest velvet or ich. The front tip of his dorsal fin looks like it has some erosion from the previous infection, but it appears to be healed rather than actively infected. His overall body status does not look bad. Although his muscles could probably look a little fuller, he doesn't appear emaciated.
I've had him for two days now, and its obvious that he's afraid of me because I'm the guy who netted him and put him in the freshwater dip and the strange tank. I was just upstairs, and I saw that he was out of the corner and swimming about the bottom of the tank. If I'm anywhere in the room he won't do this.
Although its possible that some of the anorexia may be related to transfer to a new tank, he's got a baseline anorexia and timidity problem according to the previous owner.
Any ideas? There are no overt external signs to suggest a bacterial infection, so I'm running out of ideas for differential diagnoses. At this point I'm thinking along the lines of a GI worm infestation. But then I am at the point where I'm really guessing about what could be the problem.
Ideas?
TIA.
He was given to me a couple of days ago by the previous owner who was revising the profile of the livestock in his tank. He had had an ich outbreak earlier that had wiped out a number of his fish. Three fish had survived, and the Yellow Tang was one of them.
The fish were treated by hyposalinic quarantine at 1.009 in a 20L hospital tank for 6 weeks. The other fish were returned to the original aquarium, but the Yellow Tang was left in the hospital tank because he was not eating well. The salinity was gradually increased to normal levels (about 1.025) and he hasn't fared any better. The owner decided to give him away.
Now I've got the fish, but he's not eating. Here's our current status:
- On arrival, re-accommodated to hyposalinity at 1.010
- Freshwater dip. 15 minutes without any symptoms
- Hyposalinic quarantine at 1.010 in a 55g hospital tank. I'm using a larger tank to give him more room for mental health.
- Very timid -- Hides in the far corner of the tank.
- When grazing, only grazes along the tank bottom. Doesn't leave the tank bottom.
- Refuses to eat. Previous owner said that he used to eat from a veggie clip, but won't do so now. Also refuses veggies that are rubber-banded to a rock.
- I have tried feeding general marine flakes, spirulina flakes, spirulina flakes tainted with garlic, blanched lettuce, blanched cucumber, and mysis shrimp. No interest in food. I just bought some Cyclop-Eeze that I haven't had a chance to try yet.
There are no observable external manifestations of active disease. No white coloration that would suggest velvet or ich. The front tip of his dorsal fin looks like it has some erosion from the previous infection, but it appears to be healed rather than actively infected. His overall body status does not look bad. Although his muscles could probably look a little fuller, he doesn't appear emaciated.
I've had him for two days now, and its obvious that he's afraid of me because I'm the guy who netted him and put him in the freshwater dip and the strange tank. I was just upstairs, and I saw that he was out of the corner and swimming about the bottom of the tank. If I'm anywhere in the room he won't do this.
Although its possible that some of the anorexia may be related to transfer to a new tank, he's got a baseline anorexia and timidity problem according to the previous owner.
Any ideas? There are no overt external signs to suggest a bacterial infection, so I'm running out of ideas for differential diagnoses. At this point I'm thinking along the lines of a GI worm infestation. But then I am at the point where I'm really guessing about what could be the problem.
Ideas?
TIA.