New Hippo tang very lethargic HELP

[Greg B.]

So yesterday I go to LFS and decide to get a small blue hippo tang. In the tank he is swimming around looking good. Bag him up bring him home and sit him in the tank inside his bag to temp aclimate. When I move him to the bucket I notice he is swimming weird, flipping over rolling and swimming upside down and vertical. (I have not implemented a QT process yet probably because I haven't lost all my fish to a parasite). But I am setting one up now and I'm not sure what I should try to treat. He is 1.5-1.75 inches long, I do not see any white spots. I do notice his respitory rate seems elevated compared to the other fish I have (appears to be about 2-3 times per second). If I put a baster in there and move a little water around he starts swimming in a flipping motion for a few seconds and then just floats. What are everyone's thoughts on what this could be?

 

[fishguy242]

pics, short video will help the #fishmedic team

 

[Greg B.]

pics, short video will help the #fishmedic team

 

[Greg B.]

Here is a video of the respitory rate. He is inside a specimen collection cup to get a better video

 

[mues]

Unfortunately seems to be moribund imo.... very unlikely that fish turns around.... but im not a pro.

Given discoloration he had either ich or flukes would be my best guess

 

[mues]

looking at second video, he has really shredded fins... was he in with other fish? mightve been bullied

 

[Greg B.]

looking at second video, he has really shredded fins... was he in with other fish? mightve been bullied

He was in with 1 other tang the same size the LFS obtained the same time

 

[JayM]

He was looking good at the store, then looked like that when you got home?
That doesn't seem right. Fish is very thin, fins are damaged and is extremely weak. I'm not sure there's much to do other than get him into a stress free environment, get him eating and hope for the best. Even at that hopes for survival seems slim.

 

[Greg B.]

He was in with 1 other tang the same size the LFS obtained the same time

looking at second video, he has really shredded fins... was he in with other fish? mightve been bullied

But he has never been with fish in my tank

 

[mues]

yeah he honestly looks like another fish beat the crap out of him.... when they are unable to swim, survival is very very slim. Best you can do is isolate and try to get him eating, but I'd probably be going back to my LFS with that one

 

[vetteguy53081]

So yesterday I go to LFS and decide to get a small blue hippo tang. In the tank he is swimming around looking good. Bag him up bring him home and sit him in the tank inside his bag to temp aclimate. When I move him to the bucket I notice he is swimming weird, flipping over rolling and swimming upside down and vertical. (I have not implemented a QT process yet probably because I haven't lost all my fish to a parasite). But I am setting one up now and I'm not sure what I should try to treat. He is 1.5-1.75 inches long, I do not see any white spots. I do notice his respitory rate seems elevated compared to the other fish I have (appears to be about 2-3 times per second). If I put a baster in there and move a little water around he starts swimming in a flipping motion for a few seconds and then just floats. What are everyone's thoughts on what this could be?

Please post you tube video

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here is a video of the respitory rate. He is inside a specimen collection cup to get a better video

So - the tang is really thin and seems moribund. If it looked good at the store, but now looks like this, there is one really common cause: dehydration from too much of a salinity rise from the LFS to your tank. Many LFS keep their fish low, and acclimating those fish to full salinity needs to be done very gradually, overs a few days.
Do you know the respective salinity of the two tanks?

 

[Greg B.]

Well just a update. Mr. Hippo lost his battle this afternoon. I contacted my LFS and he's going to make it right even though "he sold a happy and healthy animal".Sad that a animal has this sort of fate. But I guess this is time enough to keep a qt set up and treat them before they ever get into a dt.

So - the tang is really thin and seems moribund. If it looked good at the store, but now looks like this, there is one really common cause: dehydration from too much of a salinity rise from the LFS to your tank. Many LFS keep their fish low, and acclimating those fish to full salinity needs to be done very gradually, overs a few days.
Do you know the respective salinity of the two tanks?

I do not know this off hand but I did have that thought late last night. I know mine stays steady between 1.025 and 1.026 and I have a top off that helps keep that in check with evaporation. And when I acclimated to the new tank water I drip acclimated through iv drip set about 4000ml over 2 hrs(about 3-4 drops per second). But it makes sense that if the lfs is lower and fish were custom to a lower salinity level and mine is higher then that could cause problems. When I go to get my replacement I will test a sample. I did get a sand sifting goby during the same visit and he is doing fine but maybe the tang is more sensitive

 

[JayM]

Well just a update. Mr. Hippo lost his battle this afternoon. I contacted my LFS and he's going to make it right even though "he sold a happy and healthy animal".Sad that a animal has this sort of fate. But I guess this is time enough to keep a qt set up and treat them before they ever get into a dt.

I do not know this off hand but I did have that thought late last night. I know mine stays steady between 1.025 and 1.026 and I have a top off that helps keep that in check with evaporation. And when I acclimated to the new tank water I drip acclimated through iv drip set about 4000ml over 2 hrs(about 3-4 drops per second). But it makes sense that if the lfs is lower and fish were custom to a lower salinity level and mine is higher then that could cause problems. When I go to get my replacement I will test a sample. I did get a sand sifting goby during the same visit and he is doing fine but maybe the tang is more sensitive

You might wanna ask your LFS what their salinity is and setup a QT to match before bringing your replacement tang home.

 

[Greg B.]

You might wanna ask your LFS what their salinity is and setup a QT to match before bringing your replacement tang home.

I am going tomorrow to grab a replacement so I'll test the water.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I am going tomorrow to grab a replacement so I'll test the water.

Here is an article I wrote on acclimation:

Acclimation Methods

Acclimating Animals to Aquariums Jay F. Hemdal c.2020 Introduction to acclimation techniques Most beginning aquarists hear that they must “acclimate” any new animals they add to their aquarium. Acclimation (sometimes termed...

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