Thanks to those that helped me determine that my yellow tang has septicemia (original thread: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139674), but now it potentially has another problem. I think that the Tang had a bad reaction to the maracyn-two that was put in the tank. Here is what happened:
Sunday I purchased Maracyn-two, did a 50% wc in the tangs QT tank and put in two packets per 10 gallons (fist days dosage in directions). Before I did this the tang had the red spots, but could swim fine and was eating. Monday morning it was having trouble swimming, wasn't reactive to me being near the aquarium, and wouldn't eat at all, but the red spots had subsided. Monday afternoon it stayed in its favorite hiding spot and wouldn't come out. By evening it was laying on its side with labored breathing and barely moving. I performed a 40% water change and added carbon as a last effort since I read on Foster Smith that in marine aquariums only 1 packet per 10 gallons was used on the first day, and I had used twice as much. This morning (Tuesday) it was surprisingly still alive, and swimming around the tank again, but still having some balance issues with labored breathing, and still not eating. The red spots are completely gone now, although I haven't put any maracyn-two in since the first two packets on Sunday, so I would assume that the red will come back if I don't go for 5 days straight.
The problem: Why did the tang almost die?
I would think that the wc is not the culprit because I used the same RO water (reads 0 ppm with TDS meter) with the same salt mix as I did to fill the tank up and do the second water change. Would septicemia cause the sudden inability to swim and breathe while appearing to get better (reduction in red spots)? Or did I use too much Maracyn-two?
The only other possibility is that there was a reaction between the penicillin (Gel-tek) soaked food it was given before using the Maracyn-two. Any help in the matter would be greatly appreciated.
Sunday I purchased Maracyn-two, did a 50% wc in the tangs QT tank and put in two packets per 10 gallons (fist days dosage in directions). Before I did this the tang had the red spots, but could swim fine and was eating. Monday morning it was having trouble swimming, wasn't reactive to me being near the aquarium, and wouldn't eat at all, but the red spots had subsided. Monday afternoon it stayed in its favorite hiding spot and wouldn't come out. By evening it was laying on its side with labored breathing and barely moving. I performed a 40% water change and added carbon as a last effort since I read on Foster Smith that in marine aquariums only 1 packet per 10 gallons was used on the first day, and I had used twice as much. This morning (Tuesday) it was surprisingly still alive, and swimming around the tank again, but still having some balance issues with labored breathing, and still not eating. The red spots are completely gone now, although I haven't put any maracyn-two in since the first two packets on Sunday, so I would assume that the red will come back if I don't go for 5 days straight.
The problem: Why did the tang almost die?
I would think that the wc is not the culprit because I used the same RO water (reads 0 ppm with TDS meter) with the same salt mix as I did to fill the tank up and do the second water change. Would septicemia cause the sudden inability to swim and breathe while appearing to get better (reduction in red spots)? Or did I use too much Maracyn-two?
The only other possibility is that there was a reaction between the penicillin (Gel-tek) soaked food it was given before using the Maracyn-two. Any help in the matter would be greatly appreciated.