Tangs my have ich...

[walzy444]

So I just bought a red sea sailfin tang and a yellow tang. Get them both in the tank, and notice both are completely covered in tiny white spots. Fins, body Etc. Not 100%sure it's ich. They are both activly swimming and eating, and I have not once seen them rub against anything. I watched them for hours last night. Tried to catch them to dip. I only could catch the sailfin, so she got a freshwater dip. I'm gonna get a cleaner wrasse and shrimp and hope it's a fungus.. My tank is super clean with perfect water conditions. I'm so pissed right now and will flip out if my clowns and cardinal get it...
So far the sailfin got a fw dip. Both got garlic and vitamin soaked food and I've been adding vitamin and amino acids to the water. Not sure what else I can do besides trying to catch them both... I'll post a pic when I get home

 

[FOXYB]

trying to catch the fish will only fish the fish out futher, what size is your tank? did you qt them?

 

[walzy444]

Tank is a 75 gallon. I can't qt them till I catch them...

 

[JohnK]

Slow down a bit. Catching and dipping them will stress them a lot and do little to help them. Catching them and putting them into QT only makes sense if you have the capacity to care for them in QT for a while, AND you are prepared to do a full treatment for ick.

It's much more common to manage ick than to try to eliminate it. Both approaches have their ups and downs, but if your not clear on the approach you're taking your more likely to kill them than help them. In short, fish have some capability to develop resistance to the parisite, and a lot of this is dependent on low stress levels. Stressing the fish by chasing them, catching them, and keeping them in less than optimal conditions (QT tank) will all work to make the fish more vulnerable to the parisite. Hence, if you are going to do any of those things you should probably doing them in the process of doing a real treatment (copper or actual hyposalinity, combined with keeping the display tank/system fishless for at least 8 weeks). No dip or "reefsafe" treatment works, and nothing works if you don't keep the system fishless for long enough that the parisites die out.

Oh, and no treatment works if your not sure on the ID of the problem. I'd start with that Can you post a few pics?

 

[walzy444]

The sailfin I caught in about 2 mins. She swam in my hand. The yellow kept hiding, I spent about 5 mind then gave up. They both look very healthy, friendly and eat aggressivly. I will let them hang out and hopefully they will recover. I'll post a pic when I get home of both of them. I'm going to continue adding vitamins and amino acids because that's what I normally do anyways.

 

[frank180reef]

ya dont waste your money on the stuff like "kick ick"

 

[jprince]

Sarah

Some great info here. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php Ich is a very common disease, and it is very treatable without stressing the fish any further. If your Tangs are eating well and exhibiting signs of "normal" activity, then they are no doubt strong enough to withstand the parasites. I would treat via hyposalinity which would not stress the fish any further if done slowly and properly. Usually a couple of weeks is sufficient to kill off the parasites. Let us know how you make out.

 

[JohnK]

Although that article doesn't say so, usually 6-8 weeks is reccomended for hypo treatment. If you do consider hypo, be aware that the SG needs to be carefully and consistently monitored, and it needs to be @1.008-1.009. Many people get confused advice and try to hypo fish at @1.017 ish which will not work. Also remember that if you have any other fish they will need to be treated as well, or else the fish you treat will just be re-infected as soon as they go back into the display.

 

[jprince]

Although that article doesn't say so, usually 6-8 weeks is reccomended for hypo treatment. If you do consider hypo, be aware that the SG needs to be carefully and consistently monitored, and it needs to be @1.008-1.009. Many people get confused advice and try to hypo fish at @1.017 ish which will not work. Also remember that if you have any other fish they will need to be treated as well, or else the fish you treat will just be re-infected as soon as they go back into the display.

You are absolutely right. I should have been more clear. What I meant was a few weeks after the last sightings of the parasites, not a few weeks altogether. This time allows proper treatment of the fish, and also leaves your DT fishless, which will kill off the parasites because it leaves them with no host.

 

[walzy444]

Here are the pics of them... They are equally covered, yet no scratching itching or any unusual behavior... its soo weird...

 

[JohnK]

Perfectly normal, classic ick infection. You often just see spots and somewhat heavier than normal gilling. IIRC scratching is more common with some other parasites. That's a pretty solid infection, don't be fooled when the spots disappear sometime in the next week to 10 days, they will come right back.

 

[walzy444]

I'm pissed cuz I just bought them like this... and now they are in with my other fish and I cant get them out.. I didn't see the spots til they were under my t5's in my tank... I looked them over... just saw light dots on the sailfin tail but assumed it was her tail spots lightly coming in like the faint freckly on her face... Do you think flatworm exit would kill the ich/ick parasites?? Because I will be doing a flatworm exit probably later this week or next once everything is in the tank.. I heard fw exit kills pods, starfish and a bunch of other things.. soo hopefully parasites?? My female clown has some bite marks on her side from sleeping in the sand. some were bleeding... im deff getting a shrimp and cleaner wrasse tho for her.

 

[Yanni]

I had a problem when i did my tank move in march. The fish must have got stressed and i went out and bought a bunch of new fish only a few days after the upgrade. They all got ick about 2 weeks later, new fish and old ones. I tried natural approaches, high salinity, high temp, qt tank, cleaner shrimp and wrasse. All seemed to temporarily get rid of spots but did nothing to kill the parasite. My fish all died one by one, except one anthia. I left the anthia in the tank and about 3 weeks later i bought a new stock of fish only to loose them all again, except the anthia. I took the anthia out and left the tank fishless for almost 2 months to make sure the parasite was dead. I did have some temporay sucess with a natural ick medecine called coral..something or other. I have a bottle at home that i use just for safe measure every few weeks. I will post the brand name when i get home and check the bottle. Good luck, I had forgot how much of a pita that disease was till i had to deal with it last winter.

 

[walzy444]

ahhhh! If my clowns die, I will have a melt down!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JohnK]

-FW exit definately will not do anything about a fish parisite
-High temps do nothing to kill ick, just speeds up the life cycle
-I have never heard of high salinity to fight Ick, (on the other hand, Hyposalinity is a solid treatment)
-Cleaner shrimp/wrasses mainly pick at the damaged skin caused by the parisites, they won't beat an infection
-QT tanks do nothing by themselves, QT should be used for observation and acclimation, and treatment if needed. Without some sort of treatment, QT doesn't do a whole lot on it's own.
-It's normal for the spots to disappear.... then re-appear. It's a normal part of the life cycle.
-If you treat one fish, you need to treat them all. Consider the tank to be infected, not just particular fish.
-There is no "reef safe" treatment that works. Just a bunch of BS marketing, and some anecdotal stories that they kind of work because the spots disappear a day or a few days after dosing. (this is normal, part of the life cycle. Those stories usually don't get updated a week later when the spots come back)
-*most important* if you are going to try any interventions/treatments you must choose something effective and stick with it exactly. Treating one or two fish, or trying all sorts of "maybe" treatments will stress the fish out and make things worse. Doing absolutely nothing other than keeping stress low and feeding well is called "managment", and is a perfectly reasonable alternative to trying to eradicate the ick. Sadly, many many more fish die because of aquarists attempting to fight ick, than from the ick itself.

Read up, understand the life cycle and the treatment options, pick a game plan and stick to it.

Good luck, and sorry for your losses Yanni

 

[walzy444]

All of my fish are super healthy, I am thinking of waiting a few days see what happens... If it gets worse or my clowns get it, I will qt everyone in a diff tank and lower the salinity. I don't want to do the copper stuff because I have read it damages their livers and lowers their life span. My female clown is about 5 or 6 years old and her black bf is onlly about a year or less

 

[JohnK]

Just don't do anything in a hurry. If you decide to do a hypo treatment, be sure to read up on it and be sure you fully understand it and make sure you are fully set up to do it right.

 

[walzy444]

I will, thanks a lot! I've been reading a lot

 

[JohnK]

If it helps, feel free to reality check any info or questions here. There is a lot of misinfo floating around the net and even in some books, about treating ick.

 

[Yanni]

You never heard of raising salinity Jimmy cuz people dont do it!! LOL, I should have re read my post, i just realized I wrote higher. Anyway good advice, most medicine on the market does suck, and only seems to work for a brief period, you need to read up and attack the parasite itself. I had to just go fishless to make sure their was no host and it died . I hope you have better luck.