Is this Ich on my blue tang?

[WtksBlondie104]

With the flash on, these spots turned out dark, but the spots are white, but not in her skin. It looks like they are hanging on her, or attached to her. I had one die before of ich. But the white spots were in her skin, not on it.

Do I need to take her out immediately and treat her?

[lReef lKeeper]

can you turn the flash off and post a pic ??

[WtksBlondie104]

She wont stay still long enough

[WtksBlondie104]

I now have my tang in my old 29 gallon tank with a heater, skilter 250 filter, and a cave to hide in.

I bought Formalin to treat her, but was nervous about the toxicity on it. So, I used what my LFS sold me, which was "Stop Parasite". The Salt is at 1.021, and we used 10 gallons of water from the fish store, and 5 from my tank, and the rest freshly made water.

Am I doing everything right?

[Whoyah]

Putting the tang in a Quartine tank is the best thing you can do at this point. Ich will look like sugar or salt. The Stop Parasite doesn't list Ich as something it can cure. If it is indeed ich you will need something else. Typcially it contains copper. I don't believe Formalin is correct either.

You should also besure to feed the tang well while it is the QT. Try using dried seaweed sheets or Nori ( used to wrap sushi , around $4). I would also recommend soaking the seaweed in some Selcon first. The Selcon will help the fishes immune system.

[WtksBlondie104]

Thanks for the info. I got Mardel, Coppersafe medication. Is that the right stuff? I also got Kent Marine Garlic xtreme to soak her food in. Supposedly that will help. She is the cave, and hiding in a crevice, and not moving around. Is that normal for this type of thing going on? She took quite a bit of work to catch. That probably made things worse now.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

[WtksBlondie104]

Why wont anyone else answer my post? My tang is completely faded right now, and I know we are going to lose her this way. What do I do? I guess I am going to move her back to the main tank. This is making me think that maybe I just can't figure this thing out. I don't know what went wrong. I thought I did everything I was supposed to.

[Whoyah]

What exactly have you tried so far? Is it still eating? swimming?

Tangs are pretty tempermental when you are first introducing them. They commonly come down with ich. They need to QT them for 5 weeks before introducing them to your main tank.

When I got my Purple tang I had the QT all set-up plus had all of the food and meds ready. She went into the QT the day I brought her home and stayed in there for the 5 weeks. I had to treat for ich while she is in there.

It is no fun to loss fish ( I have lost my fair share) but the important thing is to learn from it.

[Tom McKenna]

Ditto to above suggestions. All tangs and surgeonfish get ich very easy and stress very easy until they are happy and established in your tank. But I would leave her in your quarantine tank so you do not effect any other fish you have.

[Fatman]

When my tang got ich, I just upped my garlic. From what I understand a cold front came through (I dont have a heater) and my tempeture dropped to low 70s. I think it freaked her out, and she got ich. I was about to treat the tank when the guy at the fish store recommended I just up my garlic. Another thing I did was SOAK my seaweed I feed the tangs in Garlic, so they really get a good dose of it. Afterwards, I bought a cleaner shrimp. One month later she seems fine, with no ich, and none of my other fish ever developed it either. Lucky? Maybe but just explaining how I dealt with it.
Edit: I forgot to add, I kept the tank extremely warm between 80-82, from some info it seems to affect the larva of the Ich, and not allow it to reproduce. Low salinity helps as well, but it will usually hurt your corals.

[dsfdbutterfly]

WtksBlondie104,

I'm sorry to hear about what is happening with your fish. I hope that he can pull through for you. I also understand your frusteration of needing help and not getting clear answers. I hope that you can understand that no one wants to take a stab at what is happening unless they can lead you down a path they feel will help you out.

When I first started posting to this forum I was making several mistakes that made it hard for someone to respond to what was happening. Until people get to know what your set up is then try to include it in your posts. Even if it seems redundant. I get the best response when I list everything. Don't worry about taking up too much space. The more info the better. Simple things like where your levels are at, what's in the tank, how old the set up is and even things like lighting. This will help get some ideas and a possible answer to your problems.

Now for some tips that may help for things that you've asked. Unless you are doing a fish only type tank I recommend that you keep all fish that you get in a QT tank until you feel confident to move it to your display tank. Some people wait two weeks others as long as six weeks or more. Depending on what is happening with the fish. In your QT tank only place a few things like a pvc pipe or a piece of lace rock for them to hide behind. Try to keep it as bare as you can stand. The least amount of stuff in the tank the better. If you are going to use this as a true QT tank don't put things like LR in the tank. You won't be able to use most medications to treat anything if you do.

As far as being able to keep your tang. It is possible. I know the frustration of the one unobtainable fish that you so want. Any fish I name dies so I no longer name them out of fear of losing them. If you take what others have suggested and QT him first there should be no reason that you can't be a proud parent to a lovely tang. The thing you have to remember is that for some reason tangs are ich magnets. I haven't seen any that don't show with ich during transportation from the LFS to your tank. Copper is a great medication that kills the ich. Unfortunately in a reef setting it also kills other things including the LR.

I know many of these people now here at CR. They all want and will help so try to know that no one was ignoring your please for help. Please keep us posted on your progress and know that many are pulling for you even though they don't know you. Many will be glad to spend hours helping you get the set up you want and help you with even the basic of questions. I hope I haven't rambled too long for you and that this will in some way help.

Angie

[KG]

Hope your tang is doing better. I would not use copper since tangs are sensitive to it and it could make the situation worse. What I would do is lower the salinity over the next few days to 1.009. That's about 1/3 that of NSW. You'll need a refractometer to be sure it's correct since those swing arms are not accurate enough. Below is an article that discusses how to QT and use hyposalinity and I've attached a couple of other links that will help you diagnose it, hopefully. You might want to print off the ones listing the symptoms and put a check mark by the ones you see and try to narrow it down that way. From what you say, it sounds like ich and hyposalinity for six weeks should do the trick. Also, be sure to read that entire first link since it explains how you get it in your ST, ways to treat, and how to prevent it in the future. Good luck!

KG

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinityeffects.html

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/diseases.html

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/Marine-Aquarium-Fish-Disease-2.htm

[jasolynne]

hi there we are having the same problem with our tang ,and also looking for answers . but would also like to know what others have told you to lowerer the salinity if it will stress out corals and starfish.

[unleashed]

hi there we are having the same problem with our tang ,and also looking for answers . but would also like to know what others have told you to lowerer the salinity if it will stress out corals and starfish.
as far as tangs and ich go they really do seam to go hand and hand.tangs are ich magnets period! there are ways to combit this pest without going through the rituals of medication or hypo(which I will never use) or even removing the fish from the tank for treatment(this is for sever cases only IMO)
9 out of 10 cases of ich are not lethal if the fishes natural imune system is up.this is kept up by proper feeding.although in some cases even the most well fed fish have come to the demise of the paresite.but if the fish remain eating they have a very high chance of surviving. steps in prevention once the fish are introduced to your tank.feeding :tangs require multipul feedings per day in the numbers between 3-5 feeding depending on the diet given and the size of the fish itself. the feeding schedule I personally keep is 3 times per day which seems to work fof the most parts but if my fish happen to show any signs of ich what so ever i boost the feeding up to 4-5 times per day until all signs have dissapeared..severe case ot new arrivals are placed into a qt and coppersafed for 21 days minumun or longer if they show any signs of illness. as for the tangs dieary neds(i have done extencive research on this dept for all my fish) tangs require a 75% plant and algae based diet 25% of a meaty diet for protien. the use of nori(seaweed) can be utilized more as an addition to a prepaired food choice but not reccommended as a staple source of plant/algae foods the red variety being of the best choice as the green versions most poplular have been dry roasted(grocery store variety) and lose essential nutrients.
foods formulated for tropical fish are not suited for marine fish be sure sure if your using flaked or pelleted foods its meant and formulated for marine life.as the diet for fw and tropical fish differ highly.this also goes for frozen prepaired foods.I have found a large variety of frozn prepaired foods best suited for herbivores such as formula 2 by ocean nutrition prime reef herbivore diet is also a good food emerald entrse is a very good choise for herbivores and omnivores alike this is formulated with an algae base with mysis shrimp.
my choice diet is as followed: am; thera+A pellets large and small size to fit my fish sizes
midday; thera+ pellets large with veggie flakes by omega one
pm; a combination of formula 2 emerald entrese seaweed selects red brown or green(shredded) along wih a large variety of other frozen prepaired foods for all my fish species.thawed in a cup of warm fresh water(normally tap) with added supplimets of garlic extreme and selcon once thawed i mix thoroughly and smoosh and gelled cubes for easier sharing.pour into the tank. I have kept this diet and schedule for my fish for 4 1/2 yrs I have yet you have a single loss due to ich in this amount of time.garlic extreme and selcon both can be added directly to the tank to ensure all fish and inverts alike can get full benefits from them through absorbtions(of the gills which is direct link to the fishes bloodstream)I also do this for new fish or fish that are not eating yet.I hope this helps if you have any more question on this topic feel free to ask

[unleashed]

hi there we are having the same problem with our tang ,and also looking for answers . but would also like to know what others have told you to lowerer the salinity if it will stress out corals and starfish. inverts and corals cannot tolerate lowered salinaty enviroments if you must use hypo treatment its best done in a sep tank.the sg of hyposalinty is 1.010 inverts and corals will parish in this enviroment as well as sharks rays and eels.
this a very good web site for all types of marine tank related issues
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm