ICK: How Do I Curing My Power Blue Tang

[Silvabul]

I got a power blue tang about 3 weeks ago and about 10 days ago I found ick on him. I have raised the temperature of the tank to 82 degrees and am soaking his food in garlic but I dont know if it is working. The white spots disappear and them sometimes they come back 10 times over. I bought quick cure for ick and the fish guy at the store told me to treat the tang in a seperate area in fresh water that has the same PH as the tank. To put the medicine in the separate bucket and put the tang in the medicated fresh water for 4 minutes, then rinse him and put him back in my tank. I dont know what to do. He doesnt seem to be getting much better. Am i doing something wrong or is it just going to take a while for him to get better.

 

[fishfreek]

IMO the acutall process of taking the fish out and doing a FW dip could be as stressful as having ICH itself.

When the ich first appeared do you recall anything different about the tank? Instead of doing FW dips on the fish I would avocate setting up a qt tank and then dosing that tank and leaving the fish in that tank for a period of 1 month. Even after the ich is not evident on the fish the parasite is still around but its just in its non visable stage. Part of getting the fish healthy is a healthy diet as well as a healthy enviorment.

 

[r95rdstr]

As fishfreek says, FW dips and repeatedly netting the fish is very stressful. Your main tank, as well as your QT, should have rocks stacked together to provide many hiding places.

 

[Silvabul]

Re:

I have 65 pounds of live rock in my 55 gallon tank for him to hide. I am not going to be able to QT the tang though. Any other advice.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Your main tank, as well as your QT, should have rocks stacked together to provide many hiding places.

QT should always be barebottomed, rock and other substrate can and will absorb medications. Pieces of PVC pipe will provide the cover that I agree are necessary to help reduce further stress.

I am not going to be able to QT the tang though.

Why not? You don't really have any other viable choices at this point. FW dips do not work very well on their own, as even if it kills all the parasites on the fish they will remain behind in the display tank. Nuking your main tank may make it inhabitable for livestock down the road (or currently depending on what you have in it). You can continue to try the garlic, but should understand that it may or may not work and the ich may progress to where you can't treat it in time.

 

[cmor1701d]

You can use a Rubbermaid tub as a QT. Just get a small heater and a small powerhead.

 

[Silvabul]

I am going to QT the tang I guess. Doesnt seem like their is any other choice. Hopefully he gets better. Thanks to everyone for the advice. As you can see I havnt been at this that long and I need a little help sometimes. Thanks

John

 

[r95rdstr]

Related question:

I just learned that a QT should be bare with only PVC or other inert material for habitat. My question is bilogical filtration, and how to maintain it?

 

[cmor1701d]

You can use a sponge filter whose media was in the main tank for a few days. Or use a new small sponge filter with constant small water changes (10% per day?) till the filter is established.

 

[Sam]

Remember the the Powder Blues are prone to marine Ich. I agree with the consensus here to QT the Blue until well. If this is the only fish you have in your display tank, I would leave in QT for at least 3 weeks so that any Ich spores in your main tank die off for lack of a host (their cycle is around two weeks and if they do not find a host, they die). HTH.

 

[cmor1701d]

Marine Ich has a life cycle of a month or more, hence the general recommendation to leave the tank fallow for a 4-6 weeks. . .

From Bob fanners article at http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm

Life Cycle:
Cryptocaryon irritans is a parasite with a direct life cycle, i.e. requiring no intermediate host like an invertebrate to complete its life cycle. The time per generation is temperature dependent, ranging from a few days for tropical to a week or more. If one considers the possibility of "resting stages", marine ich can wait out weeks to months before seeking out fish hosts.

A) Starting with a stage feeding (call trophonts) on its fish host. These are embedded below the epithelium (upper living skin layers) of host fishes, under copious amounts of mucus, not affected by chemical treatments.

B) Protomont stage leaves the fish, drops to the bottom and forms a resting/developmental cyst (tomont) stage persisting for 3-30 days generally. Becomes attached to and transmissible by any wet object. For about a day at 78 degrees F. reproduction occurs by binary fission; that is, by each cell dividing into two, possibly producing two hundred individuals (then called theronts). These encysted stage individuals are not affected by chemical treatments.

C) After 3-7 days, as tomites or theronts they break out of the cyst (typically at night, when reef fishes are often "sitting on the bottom") and swim into the water in search of a host fish, in a to several hours to a day or two at elevated temperatures they must find a fish host or die. If the parasite is lucky (and its host fish not so) it will find a host and burrow into its skin or gills. This "free-living" swimming stage is the opportune moment for chemical treatment.

 

[Xenos]

As long as you don't have any inverts, I've had much success with lowering the specific gravity to 1.018 (gradually) and treating with copper. Lowering the SG will make the environment unfavorable to invert/parasites and the copper should knock it out. I've also had success with malachite green and fromaldihie so long as you are a fish only tank.

 

[cmor1701d]

Unless you lower the SG to 1.009 and keep it there it wont have much effect on the parasite. At elast from my readings that's what hyposalinity treatment is all about. Then you don't need copper. It worked for me, but I caught it very early on a purple firefish.

 

[Xenos]

Its less stressful for the fish to stay at 1.018 and add a medication than to drop salinity completely. It makes your meds more effective because the parasite is in unfavorable conditions. I've had an excellent success rate only having to do it once in a year. I highly recommend it because I was so pleased with the results and I've witnessed its use in large aquariums (over 30,000 gal).