Lavender Tang ... ICH UGHHHH!!!

[macman7010]

After I put my lavender tang in my main tang from quarentine he got a slight ich infection. I figured it would clear up and that the UV sterilizor would take care of it. Although its gone away and come back about 3 times and now he peppered in the stuff. The ich has spread to my other 2 tangs but I dont see any chance of netting him. I tried for about 45 min this morning with food, lights on, light off anything I could think of with no luck.

He is eating well, do you think the ich will clear up on its own. I cranked the flow rate on my pump back to about 100 gph in hopes that would encourage the UV to kill the parasite. I am soaking all thier food in garlic and vitamins. The UV is a 12 watt on a 75 gallon tank I would think that would be enough to nail so ich.

 

[tripper]

It sounds to me like the parasite has gone through multiple life cycles in your tank and is reproducing rapidly. The only way you are going to be able to save your fish is to get them into a QT and start either hypo or copper treatment. If the parasite has come back this many times it is going to continue to do so until it kills your fish.

My suggestion is to get the fish into QT as quickly as possible. I know it's going to be tough to get them out of the tank, but it is necessary. Try taking out some of the LR, that should help a lot.

After the fish are in QT you will need to leave your main tank fallow for 6-8 weeks. This will allow the parasite to die off.

Good luck. I was in your situation once and it wasn't easy, but I definitely learned my lesson and have had a healthy tank ever since.

tripper

 

[Hara]

also, hurrying the water through the UV sterilizer does not allow it to be in there long enough to get anything done. I do not know the rating for the flow rate on your sterilizer, make sure it is not going too fast. Depending on UV sterilizers to cure ich issues is not really a dependable idea. Soaking the food in garlic and vitamins helps the immune system to combat disease but does not "cure" ich once it shows itself.

 

[joeybuzz2006]

When leaving the tank fallow for 6-8 weeks, how do you ensure that that filter bacteria doesnt die off from not having any fish, or waste source in the tank????

 

[tripper]

Even when your tank is fallow you should still feed it every few days. I would add a little mysis or brine or whatever to the tank to keep any cleaning crew busy and the waste as it deteriorates will feed the bacteria.

tripper

 

[melosu58]

That`s correct a few brine or even a few flakes. it will do the job