Marine Ich on Blue Tang? (Pics Included)

[kart_racer3]

Greetings,

Thanks to everybody that had helped with my water quality issues from before. I have that straightened out now, but unfortunately, I think that my blue hippo tang might have contracted marine ich. I've seen some pictures online, but do not feel comfortable making the diagnosis on my own. He is still eating brine shrimp, although sometimes he will rub himself against a the liverock (although not very often). He is swimming around like normal and doesn't appear to be breathing heavy. I have only had this fish for about one week. I don't have the ability to set-up a "real" QT other than a small 10 gal plastic tank that I could use. I don't want to use copper based treatments, but would rater try hyposalinity. I would like to know asap so that I can move him to a treatment tank. What do you guys think about the fish? Thanks!


*edit* please excuse the low res photos, i'm working with dial up

 

[Sadielynn]

Certianly looks like ich to me ... Try feeding some mysis soaked in garlic to keep up his appitite brine lacks the nutrition that fish need ... Also when you place him in QT if you are not dosing anything or hypo or even before perhaps you can put in a cleaner shrimp to help him remove them ....Once you do that and you move him to QT for treatment (remove all fish ) and leave your main system fallow for 8 weeks or more to allow for them to cycle out and die , if they do not have a host they will die but it takes a bit of time to get through all the cycles of the parasite

 

[kart_racer3]

I just went downstairs, and in fact my cleaner shrimp is "cleaning" my blue tang. I'm worried that the spots might look worse. I am also worried that the transfer to the QT tank might be too much for him. The only tank I have is a small 5, maybe 10 gal. plastic tank that used to house freshwater fish. It would have a smaller pump and light, and thats all. I'm worried that he wouldn't survive in an envrionment without things like live rock or substrate or uv, etc. What do you think? I would lower the salinity of the main tank and treat like that, but it houses snail, shrimp, crabs, and an anenome.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Looks like ich to me. I really don't see that you have a choice. Either way, if you go copper or hypo, you can't treat it in your main without killing off everything in it. If you go copper, you'll never be able to house inverts in there again. Seems like a QT - even a crude one - is the only way to go. Cleaner shrimps may pick at the parasite, but it's no cure. As Sadielynn mentioned, your tank is infected and it needs to go fallow to break the life cycle. Otherwise you're going to battling this for quite a while.

Here's a good no-nonsense discussion on hypo...

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

 

[Sadielynn]

Using a tote bin would work for a QT you can get them in many sizes they are opaqe so they can not bee seen through... Add a few peices of PVC pipe too so that they have some where to hide when they need to ... Tangs are ich magnets and get it very easy.... Do NOT treat in your main tank do this in QT .... I have lost fish by having to move them to qt but on the same note it allows my tank to go fallow and the ich to die off ..... if they dont survive the move your that much further ahead for the fallow treatment .....It sucks I know , but it is one of those things that needs attention to rid it ....once you break the cycle any other fish you wish to add QT them to be sure it is safe to do so
Once you treat copper in a plastic bin tho you will not be able to QT your inverts (Tho it is my understanding inverts are not able to get ich) Treating your main tank is asking for disaster (As Kurt said ) The hypo and copper will kill off inverts and will also not allow for inverts in the future if you have copper added ... If you go with copper be sure to test as it can spike and become toxic.....

 

[cmor1701d]

From the first photo the Ich doesn't look very bad yet. Get ALL the fish out of the main tank and into QT. The QT can be BRUTE totes or something similar. Fish do not require much in the way of lighting. They will need pristine water conditions while you administer the hypo treatment.

The link that Kurt gave is the best hypo treatment explanation around. You want to take about a week to lower the SG to 1.009, keep it there for a month, then take a week to SLOWLY raise it up to 1.025 or whatever your main tank is at.

Be prepared for daily 10% - 20% partial water changes for the first couple of weeks to maintain water quality. You also need some type of filtration. A hang on with a biowheel or corner filter works fine for this. PWCs will keep the water pristine while the biological filter is coming online. I leave a biowheel in my sump for use in the QT when needed.

A couple of years ago I had to remove all the rock from my 125 to get all the fish out. It was worth it in the end.

I just got a blue tang 2 weeks ago. It's still in QT and growing, though I have noticed a bit of flashing the last couple of days. Not spots yet, but it will remain in QT until I'm sure.

Good luck with the treatment. Hypo is the way to go.

 

[melosu58]

Hypo is the way to go.

I think so also. I`ll post some more on ick when I get home.