Tangs Diseased

[johnkristie]

I've finally got the salinity down to 12ppt (SG 1.009). How long before I start to see improvement in the fish? My yellow tang is still scratching on the rocks. pH seems to be stable right now at 8.2. The bacteria bed seems to be holding it's own too, NH3 is still 0. That was my main concern in lowering the SG.

 

[Dr.Nate]

It shouldn't take too long to see results--probably a couple of days, maybe four or so at the most.

 

[Brenden]

It will take a few days to see results. Keep in mind hypo does not kill ich. It does not allow it to reproduce thus breaking a process in it's short life cycle.

 

[quarryshark]

Agree, a week to 10 days would not be out of the ordinary until you see changes.

 

[robertfah]

I currently have ich on my fish as well (all of them) and I'm trying the Garlic route and FW dips every 2 or so days. The first dip I did seemed to clear up the ich in 3 of my 4 tangs. I kept them in FW for 3 minutes each, then put them back in the tank. Some of the Tangs laid on their side upon entering the FW, but with a little nudge from the net, they perked right up and swam around.

I'm also going ot try Marine-Max, which is invert. safe. I'll let you know how that goes once I get it in the mail.

 

[Brenden]

Robertfah. FW dip will do nothing but stress and eventually kill the fish and they will still have ich. :? Garlic will strengthen their imune system but will not cure it either.

 

[robertfah]

Brenden,
I've read that in a couple of places, but you know the internet, for every 1 line of truth there's probably 10 lines of lies, so I didn't know for sure. They seem ok for now (still have the ich), but I'll heed the advise and stop the FW dips.

 

[Brenden]

you know the internet, for every 1 line of truth there's probably 10 lines of lies.

Agree. Maybe someone else will post and give you piece of mind. I was also going to comment about not using the Marine-max but I will keep quite so you can get your info from more than one source. Good luck. Hopefully someone will comment soon.

 

[seaham358]

I have not had to deal with this issue first hand so I can only report on what I have read. And I have read more good then bad about doing FW dips for fish. A large fish dealer in my area does FW dips on a regular basis for sick fish. How are you treating the tank for the ich? Reef or fowlr tank?

 

[Brenden]

Well robertfah: Here is the best advice I can give you....paging STEVE-S
Hope that works.

 

[johnkristie]

Seems to me that if you have ich in the tank, that you would want to treat the whole tank and not just an individual fish. Otherwise you'll never get rid of the ich. It will just keep re-infecting the fish because the whole tank has it. It's been about three days since I brought the SG down to 1.009 and I'm starting to see a difference. A lot of the black spots are going away and no more scratching on the rockwork. The fish seem perfectly happy at the low salinity. pH and NH3 still holding steady. Only five more weeks to go!!

 

[Brenden]

If I remember correctly you removed crabs etc to a separate tank and then treated the main with hypo? Hypo is effective if done for 4 weeks after the last "white spots" are seen. Leaving the tank fallow for 8 weeks will also kill ich since it does not have a host to complete it's life cycle. This is just info to show you can effectively remove ich from your main without having to treat it. As long as the fish are moved to QT and hypo etc is performed correctly.

 

[johnkristie]

That is true Brenden. But my point was that if you just take a fish out of the main, treat him for a few minutes with a freshwater dip, and then put him right back in the main, you'll never get rid of the disease because there will always a host fish available to re-infect. You need to treat the whole tank, whether that is letting it lie fallow or doing a hypo treatment.

 

[Brenden]

I misunderstood. You are correct.

 

[johnkristie]

Just curious. If these low salinity conditions are so great for fish (i.e. helps osmoregulation, helps healing, eases stress, cuts down on diseases), why don't we just keep our tanks in a constant state of hyposalinity? Maybe a little higher at 16 ppt or so? Just wondering. Does it cause damage over the long term?

 

[tecwzrd]

A lot of lfs & shippers keep their sg levels at 1.019 - 1.022 to help keep ick at bay. Fish receive higher levels of oxygen when they breathe at lower sg levels and if keeping FO then you certainly could keep it lower but I wouldn’t go below 1.020 for long term. I've read of studies that have demonstrated that fishes have suffered damage to their internal organs as a result of long-term exposure to an unnaturally low specific gravity.

 

[Brenden]

A lot of LFS do keep their salinity at 1.019-1.022. It helps to relieve stress and also stimulate appetite but it is not low enough to do anything to ich.

 

[johnkristie]

Very Sad.....I finally lost my first fish during this whole process. My Royal Gramma. That was one of my favorites too. Was the very first fish I had put in the tank over two years ago. I didn't see any signs of disease on him. Appeared healthy a couple of days ago, was out eating, nice and fat, good color. Even in death had great brilliant colors. I've been checking water quality parameters daily since I started the Hypo treatment. Everything checks out. I'm going on Day 12 now of the treatment. Cryptocarion appears to be gone, but I'm going to stick it out until the full four weeks is up. Hope this death is not a result of the treatment. Now I'm going to be worried and watching even closer for any signs of distress.

 

[tecwzrd]

Sorry for your loss Depending on the age when you got him it could have just been his time. Most SW fish live 4+ years and some 30+.

 

[johnkristie]

Well, I'm on day 21 of the Hypo treatment now and things are going well. Been able to keep the SG at 1.010 pretty easily and the pH has been stable at 8.1. Have not had to add any buffer. The last of the spots on the fish disappeared about day 4, so that would be a total of 17 days treatment since spots disappeared. I plan on going 30 days since the last spots disappeared. Found a hermit crab still alive in there yesterday! That was a shock, thought he would be dead a long time ago. Anyway, just an update on things.