Achilles Tang Sick & UV ?

[Den]

I have an Achilles Tang that is starting to show signs of ich after 4 days from purchasing it from LFS. I am currently setting up a 30 gallon QT and planning to treat it with copper. Would this be the best course of action? I also have other tank mates, but they show no signs of infection. I am planning to invest in a UV Sterilizer. Do these things really work? If so which brand and model should I purchase?

I am trying to keep this fish as happy as possible so any other suggestion is welcomed and appreciated.

 

[IfoundNemo]

Welcome to AA. UV sterilizer works to a certain degree. However, it seems to keep my fish from getting sick, and keep the unwanted algae at bay so far. Get a Coralife Turbo Twister brand. BTW, nice fish. Hope he gets well soon!

 

[Phyl]

I recently went through an ich battle with my purple tang. It took me 8 long weeks of treatment, but luckily he'd never made it into my main.

In order to rid your system of ich you're going to need to pull all of your fish out of your main and allow it to go fallow for the next 6-8 weeks. In that time you should treat all of your fish.

I treated with hypo and thought it was a good course of action to take so I can't help you on going with copper. Achilles tangs are very very difficult animals and they are very prone to ich so you're going to want to ensure that your main has beaten it before you put any fish back in there (it needs to be fallow because the ich hosts on fish and even though they aren't affected they could be "carriers" and allow the parasite to complete its lifecycle).

The best place for this thread (and the most helpful people on the net) is the sick fish forum. Those guys will answer all of your questions and help you get the fish back to health.

The QT tank is the best course of action for ensuring that ich stays out of your main system. The UV sterilizer will help to some degree, but nothing beats an ounce of prevention. I have a turbo twist as well.

Good luck with the fish. He's beautiful.

 

[sango]

I have a question about leaving the tank empty. Does this include all snails and shrimp and such? Does the ich live on these?

 

[Phyl]

Empty=Fishless. Inverts don't count. The inverts can't tolerate the treatment (be it copper or hypo) and there's no need to remove them from their home. Ich cannot complete the life cycle without a fish host.

 

[sango]

Sounds good phyl...ty

 

[Den]

Thanks for the warm welcome.
My Achilles is looking much better, but I doubt that the ich will go away, and like it did before just come back, so I am going to proceed as planed and not take any chances.

I currently have them in a 90 gallon tank. The QT is 30 gallons; will I be able to keep all of my fish in the 30 gallon tank without stressing them out? They are all still juveniles. If so, how long should I keep them in the QT.? I was thinking of treating the fish with copper in the QT and due to the coral and inverts already established in the main tank I was consider treating the main tank with Hypo. Would this be a good idea?

I Have an Achilles tang, Orangeshoulder tang, flame Angel, Percula Clownfish, and two damsels.

I was looking at the Coralife UV and from Coralife's track record they seem to make good products, but I didn't want to jump the gun.

Again thanks for the replies you guys have been great.

 

[Phyl]

You can't treat your main with hypo the corals and inverts won't tolerate it. The fish could be treated with either. If you're going to QT them in a 30 then get a 30g garbage can and an overflow so that you're working with 60g of water. They'll probably be ok in there for the 8w your main is fishless (the length of time it will take ich to die off). If you do this you may do the 2 tangs in the tank and the rest of the fish in the garbage can No rock, no substrate, just lots of PVC elbows for them to make home. Once you start treating (even an established QT) you're going to put a damper on your biofilter so you'll need to stay on top of water changes. Just make sure to cover any intakes with filter sponges.

Good luck!