Ich Observation, Hypo and Hippo Tang

[Pghjeff71]

Over 6 weeks ago I received a hippo tang from an online retailer. Upon receipt of this tang it immediately developed ich, which I totally expected. I began hypo (which I've had incredible success with as noted in my prior posts); after 6 weeks of seeing no signs of infection I assumed the hippo was ready to be moved into the new main tank (ignore my sig, it's not updated). Upon placing the hippo tang into the main after two hours of acclimation I saw immediately it was reinfested with ich-literally the next day. I've never seen a fish develop it so quickly in my 10+ years in this hobby.

This has totally caught me off-guard. I had thought once this parasite was eradicated in quarantine there would be no chance of an outbreak. I followed the same exact procedures as before, using my refractometer to drop SG to 1.09 for 6 weeks.

I therefore have to assume that some fish ALWAYS carry the parasite in a dormant state. I guess at this point I will need to move the fish back into a QT and use copper, although I despise the use of harsh chemicals.

I'd appreciate any comments. TIA

- Jeff (now in a depressed state over this darn hippo tang)

additonal comments: when I received this tang it was horribly malnoursished and almost transparent it was so thin. Feeding a varied diet it has gotten quite plump, I use 'Garlic Guard' and 'Vita Chem' to enhance the foods I feed it. I'm at a loss here

 

[quarryshark]

Hmm, maybe in the better light of the main it showed itself.
Or maybe it was in your main and your other fish were somehow resistant.
I know its a reach but there are more reistant parasites that show up from time to time.

 

[melosu58]

Was your main tank fishless for all this time. You need to treat all your fish and leave the main tank fishless for 6-8 weeks. Then the ick will die out when it cannot attach to a fish. Many good threads on ick on this site. Hope everything turns out OK

 

[quarryshark]

I can't say for sure, but I think he placed this fish right into qt, right?

 

[Pghjeff71]

Hey guys thanks for the comments; the main tank I put the hippo into was a brand new cycled tank that has sat fallow for over 2 months. The hippo was placed into qt upon arrival.

 

[melosu58]

OK

 

[Terry B]

White spots are not always ich. I don't have any proof at this point, but I sucspect that the white spots that are often seen on hippo tangs may be something other than Cryptocaryon (ich). If your display was fallow for 6+ weeks before adding the quarantined tang it doens't fit the life cycle pattern of ich. It sounds like the hypo showed no signs of infecton for six weeks in quarantine and then it was obviously infected the next day after putting it in the display tank. Free swimming ich are very small and it takes a couple of days for the spots to get large enough to be seen easily. I don't see how the hippo could possibly have been Cryptocaryon irritans (ich). Did the white spots get larger over the next week and then start falling off of the fish? If the spots stayed basically the same size then that is a good reason to sucspect another parasite. If you are going to use copper then I suggest only using Cupramine. Test the copper level twice a day

HTH,
Terry B