ICH/Stress Help

[oceandelight]

So my boyfriend has been on this site and constantly raves about it and is now finally sick of me asking questions to post so I finally got my own name. Anyway after reading pretty much everything I can get my hands on about ICH I have decided to take my fish out and QT them. I have a kole tang, powder brown tang, naso tang, a banner butterfly fish, a long nose butterfly fish and last but not least a yellow tail wrasse. I have set them up into two QT tanks because I know tangs like to swim a lot and need room. Both of the QT tanks are 30 gallons. I have all the tangs in one tank and then the others in the other tank but I am really worried that the tangs are going to get stressed out by living in such a small tank compared to their normal 150 gallons especially since they are going to be in their for at least 6 weeks does anyone have any advice about if they will be stress and anything I can do for them? I also already know that the naso tang is stressed because his pigment has faded in spots and all he wants to do is hide. I can’t seem to get him to eat either and I really don’t want to loose him. Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[steve-s]

Welcome to Aquariumadvice.com

if they will be stress and anything I can do for them? I also already know that the naso tang is stressed because his pigment has faded in spots and all he wants to do is hide. I can’t seem to get him to eat either and I really don’t want to loose him. Any advice will be appreciated.

Need to know how you are treating the fish? Some meds, especially ionic copper solts can be extremeley stressful on fish and often curb or destroy the fishs appetite.

As far as the naso is concered, get some red or brown algae types from the LFS. They will not respond well to green algaes/meaty foods.

To help with stress, try to keep the fish evenly ditributed between the two tanks according to size and aggressiveness. Keep plenty of PVC pipe/elbow pieces in the QT's so the fish will have out of the way places to hide. Leave any overhead lighting off as much as possible except to check health/parasite progress, ambient room lighting is sufficient. Keep plenty of well aged/aerated SW handy for water changes to keep water quality as high as possible. Siphon out uneaten foods and detritus soon after each feeding.

Be sure as well you keep the main tank fed while the fish are QT'd to maintain the biofilter. With that many fish/fish sizes, you will have a hard time when they are placed back in the main otherwise.

 

[oceandelight]

I have red, brown, and green algae and I try to mix it up because I know my powered brown tang and the banner butterfly will eat anything and the kole tang seems to like the red and I bought the brown specifically for the naso tang and he seems to turn his nose up at it but he seems to be doing a little better because I have seen him out swimming around and the discolored pigment spots are not as apparent which is an improvement from hiding all the time and everyone else is out swimming and chowing down when I have food in there for them. We have big plastic cups for them to hide in since we didn’t have any PVC on hand and the cups seem to be doing the trick for them. We have/are treating them with Quick Cure every 12 hours for 2 days now and most of the spots are gone although they didn’t have a real bad case of it to begin with. It took me a day to decide that it was really ich because all I saw were a few tiny tiny little white spots on the banner butterfly fish’s caudal fin and after a day I saw a few spots on the kole tang and knew it was time to QT them and treat them. The banner butterfly fish kind of looks a little funny like his back black and white strips seem to be a little faded and I am not sure if there is a film or something over them or if his actual pigment is just lighter then normal. Any thoughts? He is eating and acting normal. The only one I haven’t seen eat is the naso tang.

The main tank is being fed while all of this is happing because I couldn’t let all my other inverts die. The inverts are actually my favorite part the fish are just pretty to look at but the inverts are extremely interesting and amazing. I have a couple brittle stars, 2 serpent stars, 4 plain starfish, a sand shifter star, a skunk cleaner shrimp, at least 4 hitch hiker crabs, 1 sally light foot crab, 2 tiny stone crabs, 3 pencil urchins, 1 long spin urchin, an arrow crab, 4 or 5 I think they are called tulip anemones, feather dusters, Christmas tree worms, a bunch of turbo snails and hermit crabs and a partridge in a pair tree.

Please let me know if there is anything else I should be doing to keep these guy healthy, alive, stress free, and of course ick free.

 

[steve-s]

The banner butterfly fish kind of looks a little funny like his back black and white strips seem to be a little faded and I am not sure if there is a film or something over them or if his actual pigment is just lighter then normal. Any thoughts?

Quick cure is a fairly nasty treatment and quite honestly not always effective. Don't be too suprised if after a few days of removing the med once the recommended treatment time is over the parasite comes back.

The condition of the banner could honestly be an adverse reaction (excess slime/skin irritant) to the harshness of this particular med. Watch carefully for red enflamed areas on all the fish. Keep a close eye on water parameters and do water changes as needed. Be sure once treatment is done you leave the fish for at least 6 weeks total time in the QT's so the parasite has died off in the main. This will also give you time to be sure the treatment used has been effective or not and there is no secondary infections to deal with.

and of course ick free.

Make sure the tank is fallowed for at least 6 weeks and you monitor the QT'd fish for the same amount of time to be sure it was successfully treated, don't simpley assume. Also be sure any new fish go through the QT process for 4 weeks before they go into the main. This will help prevent re-introducing the problem in future.

Cheers
Steve

 

[oceandelight]

If you don't like Quick Cure what is your choice of meds to treat ich?

 

[tripper]

The two recommended treatmenst are Cuppramine or hyposalinity treatments. Hypo is easier on the fish but you will need a refractometer to monitor the salinity more accurately. I have used Cuppramine twice to treat ich and have had a lot of success. HTH

tripper

 

[steve-s]

The two recommended treatmenst are Cuppramine or hyposalinity treatments. Hypo is easier on the fish but you will need a refractometer to monitor the salinity more accurately. I have used Cuppramine twice to treat ich and have had a lot of success. HTH

tripper

Just remember as with the quick cure, neither of these treatments are display tank safe and must be performed in the QT.

Cheers
Steve

 

[oceandelight]

The Naso died this morning I think stress related more then anything else ever since he was put into the QT tank he never seemed quite right. I thought things were looking up cuz I saw him go after some food yesterday but I guess that was not the case. I guess I will just have to get a new one after these guys are done in the QT tank so I can have it for the new fish before he goes in the main tank :?

 

[steve-s]

Sorry for your loss

Naso's can often be tricky but if/when you do get another, be sure it's the only one in the QT. It will reduce stress and allow it to acclimate to tank life unhindered. Also ensure you have a good supply of red/brown algae types for it to consume regularaly. If a feeding response is not forthcoming soon afterwards, lowering the salinity (21-24 ppt) will often help. The reduce osmotic pressure will allow the fish to regain osmotic balance which helps stress on the fish and often renews it's interest in eating.

Another reason why hyposalinity is so much more prefered than chemical treatments where possible.

Cheers
Steve