Tangs Diseased

[johnkristie]

Well, sure enough. I do the responsible thing by going through quarantine with my new blue tang, everything goes great, eats right away, no sign of disease and one week after putting him into the main tank, a disease breaks out. Now all of my tangs (blue, yellow, and naso) have tiny black spots. Smaller than a pinhead. The fish are still all eating great and active and not scratching. My water parameters look good (NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 10, pH 8.2, temp 81). What is it and how do I treat it??

 

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that.

The only thing I know is garlic extract. My purple tank had some spots and I soaked his food in the extract and it seemed to clear it up.

Wish I had more info for you.

 

[Brenden]

Sounds like black ich. How long did you QT? Hypo IMO is the best and safest treatment for ich. Just be sure you know what it is before you treat for anything.

 

[johnkristie]

That looks exactly like it! Was in QT for about 3 weeks. What is hypo? Is Black Ich fatal?

 

[Brenden]

Is Black Ich fatal?

Is not if treated correctly.

What is hypo?

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html
If you have any inverts, corals etc DO NOT hypo your main.

 

[johnkristie]

Never done this before, so kind of nervous about doing it on my main tank. Will the hypo conditions not kill my bacteria bed? I've got a fish only tank so, I pulled out all of my hermits and snails this morning and will start the hypo tonight. Please reassure me!!

 

[quarryshark]

Pull out part of your live rock as well. The hypo will kill off any LR left in the main, so you will need to restart your biological filter once your treatment is finished. By removing some of your LR, you can later reseed your main.
Just be sure to keep it out of the main system for at least 8 weeks.
Also be ready to do water changes for your main. The hypo will kill of much of the bacteria and it takes time for your tank to adjust.
I did this as a final straw with an ich battle and it worked great!!

 

[johnkristie]

Thanks, Quarry. After doing a little more research I've seen that the bacteria should be alright as long as I give them time to adjust to the salinity. Also heard that hermit crabs and hard shelled snails should be alright at those salinities. Are both of these things correct?

 

[Dr.Nate]

I don't think the crabs and the snails can handle a good hypo.....remember, if you have any critters on your live rock, it will kill those also, so just be sure you want to do this on your main......

I did hypo on my main and I have regretted it ever since because it killed all kinds of things that I had hiding in my live rock that I didn't know about. It got rid of the ich, though, so I guess it's a trade-off, unless you have a big enough QT tank to house all of your fish.

good luck!

 

[Brenden]

Crabs and snails will not tolerate hypo. I would really think again about doing hypo in the main. If you do not have a refractometer I would encourage you to get one for hypo. Keep in mind that anything that is not in the tank that you hypo needs to remain fallow for 7-8 weeks, preferably 8. Salinity can be dropped to correct levels in 72 hours however in needs to be increased back to standard much slower (around a week)

 

[quarryshark]

Nope, I missed a poor emerald crab when I dropped my SPG. I found out when I saw his carcas at about .014. A few snails that I missed also passed.
I single survivor was a cerith snail that I found, still alive after 8 weeks of hypo. I guess there are exception to everything, but I would get as many of the inverts out as you can find.

 

[johnkristie]

OK. That's what I thought, but wanted to run it by you guys. I don't have any live rock or inverts (other than hermits and snails) in the main tank, so that is why I was going to treat the main tank. That way I can be sure to kill all of the Ich in the main tank, while at the same time treat the fish. I took out as many hermits and snails as I could find this morning. I'm going to take a second look before I start the hypo tonight, for those stragglers who had a hard time getting out of bed this morning! Wish me luck.

 

[Brenden]

Good Luck...Be sure to keep the hermit/snails in the other tank for a full 8 weeks even if hypo is done before then.

 

[quarryshark]

Good luck!
Oh, and watch the PH closely while you are dropping the salinity. It had a tendancy to drop and you will need to buffer at some point.

 

[johnkristie]

What do you buffer with?

 

[Brenden]

Several options but I use kent super buffer

 

[quarryshark]

Agree, I use Kent as well..good stuff.
Do it slowly, make any PH change gradual.

 

[johnkristie]

Thanks alot!! I'll keep you updated through this process.

 

[quarryshark]

Please do John, good luck!!!

 

[The Blue Fish]

Disease Prevention

Hello Everyone,
This has been my experience. I picked up my Blue Tang about 10 month ago. A week after I put her in the tank she was sick with ich. I used a bottle of kick ich for over two weeks and after a month she was still sick. I was in another LFS that was going out of business and I picked a small bottle of Tropical Science Marine-Max for about $5, half off or so. In less then a week the ich was gone. I moved about 3 months ago and I was all out Marine-Max. A month went by and she started to get sick, it was some sort of parasites this time. I went to my new LFS and picked some more up, she is doing fine. If you have a Blue Tang I wouldn’t leave the FS without it. I started this hobby less then a year ago and I have not had a death since I started using this about 9 months ago.
Treatment is as follows:

One teaspoon per 20 gallons, every two weeks.

For aquariums with unhealthy conditions, ad one teaspoon per twenty gallons three time a week until condition improves.

Ad when performing water changes or when adding new fish.

It is two bottle held together by its label. You can get a large bottle, 16oz for around $18. This will treat bout 950 gallons of water and is much cheaper then Kick Ich that you would use after your fish have already been sick. It is also copper and chemical free, so it is Reef safe.

Best,

Nick