Hippo tang white spots

guy fawkes · Nov 7, 2015

Bought this fish at the beginning of summer. No issues until now. The only thing I changed was my lighting. Noticed one or two of these spots a day or two ago, they went away, now are back. He's rubbing up against rocks to scratch.

I'm starting my research now, but thank god for this forum of awesome people willing to help.

I don't have a quarantine tank, I do have a sump

ReefMadScientist · Nov 7, 2015

My opinion is to ignore it and be sure to feed your Tangs seaweed and keep them happy.

Read this. My Hippo gets Ich every summer.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-my-hippo-has-ich-who-cares.155605/

guy fawkes · Nov 7, 2015

They love the seaweed! I put half a sheet daily.

Thank you for the reply. Il read that link

jadwv2210 · Nov 7, 2015

Definitely looks like ich. The only way to get rid of it completely would be to QT all fish and treat them and leave your tank without fish for 76 days. Some people choose to manage ich rather than eradicate it which can work.

Humblefish · Nov 7, 2015

My opinion is it's ich and treat it accordingly: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-treat-ich.191226/

However, I practiced ich management for almost 30 years and this is how I did it: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

But I can tell you from experience that not too many fish live to be a ripe old age when you practice ich management. You're only one "stressor event" away from disaster.

Your fish will also never look their best while battling ich. There is no place for them to go to escape the attacking parasites like they can in the vastness of the ocean when the bugs start biting.

So I came to the conclusion many years ago that my fish deserved a better life than that. They deserve to thrive and be happy, not just survive the latest wave of attacking parasites.

melypr1985 · Nov 8, 2015

I agree. This looks like ick. I would advise you to follow hunblefish's directions and get rid of it now before it becomes a serious problem in the future.

ReefMadScientist · Nov 8, 2015

Any updates?

guy fawkes · Nov 9, 2015

Still has ich. Seems to clear up and come back. Still eating like a pig and swimming around. I've been working crazy shifts so haven't had a chance to treat it yet.. Not sure if I will. Looking at budgeting a QT tank.

melypr1985 · Nov 9, 2015

guy fawkes said:
Still has ich. Seems to clear up and come back. Still eating like a pig and swimming around. I've been working crazy shifts so haven't had a chance to treat it yet.. Not sure if I will. Looking at budgeting a QT tank.

Ick has a life cycle. Only 1 part of that cycle is spent on the fish. That's why it appears to come and go. Ick will never be gone from your tank until you leave it fallow for 76 days. You can practice "ick management" but it's very difficult with tangs and none of your fish will live to their full life span while doing so. Good luck

Humblefish · Nov 9, 2015

melypr1985 said:
Ick has a life cycle. Only 1 part of that cycle is spent on the fish. That's why it appears to come and go. Ick will never be gone from your tank until you leave it fallow for 76 days. You can practice "ick management" but it's very difficult with tangs and none of your fish will live to their full life span while doing so. Good luck

^^This. Something else to consider... You introduce a fish with ich into your tank, that's one strain of ich. Next fish with ich will likely introduce an entirely different strain, so now you've got two strains running rampant overlapping one another. Double the trouble as this puts even more strain on your fish's natural immune system. I think it's this kind of scenario, or possibly ich mixed with something like flukes, which can overwhelm many fish and they die.

There is some good news, however.

A given strain will die out after 100 generations or so. Given the average life cycle of ich is 2 weeks, this could take almost 4 years (on average). But that's a LONG time to battle parasites.

guy fawkes · Nov 9, 2015

I've read about the 76 days with no fish in the tank. I have a 75g that I will make as a quarantine tank. Hoping to be able to purchase a new tank in the next month or so. I have mine up for sale now. And would like to do this whole process at once. Il have three tanks running lol. One QT, my old tank with corals and what have you, and my new tank a 120g with overflow and sump (guy selling locally). But I have a stretch of shifts off soon so il try to come up with a solid game plan.

guy fawkes · Nov 9, 2015

I don't plan to do nothing, but also not panicking

melypr1985 · Nov 9, 2015

guy fawkes said:
I don't plan to do nothing, but also not panicking

I'm with ya. It would be a nice thing to warn anybody who buys your rock, sand ect that you have ick and that those things will be carrying same. (if your selling those things that is)

guy fawkes · Nov 9, 2015

melypr1985 said:
I'm with ya. It would be a nice thing to warn anybody who buys your rock, sand ect that you have ick and that those things will be carrying same. (if your selling those things that is)

Solid advice. I'm keeping my live stock. I'm too honest to give people my problems.

melypr1985 · Nov 9, 2015

guy fawkes said:
Solid advice. I'm keeping my live stock. I'm too honest to give people my problems.

that's rare these days. good on ya

RMS18 · Nov 9, 2015

Word of advice, any help Humblefish has to offer I'd consider it seriously. I too had a ich issue and the thought of a qt and the work seemed to much. Then the light bulb went off. And honestly the 72 days went by fast, gave me time to add corals to the dt tank also. Now I can say that all my fish are 99.9% ich free!

Keepswiming · Nov 10, 2015

I also went fallow but for 80 days. My Achilles loves his inch free environment and is getting fatter and fatter everyday. Save yourself the headache and treat all fish in a cheap petco or Walmart tank while going fallow. Best of luck!