Tangs and ich?

[4FordFamily]

Tangs' mucous coat is a bit thinner than some other fish, allowing the ich parasite an easier path to drill through and into the fish's flesh. In the wild, that's not a major problem, because the tangs aren't sleeping in the same bed every night, but in an aquarium it's pretty likely that wherever the tang decides to bed down for the evening, someone else slept there last night. (Think of it like bedbugs - if you are sleeping in the same hotel bed someone else slept in last night - and someone else the night before, you're probably more likely to come down with 'em than you might if you were hiking across the Mojave desert, sleeping in a different lonely spot each night . . . )

From what I'm given to understand, most tangs can come down with the occasional brush of ich from time to time and just deal with it, but a lot of the Acanthurus tangs (Achilles, powder-anything) will not thrive under those conditions.

~Bruce

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Very well put, friend. I agree.

 

[Paul B]

Hello Paul! Tell your story to the OP about how you used to rid your tanks of ich using "magic pennies" back in the day.

In the early 70s I could not get copper in liquid form in New York city so I used copper pennies. 20 pennies to the gallon. I kept pennies in my tank for years. It must have worked because my fish, including tangs and manta rays still don't get ich.

I have a different theory on why tangs get ich and HLLE so often and it has to do with their lateral line. All fish have a lateral line and in schooling fish like tangs it is more sensitive than other fish which allows tangs to swim in a school right next to each other and all turn in unison without ever crashing into each other. It is also how they can cram themselves into a coral head and not get scratched. They, and all fish can "feel" their surrounds which is why you can't catch a fish with a net unless you cheat and trap him against the sides of the tank. You know I am right there. In a tank, fish can "feel" the glass but they can't see it. They also can't get away from it and it over stimulates their lateral line causing extreme stress. HLLE always starts on the head at the beginning of the lateral line and it is only on contained fish, it does not happen in the sea. Most diseases on fish, including ich come from stress which is a big strain on their immune system especially the antibodies in their slime. If you could hear a tang in a tank you would hear: OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH NNNNOooooooooooooo

References:
Me

 

[Dogtown]

Hey Paul, I know you have a coral tank. Do you still keep pennies in your reef tank to this day?

 

[Paul B]

No pennies in my tank now, I had to cash them in to buy a clingfish and now pennies are made out of 8 track tape players and not copper.

 

[Jay Williams]

Yeah it's strange. My never shows signs of ich other than the white specs

I have a lavender tang with 3 tiny specs and he’s still eating well so im not sure if it’s ich

 

[Eazy E]

I have a lavender tang with 3 tiny specs and he’s still eating well so im not sure if it’s ich

Sounds like it's time to break out the pennies!

 

[Jay Williams]

Sounds like it's time to break out the pennies!

Not sure what you mean

 

[gloaquaticsNY]

My hippo would have a break out for a week at a time when he is stressed. And he is a fat pig. No ich so far on yellow tang or another other fish.

Same.....

 

[Paul B]

Not sure what you mean

We used to put copper pennies in the water for treatment of ich before there was liquid copper.