Yellow tang with ich

Boboe77 · Nov 21, 2013

Guys im thankful for all of your comments and tips! The cleaner shrimp COULD pick off the parasites and it MABYE really helpful but i dont think it would be good to put into the QT because of the copper. Again i appreciate all the advice!

Boboe77 · Nov 21, 2013

The cleaner shrimp may or may not be able to pick off parasites but I think its out of the picture

ks_reeftank · Nov 21, 2013

been through this , cupramine works great. read the bottle for what amounts to use. treat ALL fish, not just the tang. leave the display tank fallow or fishless for 6 to 8 weeks, i left mine for 9 1/2 weeks just to be safe. as for the quarantine tank, have saltwater ready at all times to do emergency water changes to keep amonia down. u should use a filter that has bacteria on it from the main tank and used water from main tank to start the quarantine. i found it very hard to use a 10 gal like some suggest as a quarantine, i used 20 gal with no issues, 29 would be better. unless the tang is big then this should work. i have a mimic tang that is 4" and he was fine in a 20gal for 2 months. good luck, i know it can be hard with many opinions out there, but this method will def work. i choose to read the articles and understand the life cycle of the ich parasite and not accept it as "just something that is in every sysytem" .

ks_reeftank · Nov 21, 2013

they are right though, a tang shoulnt be in a 38 gal tank.

Boboe77 · Nov 21, 2013

Ok thanks buddy! I'll try to upgrade my QT. I'll see if my local fish store can take him.

Boboe77 · Nov 21, 2013

Oh and my DT is a mixed reef tank

427HISS · Nov 21, 2013

Boboe77 said:
Guys im thankful for all of your comments and tips! The cleaner shrimp COULD pick off the parasites and it MABYE really helpful but i dont think it would be good to put into the QT because of the copper. Again i appreciate all the advice!

My meaning was to put one in your main tank, as the copper and related parasite chemicals would also hurt or kill them, especially shrimps.

Marshall O · Nov 22, 2013

YHSublime said:
Op , if you are at a quarter dose (you have a cuppramine testing kit, right?) you should up it to .50 after 48 hours. Your regular ammonia testing kits won't do, so get an ammonia badge to suction to the side. Ammonia will kill your fish. How often are you changing the water in your qt? Did you sacrifice any live rock? Did you have a sponge to help you start from your dt?

If you follow the dosing schedule on the bottle, you won't be at 0.5 for usually a week or more. Otherwise, your advise is solid. I highly recommend a Seachem Ammonia Alert badge as you noted. Regular ammonia test kits (API) will not read correctly because of copper (they will give you false high readings).

427HISS said:
JEDI- lol,....that is so untrue ! I've witnessed myself for many years. Talk with Scott Michael and several others and they'll tell you first hand,... that these fish and shrimp preform a great service on all reefs around the globe. Their interaction is amazing, just like other symbiotic relationships. Tank a dive sometime and see for yourself or watch any coral reef show about their natural ability, as they remove dead skin, scales, parasites, clean their gills, caught food between teeth etc,.......

Not to beat this to death, but as Jedi noted, cleaner shrimp or fish will not "eat" Ich. Best case is they will offer some "relief" (think scratching an itch). And please do not promote people to buy Cleaner Wrasses. These do not belong in all but the largest tanks IMO. If anything, recommend Cleaner Shrimp or Neon Gobies.