Yellow Tang with Ich

[vlangel]

This is an interesting topic, not to take away from the original question but would a uv light or skimmer help to kill off some of the ich still swimming around in the tank over a period of time?

UV sterilizers does not kill full mature ich that is on the fish. A UV does however kill ich that is in the free swim stage so it is useful in diminishing the spread of the parasite. It should be noted that a UV also kills some beneficial life that is in the water as well so each aquarist must weigh the pros and cons.

 

[Mjpisanti]

How long would you run it normally vs. the case of ich? This may help a little with the tang situation

 

[vlangel]

I actually run my UV 24/7 anyway. I figure there is enough life in the rock and sand and fuge to offset what the UV might be killing. The bulbs should be changed once a year too to get the intensity needed. And if it has a glass sleeve the the bulb is in that should be cleaned periodically.

 

[Mjpisanti]

Gotcha, i run mine all the time as well so i suppose that will help at least a little with free.swimming ich. Besides that I've had to use copamine on the tank before but i have fish only do it wasnt a big deal and everyone was fine through the 6 weeks of treatment. I heard.fish do.naturally develop an immunity to ich like humans to a cold if healthy.

 

[vlangel]

My tank is LPS dominant and a Midas blenny I purchased a few months ago had some ich. I had some ancient Greenex an old time med for ich that is mostly reef safe. I had reservations about using something that was probably 8 years old but I didn't want to tear the tank apart so I did. It worked like a charm. I'm sorry that its off the market now because I finished the last that I had.

 

[cope413]

I've followed the conventional treatments in the past and they work, but it definitely is a pain.

I had an Ich outbreak a few months ago in a 28g nano, and getting the fish out without completely breaking down the tank was not possible.

My LFS said to treat my food with API General Cure and Garlic for 7-10 days. I put 1/4-1/2 tsp of the meds with 1 days worth of Marine S, 1 or 2 small sprays of garlic, mixed it and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before feeding.

It cleared the Ich right up - didn't lose any fish - and haven't had any recurrence.

While there may be Ich still present in my tank, it seems that it's like the common cold for fish. If the fish/tank are happy, they fight it off without issue. If they get stressed, then they can be susceptible to catching it.

 

[dodgerblew]

I've followed the conventional treatments in the past and they work, but it definitely is a pain.

I had an Ich outbreak a few months ago in a 28g nano, and getting the fish out without completely breaking down the tank was not possible.

My LFS said to treat my food with API General Cure and Garlic for 7-10 days. I put 1/4-1/2 tsp of the meds with 1 days worth of Marine S, 1 or 2 small sprays of garlic, mixed it and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before feeding.

It cleared the Ich right up - didn't lose any fish - and haven't had any recurrence.

While there may be Ich still present in my tank, it seems that it's like the common cold for fish. If the fish/tank are happy, they fight it off without issue. If they get stressed, then they can be susceptible to catching it.

was this a fish only tank? What is marine s?

 

[cope413]

No, reef tank. I've got some SPS and LPS - and nothing looked any different while I was treating.

Marine S - Marine & Reef Aquarium Fish Foods: Hikari Marine-A & Marine-S Food - just your basic small marine fish pellet

You can treat any food you're feeding. I used some frozen mysis a few times as well.

Basically you just want there to be as little moisture as possible so that you're treating the food, and not the water the food is sitting in. The fish ingest the meds instead of dosing the tank which only kills the stuff in the water.

 

[cope413]

Also, just so you know, the fish definitely don't like the food that's treated as much as regular food. If I were to have to do it again, I would feed smaller amounts more times per day so that all of it gets eaten by the fish. The first 2-3 days there was a good amount of food that my CUC ended up eating.

 

[mothership.mantis]

Had a tang with ich cleaner shrimp cured it and I raised the temperature, some medications kill other things in the tank

 

[Reefing Madness]

Marine Ich
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[dodgerblew]

Thank you. Great resource. I think I understand what I didn't before.

 

[Mgoc]

This is an interesting topic, not to take away from the original question but would a uv light or skimmer help to kill off some of the ich still swimming around in the tank over a period of time?

\

I'm not sure but I don't think it would help very much since the parasites die if they don't find a host within a certain 48 hrs. It is the tomonts that attach to the rock and sand that can live for up to a month or even two a think.

IMO going fallow is the only way to get rid of ich in a system

 

[roadkeel]

Just to let everyone know here is what I have done. I took off work yesterday with the sole purpose of taking care of the tang. And I wanted to do everything I could to keep my other 3 fish from developing ich as well. The LFS I normally go to is not open on Mondays and I felt like I could not wait until today to treat him. So I went to the other LFS and they told me, that with coral there was not much I could treat the tank with and not harm the coral. Since this is my first tank, I don't have very many corals. (Duncan, Frogspawn, Torch, Brain and 2 types of polyps) The LFS said the best treatment was UV light. My tank is a Biocube so I was not sure how I would put a UV light unless it was in chamber 3 in the back. I am currently running Intank media and fuge baskets in the back. I asked if he had any cleaner shrimp and he did and he said that would help too. So I got a cleaner and took it home.

First thing I did based on everyone's advice was increasing my feeding. I feed the Stage 2 flakes and was only feeding once a day and no more than the fish could eat in about 5 minutes. On Sunday and yesterday I fed 4 times spreading them out evenly throughout the day. The tang has not lost his appetite and eats every time I feed. I also bought some seaweed/algae sheets, but I was going to wait until tonight to introduce those. I thought with increase feeding, a cleaner shrimp and the tang having ich it might help with his stress level if I didn't do everything at once.

I have a pistol shrimp and every time it would come out Sunday the tang would go over to it and kind of lay on it's side. But the pistol shrimp paid him no attention, which is what I expected to happen. Then I saw the tang actually rubbing itself on my brain coral as if it were itching. So I thought the cleaner shrimp might help. After I got him acclimated, I took the shrimp and placed him on the rocks and immediately the tang went over to him and did the laying on it's side thing. Well it took a couple of hours but finally the shrimp started picking the ich off of the tang. Then last night the tang would disappear behind the rocks for minutes at a time and then show back up. When I went to check and see what he was doing the cleaner shrimp was on a ledge formed by the rocks and the tang was laying there and the shrimp was crawling all over him picking off the ich. It got to the point of comical when the shrimp would crawl all over the tang and then hop back onto the rocks and the tang would turn around 180 degrees and the shrimp would jump on that side and work for a couple of minutes.

I know the ich is still there even though I can't see it on the tang. But he seems to be better and is not trying to scratch himself on the corals and rocks. I did a 15% water change Saturday and on Sunday was when I noticed the ich. I was thinking about for piece of mind, doing another 15% water change today when I get home, not sure it would help anything other than me. I tested my water and everything is good with no changes in any of the parameters in the last 6 testings. I really wish there was something I could add and not hurt the corals to treat the ich.

Also on a side note, I know a freshwater tank would have been easier as my first tank, but the 20-30 minutes of time I have to give the tank daily is worth it 10 fold. The bonds and relationships these animals make in this tiny glass box are amazing. I know the tang had never been around a cleaner shrimp before I got him (he is very small, about 2") but he knew exactly what to do when the shrimp was introduced. And then funny things that probably aren't supposed to happen. My clown fish will not go near my anemone. My watchman goby will not pay any attention to my pistol shrimp. But then my pistol shrimp has formed some weird bond with my anemone. He lives right under the anemone. My nem has not been looking too good the last few day and I thought it was because he has moved so low in my tank, down to the sand bed. So last night I turned the rock he was on up so he was closer to the light. He bubbled within 5 minutes. Then in about an hour we heard the pistol shrimp popping every few minutes. The nem then proceeded to close up and began moving back down the rock. When it made it back near the sand bed the popping stopped. I checked this morning and the pistol shrimp was again burrowed under the anemone. Really weird and really fascinating...

 

[cope413]

That's good to hear. Not out of the woods yet, but definitely a good sign and start.

You need to be aware that the shrimp cannot get all the ich on your tang because ich is under the slime coat.

You CAN treat the fish and not harm your coral. I just did it a few months ago and I have a lot of coral in my 24g nano.

Treat your food with API General cure and garlic for 7-10 days.

It's super cheap, very easy, and if your tang is eating, it's a sure fire way to fully treat the Ich that your fish already has. It won't, however, treat the ich in the tank, but the goal is to get your fish out of the danger zone, and then get your tank stable and happy so that your fish can fight off ich (and other ailments) naturally.

 

[cope413]

to quote what seems to be gospel, as it pertains to ich, on the forum...

Treatment Option 12: Medicated FoodsTetra previously made a medicated food, Anti-Protozoan Medicated Flakes, which was reported to be effective against Cryptocaryon. The active ingredient was Metronidazole, also known as Flagyl. This was a good option when it was impossible to remove the fish to a separate quarantine/hospital tank because this food was safe for use in the display tank. The only downside was whether the fish could be coaxed to eat it at all and whether they could eat enough of it. Although the Tetra Medicated Food is now discontinued, Metronidazole is available, so it is possible to obtain it and mix it into the fish's favorite food and, with luck, to elicit a feeding response.
The medicated foods are a good option for use as a preventative, for mild infestations, or when used in conjunction with one of the other less effective treatments, such as biological controls, UV, ozone, and garlic. All of these methods could be employed together in a display tank when removal is not chosen, although this is not the most effective solution, in my experience. I have always had better luck going through the trouble of removing all the fish for separate treatment or better yet, quarantining all new livestock and avoiding infection in the first place.

 

[Rjramos]

Like said above, fish get ick sometimes like we get the common cold. Like cold viruses are present in our daily surroundings, ick is prevalent in nature as well as our aquariums. I've seen plenty of fish while diving with cases of ick. Similar to us, there are environmental stressors that make the fish more prone to get ick, and make it more difficult to fight it off as well. So whatever we do with a cold, I do with the fish. Maintain a clean and stable aquarium, this can be achieved through water changes and maintaining proper chemistry and very important, temperature. I have found that fluctuations in temp of 3 degrees or more from night/day differential to be a common finding in problems with ick. As far as feeding, I have used garlic solution with selcon added to the food as the "chicken soup" for the ick, with great success! No UV ever and I use natural seawater collected on my boat over the reef down here. Very clean, but not organism free at all. The very few times I've had ick, it has usually started with the blue hippo tang and spread to others, but in a matter of 2-3 days doing the above, all the fish are clean!

 

[760mason]

How big is your tank? I wouldn't put a yellow tang in a tank less then 200 gallons(actually 400 gallons but that is debatable). Tangs need room to move small tanks and and tangs are not a good idea. If ICH is in your dt and your tang is not happy it will be affected by ICH. ICH runs a 8 to 12 weeks cycle. It will find another host. Then the cycle starts over again. Keep you fish fed happy and not stressed. If you have a tank less than 200 gallons get rid of the tang it is not the right fish for your tank.

 

[Rjramos]

How big is your tank? I wouldn't put a yellow tang in a tank less then 200 gallons(actually 400 gallons but that is debatable). Tangs need room to move small tanks and and tangs are not a good idea. If ICH is in your dt and your tang is not happy it will be affected by ICH. ICH runs a 8 to 12 weeks cycle. It will find another host. Then the cycle starts over again. Keep you fish fed happy and not stressed. If you have a tank less than 200 gallons get rid of the tang it is not the right fish for your tank.

Really? I know I'm definitely overcrowded, a hippo, a purple, and a yellow tang in a 120 gal. Plus numerous other fishes and corals including a huge 19 yo pearl bubble that takes up a lot of space! I didn't plan it this way, friends bringing me fish and corals from their tanks over the years. I can assure you one thing, all of the fish are healthy with vibrant colors and perfect fins, no Lateral line erosion. A good setup, good routine maintenance, stability, and nutrition again go a long way to beautiful fish! And taking them out now, forget it, they are and have been right at home for years.

 

[vlangel]

Really? I know I'm definitely overcrowded, a hippo, a purple, and a yellow tang in a 120 gal. Plus numerous other fishes and corals including a huge 19 yo pearl bubble that takes up a lot of space! I didn't plan it this way, friends bringing me fish and corals from their tanks over the years. I can assure you one thing, all of the fish are healthy with vibrant colors and perfect fins, no Lateral line erosion. A good setup, good routine maintenance, stability, and nutrition again go a long way to beautiful fish! And taking them out now, forget it, they are and have been right at home for years.

I think you are alright with the tangs you have chosen in a 120g. Some of the other types of tangs should have bigger tanks. It sounds like you are providing a healthy environment and I expect they will continue to thrive.