yellow tang with ick????

[Gonj]

Hey all, so I’ve had this yellow tang in my tank since September 25,2021 he’s been doing great eats both the frozen food and algae I put in the tank. I recently introduced a fire fish and sand sifting goby late December who are also eating well. Today I noticed these marks on my tang, none of my other fish have it including my new fish it seems to protrude a bit which I tried to show in the photo, is this ick? What should I do for treatment if necessary? I’m also aware it has hlle, which he had when I bought it, is there anyway to help reduce or treat this?

 

[jmichaelh7]

Do you have desire to quarantine -and eradicate ich or just manage the symptoms ?

 

[Gonj]

Do you have desire to quarantine -and eradicate ich or just manage the symptoms ?

I have a quarantine tank but it’s only 10g, would that be suitable for a yellow tang? Also so it is ick?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

It looks like ich. He also looks like he may have HLLE. I QTd my yellow tang in a 10 gallon. It’s temporary and it’s better than death. You’ll need to treat with copper ASAP. The ich will fall off and get will look cured but the second round will be much worse. You will also need to eradicate the ich in your tank or be will get it again.

 

[Gonj]

It looks like ich. He also looks like he may have HLLE. I QTd my yellow tang in a 10 gallon. It’s temporary and it’s better than death. You’ll need to treat with copper ASAP. The ich will fall off and get will look cured but the second round will be much worse. You will also need to eradicate the ich in your tank or be will get it again.

dang so I assume all my other seemingly fine fish will also get it? I have about 8 fish what size qt tank would you recommend for all of them? Also Ive heard that tangs can be quite sensitive to copper Is this true?

 

[jmichaelh7]

i had 14 fish in a 55gallon

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I really don’t know about size of tank. I think a lot depends on size of fish.

Chelated copper such as copper power is well tolerated. I ran run tang through already and two other are in QT as a precaution.

Your tank will be infested for about 45 days after you have removed fish. Do a search on fallow period here.

You can also try ich management by good water quality, good food and appropriate UV. But that’s usually effective when there are no visible signs on the fish.

 

[Gonj]

I really don’t know about size of tank. I think a lot depends on size of fish.

Chelated copper such as copper power is well tolerated. I ran run tang through already and two other are in QT as a precaution.

Your tank will be infested for about 45 days after you have removed fish. Do a search on fallow period here.

You can also try ich management by good water quality, good food and appropriate UV. But that’s usually effective when there are no visible signs on the fish.

Got it do you have any experience with hypo salinity for treatment? I read it may be just as effective without risking it with copper.

 

[Gonj]

@Jay Hemdal was hoping you could give me some tips if you’re available, I’ve seen you commenting on some ich cases. I’m debating between hyposalinity or copper as I’m worried some of my fish will not be able to withstand copper treatment. My stock list at the moment is 2 clowns, yellow coris wrasse, sand sifting goby, yellow tang, midas blenny, and a purple fire fish. The only one with visual markings is the tang but I did see my clown itching on the sand. Thanks I’m advance!!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal was hoping you could give me some tips if you’re available, I’ve seen you commenting on some ich cases. I’m debating between hyposalinity or copper as I’m worried some of my fish will not be able to withstand copper treatment. My stock list at the moment is 2 clowns, yellow coris wrasse, sand sifting goby, yellow tang, midas blenny, and a purple fire fish. The only one with visual markings is the tang but I did see my clown itching on the sand. Thanks I’m advance!!

Well, since you don't really have confirmed ich - spots on the tang and flashing on the clown, you might consider going with hyposalinity - as that will treat ich, as well as most flukes (that can cause scratching). Here is something I wrote up about that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Now, this treatment is not without its risks, so you want to be certain there is a treatable issue. Are the spots on the tang coming and going and changing in number, or are they the same original spots? If they are the same spots in the same location, it may not be ich.

Jay

 

[Gonj]

Well, since you don't really have confirmed ich - spots on the tang and flashing on the clown, you might consider going with hyposalinity - as that will treat ich, as well as most flukes (that can cause scratching). Here is something I wrote up about that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Now, this treatment is not without its risks, so you want to be certain there is a treatable issue. Are the spots on the tang coming and going and changing in number, or are they the same original spots? If they are the same spots in the same location, it may not be ich.

Jay

Thank you for responding! The spots on the yellow tang this morning are gone I can’t seem to identify anything on any of the other fish other than a fire fish that has a small smudge. The dots on the yellow tang were protruding I’m not sure if that can indicate it’s ich. Also just to be sure copper for my set of fish would not be recommended?

 

[Gonj]

Thank you for responding! The spots on the yellow tang this morning are gone I can’t seem to identify anything on any of the other fish other than a fire fish that has a small smudge. The dots on the yellow tang were protruding I’m not sure if that can indicate it’s ich. Also just to be sure copper for my set of fish would not be recommended?

 

[BoneDoc]

Thank you for responding! The spots on the yellow tang this morning are gone I can’t seem to identify anything on any of the other fish other than a fire fish that has a small smudge. The dots on the yellow tang were protruding I’m not sure if that can indicate it’s ich. Also just to be sure copper for my set of fish would not be recommended?

Copper carries its own risk. Not to mention the parameters on a qt tank can go south very quickly.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for responding! The spots on the yellow tang this morning are gone I can’t seem to identify anything on any of the other fish other than a fire fish that has a small smudge. The dots on the yellow tang were protruding I’m not sure if that can indicate it’s ich. Also just to be sure copper for my set of fish would not be recommended?

Just be aware that early in an infection, ich spots will come and go daily, but generally increase in numbers and then spots are present all of the time....

I'm not certain what fish you have left, but really, most fish can tolerate a properly done copper treatment, with a good test kit.

Jay

 

[Eric Cohen]

Have you tried adding a cleaner shrimp to your tank? You definitely want to get ahead of this issue....if ick, you could see a fast increase in problems once they start to populate. As Jay said, the spots will come and go.....quarantine the fish if possible and do the copper treatment.....You don't need to over-dose copper either....yellow tangs are great at telling you when copper is too high by showing a strong white streak across their sides. Cupramine is safe and effective, and easy to find. Best of luck!