Tang... White spots on fin
 

Hey guys, hoping to get some clarity

Bought a yellowed eyed kole tang around 4-6 weeks ago

Since at one he has had white spots on his fins. After the first week it was evident that he had ich as it was all over his body

So I put him in the hospital and treated him. He sat in a hiding spot 90% of the day. The spots went away and he was returned only to find the spots the next day but only on his bottom to fins

It's been like this for a while now.

He eats and picks rocks all day

What do I do?

I have lps, softies and 4 other fish (who are all fine)

Any help would be appreciated

Your treatment methods include hypo, copper, CP, and TTM.

Here's an informative page on ich:

http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/mai...yon-irritants/

Unfortunately, all your fish are now infected and will need to be treated.

All my fish?
 

I am confused and I understand why

There are millions of articles on the web about this so called Ich

But the problem is that no one has really gotten the bottom of it

This is the only fish in the entire life of my tank to have these spots

None of the other fish show any signs of anything. In 6 weeks.

Even the Tang is healthy and if I didn't see the white spots up close I would never have know

There must be something else that can fix this, there is no way I will catch him in the tank.

Another thought
 

Feed him well. Keep your water in good shape. Probably nothing to worry about. Or go chicken little and tear everything apart dump some recommended magical elixirs in and chew off your nails waiting to see what happens. I've done both before and the first suggestion worked the best.

I hate to say this, but just because you don't see visible symptoms doesn't mean the fish don't have ich. The parasites are internal and they are there.

You could leave it alone and keep water clean and feed well and they may live long and prosper, or you could also wake up one day with a tank full of ichy/dead fish. Personally, I wouldn't take that risk.

No one ever said fishkeeping was easy. My one hippo tang showed ich last month and because of that I'm doing TTM and leaving my new DT fallow for 72 days. Of course I would have loved to put the fishes in the 8' tank, but I also want all my fish, current and future, to be completely healthy. Patience is a virtue, and for all the mistakes I've made in this hobby, losing more fish is not an option.

Bingo, if one is showing symtoms, the rest have it as well.

So much optimizm
 

Ok great so all my fish are sick

Now what?

Put them all in a hospital and treat them


What happens to the main tank?

Obviously the disease is in there hiding

This is the frustrating part of the hobby, the 10 thousand opinions without any resolve that is proven

Does anyone have a proven plan?

Like I said there's two ways to address the problem. Tough to tear apart a tank every time you see a white spot. Easy if we're talking a nano set up. Different story for fully stocked large aquariums.

Fair enough
 

But there just be a way to kill it off in the tank

Uv?

Main tank removal
 

What I mean is if I remove all my fish and treat them

What kills it off in the tank?

The problem is that I don't know how it go in there, which I have read can come from anywhere

So whos to say I spend hours getting my fish out and days treating and then they all get it again when I put them back in?

Proven plan: treat fish in a separate tank (pick whichever method you want: hypo, CP, copper, TTM; personally I am going with TTM as this is a tried and tested method to remove ich), leave your main DT fishless for 72 days (100% all ich parasites will die by the end of that period), put healthy fish back in after 72 days, done.

Scientific research proves that things like soaking food in garlic/Selcon, cleaner wrasses/shrimps, keeping fish healthy with lots of food, reef-safe ich medication, etc. will NOT remove ich from your system. There are no shortcuts around this, unfortunately.

Frustrated...
 

so I am beginning to understand there are no shortcuts in this hobby

I decided to go another route to get rid of the ich...

Or at least I thought I would

I went to a LFS (won't say who because I don't want to bad mouth) and they gave me a "reef safe" treatment called HERBTANA

My house smells like a holistic medicine shop...not impressed

Not only that but I read after the fact that this stuff doesn't kill ich it only "prevents" it

Anyway, after I doesed 1 does I realized this isn't going to work and it was a waste of $25

So...I just spend the last 3 hours dismantling my tank and getting this stupid Kole Tang out

He is in the hospital tank...

I have added some of the copper treatment, which I will do for 3 days

Any other suggestions...

I promise to listen to the advise now...

So impatient...

I'm afraid it's going to be longer than 3 days of treatment......you should treat all of your fish at once. Ensure your copper levels stay consistent.
Plus your display will have to be fish less until the life cycle of MI will run its course, give or take 7-8 weeks.

+1. I believe copper based medication should be around 4 weeks cycle. Make sure nothing gets cross-contaminated.

Good on you to take proactive steps. The fish and you will be happier in the long run.

Worried
 

My concern iskeeping the fish alive for 45-72 days in the quarantine tank

I am going to run a skimmer and water change every 3 days

Any other suggestions?

Monitor amonia and nitrate obviously

Sand sifter, snail's, crabs and cleaner shrimp?
 

Any of these need to be removed also?

Star fish sand sifter?

Crabs?

Cleaner shrimp?

Ammonia is the only thing you need to keep an eye on; fish can tolerate high nitrates so you don't have to worry about that overly so.

Inverts can stay in the DT.

I'm just in this whole process with my 300gal. Took all fish out. The tank is gonna have no fish for the next three to four months to ensure the ich is dead. I had tanks for years before this one and never had a single fish show signs of ich so I believe it is an as per scenario. It was definetly getting worse in my tank. And noticeably... It sucks but IMO to irradicate this crap from the tank you just have to starve it or take your chances. I will never go without quarantine on a fish or coral again. I don't ever want to tear this tank down again. A painful but needed learning lesson for me.... and dont feel bad I tried the magic elixer route too.... Just a friggin waste of money...:brick:

Personally, I would totally throw them under the bus and share who they are. If you are uncomfortable with that, and they are a sponsor here, please vote in the Sponsoring Vendors Rating Forum. Knowledge is power.

Sorry to hear about the troubles.

I usually just feed my fish selcon and garlic infused food and the ice usually goes away. I have a hippo tang and those guys a ich magnets :lol: I also feed a bit heavier when I see ich. the garlic will help boost the immunity.

Too late, I followed the majority and to on the fish out and into quarantine... 45 days... Gross...

Watch NH3 or they'll be dead in 2 days.

NH3
 

What is the acceptable nh3 level?

Or should it be zero always?

yes, aim for 0. If you get a reading at all, it's going to get worse by the end of the day. Keep some prime on hand to neutralize it in an emergency. I always keep an aquaclear sponge in my sump so I have a mature filter should I need it for something like this. I've lost more fish to ammonia poisoning than I ever have to disease.