Help!! Ich!!
 

I woke up this morning to find my A. nigricans (aka white cheek tang, aka powder brown tang) covered in spots. The lights had not fully come on so they looked like little brown dots but now that the lights are on the show up white. there are also a few on his fins.

The tank is 72 bow with LR and a few corals.

Also, in the tank are two percula clowns, four green chromis, and a bicolour blenny. none of them appear to have any of the spots.

Any suggestions on what my course of action should be? I'm currently setting up a hospital tank (30 gal). Should I try to treat him in the main tank? This is my first ich episode so its all new.

Jim

I really hate ich. I've battled it in my fish only tank. I tried everything to eliminate it, and finally ended up stripping the tank bare turning it into a hospital tank and going with copper treatment. If you have the hospital tank, move all the fish and use copper, it was the only thing that has worked for me. All the other treatments abated the outbreak for a while, but did not eliminate it. I ended up ditching all the rock and sand out of the tank to be sure it no longer was present. Fortunately there was no live rock there. If there had been I would have had to leave the tank fallow for a couple of months with the fish in another tank. The whole experience was a major PITA. If you don't remove all the fish from your tank for treatment, the ich will still be in the tank even if there is no obvious sign of it. You need to treat all the fish and fallow the tank to be sure it is eliminated.

I took some photos to get a second (3rd, 4th) opinion...

I never really noticed how much crap was in the water untill I took these...might have to look at upgrading my sum/finler... :rolleyes:

This one he was moving so the bits in the water don't show up as much..

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...1-med.jpg?8262

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...07-11.jpg?6355

This one is clearer but it is hard to see what is in the water versus on him..

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...1-med.jpg?3067

Jim

Just do what the ocean does. Nothing. Do regular water changes and dump more live rock in there. Maybe get an anemone or a long tentacle plate, as when one of my tangs had ich it just rubbed it off on the anemone

I have a cleaner shrimp and a BTA but I have never heard of anemones cleaning ich

Help!! Ich!!! - Now with Pictures
 

I was looking at running the salenity low and feeding garlic rather then the copper thing.

My purple tang got ich after being in my tank for 3 months with no new fish being added...

All I did was step up my maintainence and feeding regimen. I went from feeding once a day and hanging some nori every few days to putting in nori everyday and feeding 2-3x a day. Started soaking the food in selcon and the kents garlic stuff and within days (perhaps a week) the ich fell off and I have never seen it in my tank since.

With all that feeding, I have added a couple of powerhead filters and change them out every 3 days or so. I didnt feel my skimmer was able to adequately keep up with my input of wastes...

My fish are fatter then ever too :)

Garlic. I've got some Kent Garlic Extreme, and is that ever wicked stuff !


I agree, leave the tang, work on the water quality. And use garlic.

What is in the Kent Garlic extreme? Can I use regular garlic juice?

Sure. Just use a couple drops. The Kent stuff has Vitamin C in it as well, and it is in a nice eyedropper bottle, so easy to work with. Garlic up the nori as well.