Help Please!

[Brandon5555]

I got a sweet blue tang on the weekend, and he has black ich, how do I cure it?

[Gripenfelter]

My neighbour cured his black ich with a freshwater dip followed by a formalin bath.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ich...brooklynel.htm

[Brandon5555]

any idea where i can get formalin?

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Brandon5555

any idea where i can get formalin?

Formalin is a dangerous carcinogen and should only be used as a very last resort.

So, fresh water dip and observe the black ich falling off the fish, replace the fish in the tank and the next day observe whether there are any left. Dip the fish again until they are all gone.

[Brandon5555]

So do I just adjust the temp then toss him in? Or do I need to acclimate

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Brandon5555

So do I just adjust the temp then toss him in? Or do I need to acclimate

No equalize the temperature and carefully place the tang in the freshwater.
He will possibly act violently and attempt to jump so cover the glass bowl you put him in or he will turn on his side.
Continually carefully observe the fish for stress for several minutes and place him back in your unlit tank.

[Nano]

whats the longest he should dip it? I always wondered myself i have heard anywhere from 2 to 15 minute some people say, but that seems a little extreme

[naesco]

Originally Posted by nanomano

whats the longest he should dip it? I always wondered myself i have heard anywhere from 2 to 15 minute some people say, but that seems a little extreme

It depends on the species of fish and the condition it is in.
In this case it is a blue tang with black ich and not a tang that has suffered severe ich owing to the neglect of the reefer in helping his/her fish or a tender species.
This tang. once placed in the freshwater of the same temperature will likely swim around and after a minute or two will break the water like it is gasping for air. IME I would not treat longer than five minutes and remove the fish if there is early stress. You can always re treat the fish. Good Luck.

I also would not recommend that you search for the fish with a flashlight to see how he is doing as you will further stress the fish.

[daniella3d]

A one hour dip in Seachem Paraguard is much less stressfull on a fish than any freshwater dip.

I am treating a few clownfish right now with paraguard for the begining of scratching on things, maybe begining of brook or ick, not sure what, and they are doing great and stopped scratching. I even have a few coral and one snail in that tank and they are doing well. I am surprised the coral are still alive after 4 full days of paraguard treatment, but I would not try this on any coral that are of any value and definitly not in a display tank full of corals.

[Brandon5555]

I have a tank I just set up for killifish, ill toss him in there later today and let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help, it means a lot.