Blue Hippo Tang keeps getting ich.

[joe pooh]

i had left the tank fishless for 8 weeks. Quarantined all fish for 3 weeks and treated for ich before introduction to the tank. this is what i dont understand.

if ich is a parasite and i starved it in the tank and killed it in all the fish, where did it come from? Even if the water quality was bad (it is not) the ich organism cant come out of thin air...

At this point i only have 1 10 gallon quarantine hospital tank so i cant take all the fish out for 8 weeks.

[Bugger]

How bad is the infection? Some white spots are not always ich

[Piscez]

Sounds like more a of a stress issue, I have 6 tangs which most tangs are prone to getting ich my hippo gets it almost every time I add another fish lol and usually goes away and never infects the other fish. The fish you have aren't prone to ich I'd leave it with the community and let it recover on it's own power

[F.H]

Originally Posted by joe pooh

treated for ich before introduction to the tank.

How? are you sure it was completely treated? sometimes it can remain in the gills without presenting itself on the body, etc.

[kyl]

Correct fallow period for ich is 76 days, not 8 weeks. You're just re-introducing a fish to a DT that still has ich.

the ich organism cant come out of thin air...

Funny enough, aerosol transmission is a thing, and has been documented at up to 10 feet if tanks are in the same room.

Only two ways to completely eradicate cryptocaryon irritans in a tank; fallow without a fish to host on for 76 days, or chemically with copper or chloroquine phosphate. Both chemical methods will kill all your corals, inverts and with CP, all algae.

To remove it in fish is either via tank-transfer methodology for 12 days to stay ahead of the reproductive cycle, or chemically with copper / chloroquine phosphate. Research papers have identified hypo-salinity resistant strains of ich, so that's really not an option anymore. Any "reef safe" treatments are just that, treatments. They will not completely remove ich.

[rsisvixen]

I find ttm the most effective way to prevent ich from getting into your system.

I ttm all my fish now.

[kyl]

TTM is the best stress level wise, but you still need to watch out for marine velvet. On the plus side, you can also get rid of flukes during TTM with prazipro use, and flukes seem to be on pretty much everything these days.

[rsisvixen]

Yes, I use paraguard, first container, prazi the next 3 and then paraguard to finish off-then QT for 3 weeks.

I haven't lost any fish from doing the ttm due to stress, and its run the range from mandarins to angels

[Frogger]

I had a hippo tang for 16 years, he died last year. Every time the fish got stressed he would get ich. Usually that stress would be adding a new fish, happened 3 or 4 times over his life span. It was never really bad but you could just make it out. Always went away when his stress level dropped. No other fish in the tank ever got it that I could see. I never treated him and he lived a long healthy life.

Hippo tangs are highly susceptible to ich. The stress of moving him from your quarantine tank to your main tank is likely setting him off.

[kien]

Originally Posted by videosilva

1. Quarantining is such a DUMB waste of time idea. I would like to know who the idiot was that started this and is passing this DUMB information along ?

2. Fish store ALREADY quarantined the fish. DUH !

1. Quarantining actually has many benefits. In the context of disease, it allows you to better isolate your affected fish so that you can attempt to remedy their situation. During the remedy period they will be highly stressed so isolating them (in quarantine) can go a long ways to helping them recover. That is, they aren't constantly being bullied by other strong fish. They aren't being out competed for food, they can be left alone to rest while they recover.

2. Not all fish stores quarantine (properly).