Blue Hippo Tang keeps getting ich.

[acepumping]

Man!! all I can say is when ibhad a breakout on my tank.. it was from a kole tang, it had nothing visible at time of purchase.. 8 months later. started seen specks...
then bam all the fish had it so bad, it killed 4 out of 8 fish.. but guess what, I QUARINTINED !!! saved the remainder..
so if you listen to this person.. beware!!.. he is giving the wrong info..
do I quarantine when I buy a fish? no
would I do it again if I had a break out? you bet..
in the new tank I'm setting up, I will be quarinting everything..

please don't listen to this person.. lots of benefits of taking caution...

calling people dumb.. lmfao.. what a tool!! go back to your local forums please

[straightrazorguy]

I don't ever get involved in this kind of nonsense, but I feel like I have to! None of the local stores quarantine fish. So, they all have the potential to be sick or carry something. I ALWAYS quarantine all my fish, whether I get them from the store or trusted friends. I've had fish die in quarantine , but I've had zero outbreaks in all my years of fishkeeping...

Quarantine your fish, people!

[rsisvixen]

Would like to point out that no one said lfs stores didn't treat the tanks, just that they don't quarantine. Two completely separate issues.

To answer your other question the QT period should be 4 weeks but thats adjustable based on a lot of factors.

And really, insulting and "yelling" your point at everyone is not the way to have a discussion.

[kien]

[kyl]

Wow this thread sure blew up!

I've gotten all three major problems on livestock bought locally over the last two years, two on something purchased last week if you want an example (ich / flukes). No LFS around here is going to run them through a full gamut of quarantine for ich, velvet and flukes (not to mention brooklynella, bacterial infections, internal parasites, a myriad of others), for the proper duration and utilizing contamination controls that would also be required (room separated tanks, sanitizing all equipment, etc). At least, not at the prices most people will pay, which is why it doesn't happen.

The OP is having a problem with ich, on whom a tang with a thinner slime coat is more susceptible to gaining larger scale infections. Only fish infected with ich have ich, if quarantined properly, they will not have ich until placed in an environment infected with ich. As for casual observation, you can't even see the ich parasite on a fish, or in any life cycle stage with the naked eye. Only the results of the damage done, the white specs, are visible. As well, most of the parasites will host in the fish's gills rather than on the body, leaving no visual traces.

It took like 2 weeks to learn that from casually reading academic studies, mostly revolving around the wholesale aquaculture (not hobbyist) industry. It's not made up, those business can't afford to make things up when they have millions in food stock potentially at risk of loss from an outbreak. The life cycle, treatment, prevention and ineffective control methods are all well studded and cited in dozens of published journals at this point, probably more well known than any other marine fish disease we'll see in our tanks.

[acepumping]

Originally Posted by videosilva

You quarantined AFTER the fact to treat fish. COMPLETELY opposite to my input. You SURE that you have been following the thread properly or just jumped the gun ?

quarantining makes perfect sense to do from the start.
my point is that it shall be done before adding a fish to the tank, as a precaution.. I don't quarantine before hand, but I should!!! especially if you have pricey fish already in the tank!!
this voice is familiar LOL

[Myka]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Everybody better start behaving..... Myka is on her way!!!

I think this thread is quite entertaining.

I just hope people aren't taking "videosilva" too seriously.

[Frogger]

Originally Posted by joe pooh

Thank you all. When i drop the Tang into the tank the other fish give him a hard time. it's not like he is the new guy, they've all met before, but each time i put him back in from QT, it is like he has a kick me sign on his back.

I think that between that and the unstable temp and salinity the stress is too much for this guy. i even tried moving all the rocks around so nobody really has a territory to fight over. Nice fish, but i dont think i can meet his requirements.

I too think QT is an important part of the process. though i find it frustrating isolating my new fish for weeks before adding him to the main tank. At the same time i do not want to lose all my other fish. Seeing the ich and not taking him out would drive me crazy. maybe he will get better....maybe he will infect everybody else...

I foresee a trip back to the LFS for this guy once his time in QT has passed. dont think they will accept a sick fish.

Back to the original question. Try isolating him for a while within the display tank to allow himself to get comfortable. That can be done either by blocking off a small section of the tank with egg crate or using one of those plexiglass acclamation boxes

[Myka]

Originally Posted by videosilva

How anyone ONE person is able to get eleven thousand posts on ANY forum in beyond me.

Over 13 years of contributions here? Exactly what have YOU contributed here besides some entertainment? Which I do appreciate by the way - it's slow around here these days, and I need to keep my post count up.

OP'S question was answered long before you arrived.

[joe pooh]

Originally Posted by Frogger

Back to the original question. Try isolating him for a while within the display tank to allow himself to get comfortable. That can be done either by blocking off a small section of the tank with egg crate or using one of those plexiglass acclamation boxes

nice. reasonable. he is in qt now. i will acclimate to regular tank water before putting him back in with a plexiglass divider.

Lets assume that the general (though not complete) consensus is that it should be quarantined.... How long? i saw 3 weeks, 4? i did see the "why not 4 weeks and a day" the 4 weeks in this instance is taking into account the give or take a day leaning towards the safe side.