help my tang has ick

[MarkO1]

Funny how long this post can go. (Notice all the replies by John 3:16)

Terry, I appreciate your input. Afterall, with your help I ridded my tank of a BAD outbreak of ich and will certainly quarantine all my new introductions fish from now on.
My comment regarding raising tank temp to 85º was for the main display tank so as to speed up the lifecycle of the ich parasite. Sorry for the vagueness.
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Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

 

[John 3:16]

MARKO my tang got ick from 2 new fish i introduced into the tank. totally my fault as i thought they might have it. the ick is better now and i guess it is in a dormant stage or something. since ick is now in the tank, would it still be worth quaranting (bad spelling) the tang. is it dangerous in the dormant stage.

thanks for replies, justin

 

[slojmn1]

I have had ICH for only the second time in my 12+ years dealing with reef tanks. I had it pop up on my Atlantic Blue Tang out of the blue in mid December. I have wracked my brain to figure out what caused it. I had added a small clownfish 3 weeks earlier. Maybe he was a carrier but did not have it? I have been trying the Garlic/vitamin in the food route to no avail. It has been 5 weeks on the Tang. My Blackcap basslet has had it for about 3 weeks and the little clownfish now came down with it a few days ago. Seems to be spreading. I have 9 fish in the tank and have been unable to catch the elusive ones to put into a quarentine tank to try and solve this. I thought I would try to catch them first. It seems that the research says you must get all fish out of the system so the parasite has no host. I am so bummed as I have been unable to catch either my mandarin or my black cap. I think I could catch the Tang and clowns pretty easily, even the chromis should be okay to catch, but these other fish are impossible. So I feel I am stuck watching and waiting for this ICH to kill all my fish. None of my chromis show any signs, the mandarin has no sign of the ICH nor does my female clown. Just the other three. They are all eating well and acting fairly normal except the black cap. He is more elusive and flashing on the rocks more. So sad. What do you do when you really can't catch the fish? I don't even know what I would do with my mandarin if I did ever get him. He only eats pods which are in great numbers in the main tank.My lfs does not have any tanks that could house my mandarin and if I can't get out all of the fish I would end up re-introducing the fish after 4 weeks and they would get it all over again.

 

[carolinaclown]

If you do not have a sick tank, try cranking the temp up to about 86 degrees for a couple of days. This may work. Adding copper to a tank with coral will definately kill them. Another bit of info try giving your fish about 3 times per week pellets with a garlic extract. Garlic is a natural antibiotic and my prevent your other animals from getting sick. It will not harm corals and imo a good prevenative measure for the overall health of your tank.

 

[slojmn1]

carolinaclown, thanks for the reply. I believe the high temp will only really harm my sps and other animals. I have been feeding garlic, ZOE, and Selcon in hopes of keeping up the general health of all the tank inhabitants. Despite this my tang, blackcap and now my little clown all have the dreaded spots. They all are eating well, but I am not sure how long this can go on before they really suffer and possibly die

. I keep hoping they will win the battle. I had ICH one other time about 4 years ago in my 40g reef. Two of the three fish in the tank survived and went on to live long lives. I still have one of the fish to this day. The other one I returned to the lfs when it outgrew my 40g tank.

 

[MarkO1]

I've found that a clear 12x24" piece of clear plexiglass and a little food makes it much easier to catch fish. I just set the plexi at a 45º in one corner and use a large net. With a little distraction, the fish don't even notice the plexi.
Good luck!
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Mercedes C Class

 

[MarkO1]

I found that it took only about 5 days or so before the infected fish (latest addition) infected my purple tang. I'm not sure whether my yellowtail damsel came down with it or not. But I removed them both about a week after I first noticed it on the tang.
If your tank conditions are really good then there is a chance your fish may beat it out naturally. But I would definitely keep a GOOD eye on them! For me, I noticed a slow breakdown in my tangs health until I could not take it anymore and quarantined him and the damsel (the flame angel ended up dying).
Ich will first show up in erratic behavior and possibly rapid breathing in the infected individuals. Then a couple of days later, you will see the white dots (my understanding is that this is when the parasite bursts out of the skin of the fish) and the parasite enters it's free swimming stage looking for a host (uh... unlucky fish).
So keep an eye on your tank and observe them closely! If it is getting worse, QUARANTINE before it is too late! But in the meantime you should have a sponge sitting in your sump accumulating de-nitrifying bacteria in the event you need to quarantine.
Hope this helps.
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Powerlet