Blue Tang with white spots

[Kaz]

I've just noticed some tiny white spots on the body of my blue tang & am concerned that it may be the start of something nasty. As yet I have not observed any other symptoms but I'm really not sure whether this is typical. Unforunately I don't have a quarantine tank yet .

Any advice on what would be the best course of action?

Thanks

 

[ChrisRD]

If you can give some more details it will help us to give better answers. For example, how long you have had the fish, what the setup is like that he's in, if there are other fish in the same tank, etc.

 

[Kaz]

Ok, more details....I've had the fish for 2 weeks & it's currently in the tank with 2 clowns & 3 chromis. They all seem to be getting along well & certainly nothing that would indicate any stress.

The tank iteself is a 65 gallon & currently only has live rock, it has been set up for about 6 weeks. I check the levels regularly & nothing is out of the ordinary there.

I hope this is enough information but if there's anything else I can tell you, just yell.

Thanks

 

[ChrisRD]

Well, at this point since he's already in the tank with the other fish and if it is ich that you're seeing, the tank is already infected. If he only has a few spots, I would wait and see how things go. IME, healthy, well-fed marine fish can often fight-off a mild case of ich on their own. If things are looking worse as the week progresses and other fish are not showing any symptoms, your best bet would be to setup a hospital tank and treat him. My preference for treatment would be hyposalinity (if you do a search here it's been discussed a lot).

Tangs need a lot of food to stay healthy, so IMO your best bet at this stage is to make sure he's getting adequate nutrition. I'm not sure what species you're referring to when you say "blue" tang. If it's an Atlantic Blue Tang (A. coeruleus) or a Powder Blue Tang (A. leucosternon) I would plan on feeding nori on a clip daily in addition to regular feedings. If it's a Pacific Blue Tang aka Hippo Tang (P. hepatus) they tend to go more for meaty foods so I would make sure to feed some nutritious meaty stuff like frozen mysis (you can also soak the mysis in something like Selco to further enrich it). For the latter species, you could also try offering nori but the fomer two are more predominantly herbivores by nature.

BTW, if your tank is the popular glass 65 gallon that is 3' long, IMO it's not really big enough for any of those species long-term. If it's a 4' tank, I think you're OK with the Atlantic Blue, but the other two species mentioned should really be in a 6' tank for the long-term IMO.

HTH

 

[KensReef]

It would help if you told us what type of blue tang. I've got a P. hepatus that has been in my tank for 6 years. It gets whitespot every now and then, a couple of times a year and it recovers by itself. So long as you keep the food up and the water parameters in line it should be ok.

 

[Kaz]

It's a P. hepatus. I've noticed that the spots have started to fade over the last 2 days. I've been really conscious about the water parameters & feeding so I'm hoping that it will all work out. I now have a hospital tank set up just in case but hoping not to have to use it in this case.

Any other suggestions welcome

 

[KensReef]

I would try not to move it to a hospital tank. The move will only stress it more. Best bet is to keep the fish in the same tank and keep the water quality and feeding up.