Baby tang has Ick. Help

[fishgardener]

My brand new one inch Hippo Tang has Ick. I got him for my birthday on Fri. night. He was fine this morning, but this evening he had several white spots and he is scratching on the sand. He is eating my flake food (Omega One-just the green ones) just fine and picking at stuff on the glass. He completely ignores the Nori seaweed I clipped to the glass and the algae on the rocks. I soaked the flakes (pick out the green one from the mix) in medication ( Focas and Metronidazole) a few minutes ago and he ate them.
The Focas says to put it in the water column also. Is that safe for the corals and inverts? Can a young fish be dipped? If so, in what? Anyone know how old a one inch Tang might be?
Sheryle :sad:

 

[steve]

For future reference. Don't get a hippo tang that small. Every one that I ave ever seen has never made it long. Yours may be different. MAke sure your feeding often, and feeding with garlic. And with feeding that much, keep an eye on your parameters.

 

[skriz]

Dips are harsh, so that alone may kill him. Never do a fw dip, they're extremely difficuly to do correctly and are not worth the hassle.

You best bet is to get that guy to eat and get him to eat a lot. If he eats, he'll live. Unfortunately, hippo's that small rarely do well.

Good luck

 

[fishgardener]

He was a surprise present from my older son, Troy. I would not normally have tried a fish so young. But now that I have him I don't want him to die. He is eating. I'm going to get garlic tomrrow. The omega one food has garlic in it, but it is a dried flke. Hopefully the garlic drops are more potent.
Sheryle

 

[skriz]

If he's eating, then you stand a chance.

 

[jessezm]

I got my hippo tang mail-order and he was maybe 1.5", and of course he got ick after a few days. He scratched on the rocks and sand and looked pretty bad at times, but he ate and stayed alive and is now over a year old and nice and fat and healthy. I found that he would show signs of ick every now and then for a while, and then it just disappeared altogether. He was slow to take to the nori but he did eventually. I used PE Mysis shrimp to fatten him up, soaked in selcon and garlic.

As long as your water parameters are stable and he's not getting picked on and has plenty of hiding places, all you need to do is feed him well and hope he's strong enough to pull through. Good luck!

 

[zdaytonaroadster]

mine got it after about a week of me getting him, i got some reefsafe ich cure, UV filter, and my cleaner shrimp helped, she gets a flare up once in a while, but seems to always pull through

 

[fishgardener]

<span style="font-family: Arial;">He is doing better. He's eating like a pig. He won't touch the Nori, but he is eating some Spirulina flakes and the green flakes that are in Omega One. I have been soaking them in Garlic Xtreme, Zoe, and Zoecon. Unfortunately my chalk bass is acting like he may be getting it too. The chalk bass is scratching occasionally on the sand which he doesn't do normally. I am soaking everyone's food as a preventive measure and feeding 4-5 times a day. </span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">He is so cute, I really hope he makes it.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sheryle</span>

 

[zdaytonaroadster]

^get a UV filter if you dont have one, it helps..a lot

 

[skriz]

ZDaytonaRoadster;199140 wrote: ^get a UV filter if you dont have one, it helps..a lot

I'll have to disagree on this reccomendation.

UV can't cure ich and can only kill things in the water column. They're only effective when you use an oversized unit with a strict maintenance plan. Not worth the expense or hassle. And it won't cure ich!

 

[zdaytonaroadster]

Skriz;199141 wrote: I'll have to disagree on this reccomendation.

UV can't cure ich and can only kill things in the water column. They're only effective when you use an oversized unit with a strict maintenance plan. Not worth the expense or hassle. And it won't cure ich!

i'll have to disagree with this opinion. The UV light will kill the Ich parasites before they attack another fish (IE in there free swiming form). It will keep them from spreading

 

[skriz]

ZDaytonaRoadster;199143 wrote: i'll have to disagree with this opinion. The UV light will kill the Ich parasites before they attack another fish (IE in there free swiming form). It will keep them from spreading

They CAN kill them, but the logistics will prevent them from doing so. Only the swimmers that make it through the unit can be killed, if the unit is strong enough. BUT, the flow is so low, that most of them will be free to continue the cycle.

If the unit is not cleaned every month and the bulb replaced every 6, they're worthless. For that time, effort and money, you'd be better off doing something else.

 

[zdaytonaroadster]

Skriz;199147 wrote:

They CAN kill them, but the logistics will prevent them from doing so. Only the swimmers that make it through the unit can be killed, if the unit is strong enough. BUT, the flow is so low, that most of them will be free to continue the cycle.

If the unit is not cleaned every month and the bulb replaced every 6, they're worthless. For that time, effort and money, you'd be better off doing something else.

haha, that is true, I got a pond UV light with a mag drive pumping water through it. I had a regal with Ich and it was gone in a few days. But yeah, you got to keep them clean.

 

[reefwife]

The only true cure for ich is running your tank fallow for quite some time. In all honesty, most people don't do that, they just manage it with healthy tank regiments and feeding. Just because you don't see it does NOT mean it is gone. It is simply in a different stage of the life cycle.

 

[skriz]

I believe that ich is like herpes...you carry it around like luggage. THe best you can do is manage the outbreaks, but you'll always be a carrier!

 

[fish scales2]

Skriz, so you are saying that even if you run you main tank fallow (no fish) for the life cycle of the ick (23 days+-) and maintain all new livestock in hospital tank for a month (without signs of ich) before intro into main tank that it is still possible that the parasite can still make into the tank.
I have been encouraging all my customers to set up hospital tanks and follow this practice, now I am wondering about the life cycles of other parasites and illnesses. I might should rethink my philosophy.
With my own tanks when I see ick I feed and feed and feed, always soak my food in garlic overnight so the food will soak in and I drain off most of the garlic into tommorows brew. Good or bad?
For me UV is best used for algae applications in my fish only tanks.

 

[skriz]

I'm probably wrong, but I just don't see ich as something you can really cure nor should you waste your time with. Healthy happy fish don't suffer from ich, so you should focus your efforts on keeping the fish fed and happy.

If you have an established qt that will allow you to hold a sick fish until it doesn't show signs of ich, the fish can still be a carrier. Even though the display has been run fallow and is clear of ich, the fish and qt are not. Does that make sense?

 

[tim8111]

I agree with Raj. Once a fish has Ich, it always will. The best thing is managing the outbreaks, and it is like herpes to that extent. Also, I think the majority of fish have that parasite and are just able to manage them with their immune system, unless they get stressed or some other factor weakens their immune system.

UV is great for algae control and secondary for parasite control. On my new QT system at the store, I am installing a Viper 400 Watt UV that is rated for a 3,700 gallon system on a 1,700 gallon QT system. In my opinion, for parasite control to be attempted the UV needs to be rated for at least 2 times the actual water volume of the system you are installing the UV on.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Fish Scales2;199588 wrote: Skriz, so you are saying that even if you run you main tank fallow (no fish) for the life cycle of the ick (23 days+-) and maintain all new livestock in hospital tank for a month (without signs of ich) before intro into main tank that it is still possible that the parasite can still make into the tank.
I have been encouraging all my customers to set up hospital tanks and follow this practice, now I am wondering about the life cycles of other parasites and illnesses. I might should rethink my philosophy.
With my own tanks when I see ick I feed and feed and feed, always soak my food in garlic overnight so the food will soak in and I drain off most of the garlic into tommorows brew. Good or bad?
For me UV is best used for algae applications in my fish only tanks.

There has been a lot of debate recently as to the viability of ick in fallow conditions. Some (very well respected) people contend that the ick cycts can go "dormant" if the biochemical cues (fish "smells") are not present. In which case fallow tanks wont work. I am not aware of any documentation of this, but these same people add tank water from the QT tank (holding fish) to the display the is fallow to "trick" the cysts to look for a host. Again, all speculative.
I highly support QT tanks, but just as much for acclimitization and feeding as for disease control. But that is a whole other issue.

FWIW, garlic will do ZERO for ick control.

 

[cameron]

Search the boards and you will find some long informative discussions on this. Personally, I think you have it and always will. Brandon tried the fallow/hypo trick and it really didn't work. Isolated case and doesn't really prove anything conclusively, but I had the stuff in my tank and I just kept the fish healthy, water column clean and outbreaks were rare. I did run a big UV with water moving real slow through it. I believe it helps, but you need a monster UV with a real slow pump to have any effect. Won't "cure" it IMO.