Powder Brown Tang Sick!!?

[fishyfolks]

Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to this forum - We have only had my tank up and running for just over 1 year. We added a BEAUTIFUL Powder Brown to our 90 gallon about 3 weeks ago. Yesterday he (or she) looked awesome. Tonight when I went to look at him he is totally COVERED in little white spots that kind of look like bubbles?? They are on his fins and even on his 'eye lids'. We have about 10 other fish and none of them have a spot to be seen? Our salinity is .025, ph 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrate and nitrate 0 ish. Does anyone know what it could be? We do very regular water changes (2 a month) and we have neve seen a fish get this sick looking overnight???? i am pretty sure that after looking at pics of ich on the net - that isn't the problem here. Please if anyone has any ideas please let us know. Thanks sooooo much :(

[krisalexander]

what you are describing is called Ick, tangs are very suseptable to getting this, it is little parasites, fish will get it when they are stressed (ie, new tank, new tankmates, fish picking on them etc) The things I would do would be to get some garlic extract or selcon and adding it to the feedings. Turn of the lights and let him get settled. There are treatments that you can get that are not very expensive that will treat ick, make sure they are coral safe if you have corals..

Best of luck
any other questions do not hesitate to ask,

Kris

[Salmon King]

I f it/s a fish only tank treat with coppersafe right away.I f it/s a reef tank there is not much to do.I would give the tang a freshwater bath.That will get rid of ich on the fish.You should quaratine a new fish for 3 weeks.I have been in the hobby 12 years and have paid the price for not doing it.Garlic is a whise tale.I talked to a marine bioligest years ago.He said it does nothing to stop ich.

[Salmon King]

Do a freshwater dip.Make sure the temp. and the ph are the same as your tank.Leave the fish in as long as you can./1or2 minutes.Make sure you decloriate the water. After you put the fish in the tankcheck the contianer .You will be surprised how much comes off.

[fishyfolks]

I will definately try all of those methods (except copper since we have several different corals) I just didn't think it was ich, but I've been in the internet now for about an hour an I found 1 pic that looks a lot like our guy.....yup, it's ich alright :( I've raised my temp to 82 and I've lowered my salinity to .023. Any other tips would be great. Thanks everyone!!

[Salmon King]

I would keep an eye on your other fish.If it spreads i would look into to borrow a tank to treat your fish.All you need is heater and power head.You can give your fish a freshwater dip a few times daily.The fish actualy like it as it gives them releaf .I have run into every disease out there.

[EmilyB]

What are the 10 other fish..?

[Geofrog]

In my experience, cleaner shrimp will help control the ich on the tang and will give it some relief. My tangs got ich shortly after reintroducing them to my tank after I had to re-cycle. Once I added some cleaner shrimp the ich was not visible on the fish and I haven't seen any since. This was about a year ago. I couldn't use copper based meds as I had corals in the tank. This is by no means a cure but it should help the situation. As soon as I added the shrimp the tangs swam right up to them immediately and the shrimp were crawling all over them.
Also consider getting a UV sterilizer, this should kill the ich in the water column.

[Scavenger]

I agree on keeping cleaner species with tangs. I had a ich outbreak on my 2 tangs a bit ago. Each morning they were covered but by late afternoon, the 2 cleaner shrimp and 1 sharknose goby had them cleaned pretty much up. After about a week the ich was no longer noticable.

[bulletsworld]

I feel I've tried ever product claiming to rid parasites, ich or Velvet, just in the hopes it would actually work. Ordered products we can't get here, tried capsules, liquids, mixed powders from the pharmacy & vet, talked to other reefers in the states, researched & researched, tried both coppers, series of FW dips, tried the cleaner shrimp, tried the garlic trick, then ginger, then this method I use. Over the years, as most of you already know, I treated sick fish for people. You should of seen my place, tanks & tubs filled with peoples sick fish. I even admit I would buy a sick fish, just to try to save em. I did it out of the kindness of my heart & anything to save a fish, especially a boxfish or a puffers (my fav) & one of the hardest to treat (scaleless). Over the last year, I totally burnt out. Stop helping out. Finally I would like to share the NATURE method I have been using.

If you’re Powder brown is completely covered in ich. He's already in his last stages of life. A freshwater dip will stress the fish and only the mature parasites (after 3-7days) will fall off, leaving TONS left on the fish. Then after your FW dip your adding your stressed fish right back into your free swimming parasite infected tank.

Over the years I have discovered a nature method, that can bring just about any fish recovered from ich or velvet, providing the ich or velvet hasn't already affected their gills and that your dealing with one fish at a time. This method is time consuming, requires close monitoring and consists of lots of water changes.

Here is the steps: Transfer & Darkness method. I also like to call it "Skipping the Parasite." But it works. I use this method time & time again.

1. For the time being, make your tank DARK! Try for No light at all! Darkest you can. As Ich torments after hatching
swim towards the light to find their host (your fish). It also calms your fish while he's trying to recover too.
2. Get a CLEAN & DRY Lg. saltwater bucket (Rona $4.99) or 36L dark Rubbermaid container (Walmart $6 bucks).
3. Fill with CLEAN R.O water (not from your tank)
4. Then mix salt to your R.O water to match the salinity of your main tank. It’s best to use a refractmeter. Which
ever works best for you.
5. Add a heater & aerate using a bubble disk.
6. Make sure the temperature matches that of your main tank. I find the digital probes (cheap $12) Thermometers
are handy.
7. Keep this bucket setup in a room that can be left DARK.(basement?)
8. During transfers, never use a net to capture the Tang & never expose it to air. Always capture it under water with
a small plastic container. You can use nets underwater to trap the fish in the container, but no net capture. You
can then spill back most of the water after you have capture the fish & carry it over to the ready made
bucket/container.

Now the concept to this is this... ONLY one fish per bucket. That way you can control the parasite lifecycles. If you HAVE to you can have more fish in a tub (Not Recommended) as the parasite lifecycles are all different per fish & the transfers have to be extended way longer, tub transfer done everyday. Remember the bigger the tub/bucket the more balanced the water will stay untill it turns. Don't use small containers or a small bucket.

You can not share any tools, water or equipment from the main tank that has ich. Between transfers, if you decide to use the same equipment, then it must be washed & dried between uses. It's best to setup a series of buckets/containers so your water is all the same. You need at least two buckets/containers going at one time.

THEN...You transfer the fish to the bucket, closely monitor tank. Test for ammonia, PH, Nitrates. Feed fish ONLY once a day, small amount, NO Nori or flake foods, it polute the water faster. If you like, you can soak frozen foods in garlic & ginger. I try not to do this because it will create a film on your water surface. Make sure to take any uneaten food out.

Now.. if the fish is HEAVILY infected.. Transfer EVERYDAY to a new bucket/container. You do this for a series of 12-15 days (velvet treatment longer). By the 5th to 7th day, you will be amazed. You'll think its gone, BUT keep going. You’re skipping the parasite, leaving the ready to hatch ich behind. Understanding the life cycle of the parasite gives you a better understanding and is key.

PLEASE NOTE: Once this fish is through the 12th transfer (best to make yourself a detailed time schedule), iF you add this fish back to the main tank thats got other fish in it still that have not been treated, it will continue to get ich. To kept control ich, a UV sterilizer will work to help "CONTROL" free swimming parasites, but it’s not a cure. Reducing stress and helping to build the fish immunity with good water conditions, not over crowding with too many fish and providing the tang with lots of rock to develop its own personal space, helps. This "Transfer & Darkness" method I provided can be ONLY used for cure only if the infected main tank is left to fallow (no fish) for 30-45 days. This is the same concept for treating with copper, which is hard on tangs. But again the main tank has to fallow without fish for 30-45 days.

A good QT method for others is... If you just purchased a fish that you see may or has ich or velvet. Before placing in your main tank, use this method. Get your bucket/containers setup before you pickup your fish, then providing your water quality is stable, you can transfer every 3 days. Again if the fish is heavlily infected, transfer everyday. After the full treatment (12-15days) you can then add your parasite free fish, to your parasite free main tank. :mrgreen:


If you have any questions, you are welcome to PM me.

Hope this helps you. :mrgreen:

[muck]

Thanks for sharing Lee. :biggrin:

[krisalexander]

I feel I should pay for that insight, thanks for sharing.

Kris

[Salmon King]

As I also have saved many fish for people.I have never lost a fish with a freshwater dip.I never said it/s a cure.If your fish has velvet you only have 1 day to start treatment.The dip gives your fish a chance to live.Like I said put your fish in a quratine tank and treat with copper.I have tried cleaner shrimp and cleaner wrasses with little succes.I/m not saying other methods don/t work.I just know my method is fairly easy to do.