Powder Blue and ick!

[ickmagnet]

Hi,

I just purchased a powder blue tang from a fellow member yesterday and he appears to be doing very well. He is swimming around fine and is eating very well. He is being bullied a little bit by the boss of my tank (purple tang) but nothing serious- just the occassional posturing. While feeding them today, the powder blue actually snatched away some algae from the purple tang.

The only problem is that I took a good look at him today and noticed that he has some ick developing on his fins and on his body. It isn't out of control yet and was wondering if i should continue feeding him food with garlic. If so, how often should i feed it a day? Will it go away on its' own or is a hospital tank in order?

Like I said, it doesn't seem to be affecting him in any way.

Thanks

[Chase31]

personally from my experience with my experience from my freshwater tank, i would put him in a quarantine tank that way you dont have to worry about it hurting your other fish, keep feeding him the garlic and im not sure about how often

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Powder blues are ick magnets so it will get a little ick on a regular basis IME. As long as its stress level is low, the ick is manageable.

[ickmagnet]

Thanks guys

[Seamazter]

Get a good heathy cleaner shrimp or better yet a cleaner wrasse.

[JHC]

A cleaner shrimp or wrasse will do nothing for the ich.

[naesco]

Do not get a cleaner wrasse.

What you need to do is to feed dry foods soaked in garlic extract or Garlic Extreme.
Dry because it absorbs more garlic because the idea is to get as much garlic in the fish as possible.
Feed often 4-5 times a day not too much just what they eat.
Do it for a few weeks.

[salty210]

I agree, keep feeding garlic soaked food. I have had a couple of powder blue tangs, and they both seem to get ick after they have been introduced.

[staceyd72]

Hi,

From my experience, your Purple Tang won't be boss for long :biggrin:

I have a Powder Blue for over four years and a blue streak cleaner wrasse for almost five. When I first got my PBT it have severe Ich and was under nourished(rescued) I fed lots of Mysis (the person I got him from had his tank on a strict Nori diet??) and the Blue Streak cleaned him up really well. Never had Ich since.

As others have said, feed garlic based foods. Cleaner wrasse are hit/miss, but mine has helped me a lot. QT is also a great idea with new additions :thumb:

You're going to like the new boss.

[bvlester]

neon goby works realy well they are not as hit and miss as the cleaner wrasse is, cleaner shrimp some times don't eat the ICK parisite but neon gobies do..

[ickmagnet]

After three days, things are looking a lot better. The powder blue continues to eat and has a huge appetite. The purple tang is beginning to realize that the powder blue is not fazed by his intimidation tactics and has left him alone all day today. The ick is almost completely gone. I've just been feeding with garlic.

The powder blue is also giving the other fish a workout. It is a big swimmer and does laps all day around the tank. The other fish that normally just hang out in one spot are scurrying around the tank wondering what all the fuss is about.

[staceyd72]

Hi,

Good to hear that things are coming along well.

The Powder Blue will soon be, if not already the dominant fish, you'll be hard pressed to find another fish that will hassle with him, maybe an Achilles :lol:

Cheers

[rkelman]

Don't be surprised if the ich comes back with a vengeance. Quite often it can seem to subside then come back and wipe everything out. It may even subside until the next time you stress them out. Really you should QT all fish and treat with copper or hypo and rid the tank of the parasite. Even if they survive for now it will always be present unless you get rid of it. Cleaners / garlic etc are not reliable methods of curing ich Garlic may be mildly useful although I'm not a believer in it.