Blue Hippo Tang keeps getting ich.

[rsisvixen]

Also all fish do not carry ich.

Some fish like gobies and wrasses are resistant to ich and it is exceptionally rare for them to get it. Only roughly 10-20% of wild caught fish actually have ich, but due to everything kept in same holding tanks and then in same systems at pets stores, the problem escalates.

I haven't had any trouble with my 20g QT-had a juvenile emperor and an atlantic blue tang in there for 1-2 months-not at the same time-lol
Could be they were only 2 inches at that point.

In my personal opinion, better safe than sorry, just costs me an extra bit of time and space.

[joe pooh]

Thank you all. When i drop the Tang into the tank the other fish give him a hard time. it's not like he is the new guy, they've all met before, but each time i put him back in from QT, it is like he has a kick me sign on his back.

I think that between that and the unstable temp and salinity the stress is too much for this guy. i even tried moving all the rocks around so nobody really has a territory to fight over. Nice fish, but i dont think i can meet his requirements.

I too think QT is an important part of the process. though i find it frustrating isolating my new fish for weeks before adding him to the main tank. At the same time i do not want to lose all my other fish. Seeing the ich and not taking him out would drive me crazy. maybe he will get better....maybe he will infect everybody else...

I foresee a trip back to the LFS for this guy once his time in QT has passed. dont think they will accept a sick fish.

[rsisvixen]

At this point your DT probably has ich in it.
Ich is like the flu in a way (except its a parasite), if your immune system is high even though there are germs everywhere you won't get sick, your immune system is down you'll get the flu. Same for ich-fish that are healthy with good immune systems will rarely get ich, stress, low immunity and the fish will get ich. Also ich can be inside gill covers and you'll never know its there.

If you are QT'ing, and treat for ich, once treatment cycle is done you should still keep it in QT for awhile so it can recuperate. The treatment is stressful and then moving directly will stress it even further. Let it regain strength and health first. Feed garlic enriched foods to boost immune system.
I also use the NS ich shield pellets during my QT process

[kien]

Originally Posted by videosilva

Trying to teach the teacher ?

A teacher should know better than to say that quarantining is "dumb" and a "waste of time". A teacher should also know better than to assume that all fish stores practice appropriate quarantining.

[rsisvixen]

Everyone has their own way to do things that work for them, so calling people or their methods dumb is just not okay.

Research has concluded that: Quote from Marine Ich - Myths and Facts "Fish always have MI. Untrue. In the wild they often show up as 30% infected."

As ich has a fish free stage-namely cysts which last 60-76 days on the substrate, it points to the fact that there are periods where fish are indeed ich free as its a parasite-not a disease.

[Frogger]

Originally Posted by joe pooh

Thank you all. When i drop the Tang into the tank the other fish give him a hard time. it's not like he is the new guy, they've all met before, but each time i put him back in from QT, it is like he has a kick me sign on his back.

I think that between that and the unstable temp and salinity the stress is too much for this guy. i even tried moving all the rocks around so nobody really has a territory to fight over. Nice fish, but i dont think i can meet his requirements.

I too think QT is an important part of the process. though i find it frustrating isolating my new fish for weeks before adding him to the main tank. At the same time i do not want to lose all my other fish. Seeing the ich and not taking him out would drive me crazy. maybe he will get better....maybe he will infect everybody else...

I foresee a trip back to the LFS for this guy once his time in QT has passed. dont think they will accept a sick fish.

Back to the original question. Try isolating him for a while within the display tank to allow himself to get comfortable. That can be done either by blocking off a small section of the tank with egg crate or using one of those plexiglass acclamation boxes

[joe pooh]

Originally Posted by Frogger

Back to the original question. Try isolating him for a while within the display tank to allow himself to get comfortable. That can be done either by blocking off a small section of the tank with egg crate or using one of those plexiglass acclamation boxes

nice. reasonable. he is in qt now. i will acclimate to regular tank water before putting him back in with a plexiglass divider.

Lets assume that the general (though not complete) consensus is that it should be quarantined.... How long? i saw 3 weeks, 4? i did see the "why not 4 weeks and a day" the 4 weeks in this instance is taking into account the give or take a day leaning towards the safe side.

[kyl]

What do you want to quarantine it for, ich? If so, it's rather pointless as it will be in the DT and just get re-infected when re-introduced. Another removal and QT process will probably be no better on the fish stress wise than simply leaving it in the tank.