Achilles tang - Expert only?
- Thread starter Palting
- Start date
hans24hrs
Member
palting I just order those two together also. I had a purple before, lost it when a sea hare nuked my tank. I can't wait to get another purple tang, it was my sister in laws favorite fish in my tank. Unfortunately she passed away in 2011 (only 36, anurism). Everytime I see one it reminds me of her and how much she enjoyed watching it.
Hello, sorry for reacting in an old topic, but couldnt find the right way.
I am ilan and i live in Holland. I have a 900ltr mixed reef aquarium with alot of fishes and corals.
I tank is now running for 15months and everything is doing great exept of one thing.
Couple of months ago i bought a Picasso tang (dori) i did it for a test to see if i can keep it ich free.
The first 2 weeks it had some spots of ich, but they went away and havent see them for like 3 months.
Then i made my first mistake. 6weeks ago...
I wanted to go a step further as i managed to keep everything healty and bought a verry good looking, good eating and ich free Achilles tang.
I run 2 uv sterilizers, 1 36w and 1 11w.
It was allready quarantained so i putted it right in my dt.
After a couple of days the whitespots appeared.
He is eating Mysis, nori, artemia 3 times a day. 1time i give it soaked in guarlic, ginger, vitamines and since 5 days i treat this 1 dose of food with seachem metroplex and focus.
I still dont see it getting any better and some other fish also show signs.
Im hoping that they will get stronger again and beat the ich, but after now allready 5weeks and no improvement im thinking about what i can or should do next to help the fish in getting the ich away.
Is there a possibility that the fish gets stronger and the parasite wil not be visible again?
The fish is so strong and is eating good, isnt aggresive, is been tollerated bij the rest of the fishes.
What can i do the best to beat the ich?
Here are some pictures of the tank and the fish.
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I am ilan and i live in Holland. I have a 900ltr mixed reef aquarium with alot of fishes and corals.
I tank is now running for 15months and everything is doing great exept of one thing.
Couple of months ago i bought a Picasso tang (dori) i did it for a test to see if i can keep it ich free.
The first 2 weeks it had some spots of ich, but they went away and havent see them for like 3 months.
Then i made my first mistake. 6weeks ago...
I wanted to go a step further as i managed to keep everything healty and bought a verry good looking, good eating and ich free Achilles tang.
I run 2 uv sterilizers, 1 36w and 1 11w.
It was allready quarantained so i putted it right in my dt.
After a couple of days the whitespots appeared.
He is eating Mysis, nori, artemia 3 times a day. 1time i give it soaked in guarlic, ginger, vitamines and since 5 days i treat this 1 dose of food with seachem metroplex and focus.
I still dont see it getting any better and some other fish also show signs.
Im hoping that they will get stronger again and beat the ich, but after now allready 5weeks and no improvement im thinking about what i can or should do next to help the fish in getting the ich away.
Is there a possibility that the fish gets stronger and the parasite wil not be visible again?
The fish is so strong and is eating good, isnt aggresive, is been tollerated bij the rest of the fishes.
What can i do the best to beat the ich?
Here are some pictures of the tank and the fish.
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Your situation mirrors mine in many ways. I bought an AT three years ago. While in QT, I noticed some spots on the regal in my display. Never more than a few, and no other fish showed symptoms; but it was pretty clear my system contained ich. I debated on what to do with the Achilles, but ultimately decided to put him in after being in my QT tank for almost 4 months. Invariably, it showed spots, but continued to eat well. I just decided to make sure they were all well fed and let nature take its course. Almost three years later and all is fine. Achilles is symptom free most of the time, and eats and behaves normally all the time. All situations will be different, but I'd be inclined to ride it out, at least for a while.
That is good news, did u run uv or ozone?
I am feeding alot since i have the tang. I dont see it getting any better, and as i look i think its getting worser, but goes so slow that i dont know for sure. Do u think that i can let them beat the ich by them selve by just keeping feeding them alot? Will it finnaly go away, or if it after 5 weeks still isnt gone, i need to do something else to help him?
Btw, I dont run ozon.
How long did it took for you to beat the ich? Thx.
I know, now its too late.
I need to catch all my fish out and treath them separate from the main tank. How big does the quarantaine tank need to be for all the fish to get better?
I have a 2nd aquarium from 80x40c40cm but think its to small. And there are like 20+ fish in the tank.
Is there a wat to get him healty (visible ich free) in de maintank without it, or will it be a 100% death end?
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Pericyte
New member
Couple thoughts, First: I think clean water is your best option. Make sure the fish are well fed and do a lot of water changes. I would also look into soaking your food with selcon.
Second: My first tank was absolutely crushed by velvet disease. I added two anthias, and within a couple day, everyone was sick. At first, I thought it was no big deal, but within five days, all my fish except my yellow tang died (I still have him three years later, and worry about what I did to his lifespan, but he seems healthy and happy, no visible marks/scars). Obviously not the same thing, but I saw ich flare up a couple times in my tank before velvet disease hit. When my fish began to die of velvet disease, I set up a quarantine tank to try and save my surviving fish, and left no fish in my display tank for 72 days. From that day I vowed to be a better fish owner. I quarantined ALL my fish, with proactive treatment of cupermine and prazi pro. Since then (three years later), I have not seen ich once. I have 4 tangs ( yellow, blonde naso, blue tang and powderblue tang) and a lot of anthias/ miscellaneous fish, plus a 140 mile move of a tank, still no ich. I buy most of my stuff through live aquaria now ( a website in the states that I trust, and have had no trouble when adding coral and invertebrates).
It may be hard to set up a quarantine tank to get all your fish in it without fighting. I would recommend a lot of 4” pvc pipes to break up the line of sight, without adding things that are going to absorb the meds. It is a lot of work, but I think in the long run your tank would be in much better shape. I cannot say definitively I have no ich in my tank, but as mentioned above, I have not seen any signs in the last three years.
Second: My first tank was absolutely crushed by velvet disease. I added two anthias, and within a couple day, everyone was sick. At first, I thought it was no big deal, but within five days, all my fish except my yellow tang died (I still have him three years later, and worry about what I did to his lifespan, but he seems healthy and happy, no visible marks/scars). Obviously not the same thing, but I saw ich flare up a couple times in my tank before velvet disease hit. When my fish began to die of velvet disease, I set up a quarantine tank to try and save my surviving fish, and left no fish in my display tank for 72 days. From that day I vowed to be a better fish owner. I quarantined ALL my fish, with proactive treatment of cupermine and prazi pro. Since then (three years later), I have not seen ich once. I have 4 tangs ( yellow, blonde naso, blue tang and powderblue tang) and a lot of anthias/ miscellaneous fish, plus a 140 mile move of a tank, still no ich. I buy most of my stuff through live aquaria now ( a website in the states that I trust, and have had no trouble when adding coral and invertebrates).
It may be hard to set up a quarantine tank to get all your fish in it without fighting. I would recommend a lot of 4” pvc pipes to break up the line of sight, without adding things that are going to absorb the meds. It is a lot of work, but I think in the long run your tank would be in much better shape. I cannot say definitively I have no ich in my tank, but as mentioned above, I have not seen any signs in the last three years.
bif24701
New member
You need to take all the fish out and put them in the largest QT you can. If later you find a larger one then transfer them. This is a killer and if not right away it will happen.
QT doesn't need to be large, they are much better off getting treatment in a small tank than staying sick in a large one. It's only temporary.
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Pericyte
New member
Agreed, 80x40x40 cm is roughly 34 gallons. Too small. If you have enough stuff and feed them enough, you might be able to get away with a 60 gallon (double the size) for 72 days. A second option is to set up a couple quarantine tanks, breaking up the groups of fish most likely to fight. Make sure you do not use any carbon.
I do run UV, though I don't think it makes much difference one way or the other. However, if the ich is getting worse, then most likely an intervention will be required.
Thing is, it's not just about QT for a new fish, but whether QT was done for all prior fish. I have seen countless examples of folks who believed their tanks to be ich free only to get a nasty surprise when a highly ich suceptible fish like an AT is added.
Does this say that after the empty tank and quarantaine there is a big chance the ich will be back again?
Ok, lets say i wanna do something with catching the fishes and quarantaine.
What do i have to do and what is the best approach?
Do i have to separate some fishes from others? Maybe some dont handle the treatment as good as others?
And what treatment do i need to do?
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If i get my water clean with for example ozone, is there then a chance that the ich can go away from itself?
I never do waterchanges and especially now i dont wanna stress them more by doing waterchanges.
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Pericyte
New member
I think it sounds like the ich is not going to go away on its own. As far as I know, water changes are a must.
I would do a water change to your display tank, take that water, and put it directly in a new quarantine tank to cycle your quarantine tank faster (assuming you do not already have one set up). I would also have get cupermine and prazi pro to put in the quarantine tank.
Pericyte
New member
Generally on quarantine tanks I run just a biowheel (or any simple filter, just a mechanical filter). No chemical filtration (carbon, etc.). I like cupermine because it is supposedly more gentle than copper. Most fish tolerate it well. I have read a few do not, like maroon clownfish. I would recommend researching your fish on www.liveaquaria.com. Then I just do fairly large water changes once a week.
