Achilles Tang Primer

[ryanrid]

Ahhh... Anthony Calfo once told me at a reef club meeting that he basically had eliminated ich in one of his tanks by vacuuming the sand for 8 days straight. .

What about the live rock and corals etc? also the tomonts can lay for up to 28 days before bursting....

 

[ironwill723]

No clue...just repeating what he said. Perhaps it was a tank that had sparse rock and corals.

 

[Tracey2]

This is a tough guy to get a pic of, but here is my achillies aka Axel

he is looking better every day but I still don't feel I am out of the woods, I still see him scratch a bit. I had the lights on for about an hour yesterday.

 

[padova335i]

my achillies is in and doing great, no ich at all, i got lucky w this guy, although i did rid the last one of ich using hypo.. Then 2 weeks after hypo he stopped eating, i think it was the stress of leaving him in a small tank for so long.. he was the nicest looking achillies too, hybrid looking...
anyway this one is doing great! eats well, just hoping he gets great colors as well, he has some "beauty marks" on his tail.. I will try to get pix this weekend,,,

BTW, I have never had a problem getting these guys to eat.. Start with nori soaked in garlic they will eventually go after it.. they love spectrum pellets too

 

[Mike de Leon]

This is a tough guy to get a pic of, but here is my achillies aka Axel

he is looking better every day but I still don't feel I am out of the woods, I still see him scratch a bit. I had the lights on for about an hour yesterday.

Nice pics tracey. Looks like you have a larger specimen. They tend to do better than the smaller ones. I have found in one of the threads that Ich photosynthesize. Reducing the light period prevents very quick spread. It also lessens the stress in the tank. I really think your Axel will pull through. Once totally acclimatized he will be the strongest in the tank. Cheers!
Where did you buy him??

 

[Pran]

I would not touch that fish now if I were you. Turn the lights off and keep the water in pristine condition. Keep the temp up as well to speed the cycle of the ich. Keep feeding him and add selcon and garlic extreme to nori. Do not stress him out....

hi Mike

when you mean temp up..what temp do you think is good
is 80.0 F good or should it be higher

also what is the good salt level for Achilies?

thanks

Prasanna

 

[Recty]

I've never read anything about ich photosynthesizing at all. They dont have algae inside them like corals and they are an invertebrate, so I'd hazard a guess that you were misled.

They do come out of the sand at night when they are looking for a new host, that has been proven, but that's the only light related fact I'm aware of in dealing with ich.

In fact, I would think providing longer periods of darkness just gives the ich a wider window to swim around in.

 

[Tracey2]

Thanks Mike, I hope you're right. I have had him a little over a year and did not seem to have ich in my tank until a month ago when I added a rusty angel, I did QT the angel but she looked healthy in QT so I didn't treat her, she still looks healthy, not a spot of ich on her but soon after adding her to the DT the scratching began.

I bought him locally from a store called the box of water, he did have his adult orange spot when I bought him but was smaller, he has grown in the time I've had him. He was the first fish in my tank after letting it sit fallow for over 3 months, he had the tank to himself for a couple of months and learned to eat, when he started eating well I added the other tangs and 2 angels all at once from my old tank, all was great until the addition of rusty.

Most other creatures need the right conditions to breed, I would think ich would be no different. Anyway for whatever reason lights out has helped alot. Recty with that info I guess the best time to vacuum and water change would be at night.

Pran, my temp is 80, not sure if its high enough I think they usually recommend 82, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Pran]

Thanks Mike, I hope you're right. I have had him a little over a year and did not seem to have ich in my tank until a month ago when I added a rusty angel, I did QT the angel but she looked healthy in QT so I didn't treat her, she still looks healthy, not a spot of ich on her but soon after adding her to the DT the scratching began.

I bought him locally from a store called the box of water, he did have his adult orange spot when I bought him but was smaller, he has grown in the time I've had him. He was the first fish in my tank after letting it sit fallow for over 3 months, he had the tank to himself for a couple of months and learned to eat, when he started eating well I added the other tangs and 2 angels all at once from my old tank, all was great until the addition of rusty.

Most other creatures need the right conditions to breed, I would think ich would be no different. Anyway for whatever reason lights out has helped alot. Recty with that info I guess the best time to vacuum and water change would be at night.

Pran, my temp is 80, not sure if its high enough I think they usually recommend 82, correct me if I'm wrong.

thx Tracy

mines at 80 too and I use an Apex to control that

I believe with the light b/c my achilies always gets inch around 9pm -10 pm, but the next day he loooks cleans,then towards the end of the day it comes back so I believe light has to do with this.

 

[ironwill723]

I believe with the light b/c my achilles always gets ich around 9pm -10 pm, but the next day he looks cleans,then towards the end of the day it comes back so I believe light has to do with this.

Same here...clean in the AM a few spots by lights out.

 

[Mike de Leon]

Thanks Mike, I hope you're right. I have had him a little over a year and did not seem to have ich in my tank until a month ago when I added a rusty angel, I did QT the angel but she looked healthy in QT so I didn't treat her, she still looks healthy, not a spot of ich on her but soon after adding her to the DT the scratching began.

I bought him locally from a store called the box of water, he did have his adult orange spot when I bought him but was smaller, he has grown in the time I've had him. He was the first fish in my tank after letting it sit fallow for over 3 months, he had the tank to himself for a couple of months and learned to eat, when he started eating well I added the other tangs and 2 angels all at once from my old tank, all was great until the addition of rusty.

Most other creatures need the right conditions to breed, I would think ich would be no different. Anyway for whatever reason lights out has helped alot. Recty with that info I guess the best time to vacuum and water change would be at night.

Pran, my temp is 80, not sure if its high enough I think they usually recommend 82, correct me if I'm wrong.

Just keep up what you're doing and avoid sticking your hand in the tank. Keep us posted! Best of luck!
Where is the Box Of Water located??

 

[sanchoy]

Sanchoy, do you have an ich free tank? I ask because I have tried twice to remove fish for 8 weeks treating with hypo and copper and leaving the tank fallow of 8 weeks and the ich returns. It has always made sense to me that its just a parasite that we should be able to eradicate but I certainly haven't been successful.

Yes my tank is Ick free. I try to prevent all diseases and pest at all times. I once had a bad experience when i started where Ick took over and killed all of my live stock in my early 75 gallon. I tried feeding high nutritious foods, but that did not help out. Once the ick parasite takes hold of a host victim, it will breed until the host is gone.

I know it's easier to feed and hope the fish builds a slight immunity to the parasite, but remember the ick will also attack the gills of the fish.

Better to leave fallow, and do it right.

 

[ryanrid]

Yes my tank is Ick free. I try to prevent all diseases and pest at all times. I once had a bad experience when i started where Ick took over and killed all of my live stock in my early 75 gallon. I tried feeding high nutritious foods, but that did not help out. Once the ick parasite takes hold of a host victim, it will breed until the host is gone.

I know it's easier to feed and hope the fish builds a slight immunity to the parasite, but remember the ick will also attack the gills of the fish.

Better to leave fallow, and do it right.

i agree 100%, my achilles has now been in QT close to 6 weeks and will be introducing to the DT in the next few weeks.:celeb1:

 

[Tracey2]

Just keep up what you're doing and avoid sticking your hand in the tank. Keep us posted! Best of luck!
Where is the Box Of Water located??

Thanks Mike, the box of water is in London Ontario.

 

[Tracey2]

Yes my tank is Ick free. I try to prevent all diseases and pest at all times. I once had a bad experience when i started where Ick took over and killed all of my live stock in my early 75 gallon. I tried feeding high nutritious foods, but that did not help out. Once the ick parasite takes hold of a host victim, it will breed until the host is gone.

I know it's easier to feed and hope the fish builds a slight immunity to the parasite, but remember the ick will also attack the gills of the fish.

Better to leave fallow, and do it right.

Thanks for the advice Sanchoy, I have tried twice leaving my tank fallow, the last time for 10weeks, this is not the same tank my achillies lives in but it didn't work for me and I feel I was extremely careful. I find what I am doing alot of work also, I am not trying to avoid work but just find what will work for me. I would love an ich free tank but really don't know how this is possible without QTing all rock, coral and fish for maybe 3 months. Do you QT coral?

 

[sanchoy]

Tracey, again my last experience with ick killed nearly all of my livestock, except for my purple tang and tomini. The 2 tangs underwent serious ick treatment. I left my tank fallow for nearly 2 months. (all inverts and corals remained)

I have gone a long way since then. I now quarantine all livestock. Inspect all corals carefully, dipping, and QT prior to introducing to main display (fought a long hard battle with flat worms but that is another chapter).

With your case, did you properly cure your livestock before releasing back into the display? Also, were you sure you removed all of your livestock (including gobies/sand sifters). A friend of mine tried to leave his tank fallow, but forgot to remove to the gobies and burrowing fish, well guess what the ick still thrived from feeding off them.

 

[Tracey2]

Yes, I removed all critters and they were treated with hypo, copper and prazipro. I am not against this process, it just didn't work for me twice but if my achillies started looking worse I have a QT ready to pull everyone but for now everyone is looking really good and eating well.

 

[padova335i]

here he is, his tail has weird spots, eats well, never had ich at all and growing fast! (ignore the spots, they must be bubbles, all fish and tank never had ich

 

[Tracey2]

Padova, nice looking achillies. How does he like your powder brown?

Update on Axel, he is looking great, knock on wood. I have my lights on about 3 hours a day right now and he seems to like that. I do see in the future though when corals are added that I cannot do the lights out thing so I am still looking at any ideas to rid my tank of ich without moving Axel, I have seriously considered hypo in the DT, maybe dropping the salinity .001/day hopefully this would keep good bacteria alive and not stress fish too much.

 

[padova335i]

Padova, nice looking achillies. How does he like your powder brown?

Update on Axel, he is looking great, knock on wood. I have my lights on about 3 hours a day right now and he seems to like that. I do see in the future though when corals are added that I cannot do the lights out thing so I am still looking at any ideas to rid my tank of ich without moving Axel, I have seriously considered hypo in the DT, maybe dropping the salinity .001/day hopefully this would keep good bacteria alive and not stress fish too much.

They are fine, the powder brown and blue picked on him a little, but now he is growing fast and surely will be king.. Its funny when they are hungry I have all 12 tangs swimming together, lol..... But I have non idea how it will be 6 months from now w all these tangs, I do feed heavy..

Do you run filter socks? I believe many people have had success with using them and trapping ich, def worth a try...