achillis tang help

[jgs107]

so i just purchased an achillis tang the other day and he has allready been covered in ick.none of my other fish have had it.i am running a uv sterilizer 24 hours and this is an established reef.my question is whats the best way to treat him.i was going to get kick-ick tonight and start treating but didnt know if there was a better way.i do dose my food with garlic but he hasnt eaten anything as of yet.please help.thanks

jason

 

[jnc914]

It is beyond imperative to QT an Achilles. I have had one now for about 8 months and it was quaratined for a 4 month period (had to extend the QT because of velvet in the display). Four days after purchasing it from the Diver's Den section of Live Aquaria it got ich in the QT. I initially treated with hypo (1.009 salinity) for 8 weeks. I made a mistake of putting a piece of equipment from one of my other QT tanks into the Achille's tank and he got back the ich. I treated with Cupramine for 4 weeks and no more parasites. I observed the fish for another 4 weeks and then added it to the display. He had been healthy every since. Since you introduced ich into the tank, there is high probability that the other fish are, or will be infected with ich. It is likely all fish will need to be treated. BTW, Kick Ick is not a proven medicinal treatment, I wouldn't waste your money on it.

 

[jgs107]

well to my suprise i came home yesterday after working 36 hours and being away from my tank to find my achillis with only 1 or 2 very small spots on his body.my 2 cleaner shrimp must have really taken it to him.he was even swimming around more and picking algee off the rocks.none of my other fish have presented with anything as of yet.im back at work again for another rotation and will be home again tomorrow night to see how he is doing.hopefully the ick is under control.i was very suprised but that is awesome.

 

[jnc914]

Don't be fooled.....Cleaner shrimp "clean" dead skin tissue, not parasites like ich. There have been actual studies that have looked at the stomachs of Skunk cleaner shrimps, and there were no parasites present.

Ich has a specific life cycle. The ich will drop off the fish and will multiply in the sand or live rock before reattaching to the fish. If your fish are in good health, they usually manage to build an immunity to ich. However, that doesn't mean that it is still not present in the tank. Hypo or copper are proven methods.

 

[jgs107]

cool ill keep that in mind,thanks for the help with this.

 

[WrinkleFreeZone]

Kick Ich is snake oil. Don't waste your money on it. Now that you've got Ich in your display, purists would say that the best solution would be to QT and treat all of your fish. They'd also tell you that you need to keep your display fishless for 6-8 weeks to work through the life cycle of the parasite. This is a real pain in the arse. I've been in your shoes a long time ago and I went the purist route. Now, I'm older and wiser (probably lazier) and if I had it to do over again, I would run my UV and ease as much of the stress on the fish as I could. I'd overfeed a little bit until it gets settled in. I'd make sure it has a reasonable hiding spots, keep my water quality up, that sort of thing. There are many reefers who keep Tangs who accept a low grade infection in their system and treat it homeopathically when it flares up. We're talking about feeding and garlic, that sort of thing. I'm not suggesting that you don't treat a fish that is really suffering in QT with hyposalinity or medications, but one that has a few spots I'd tolerate. You may see it come and go with changes in your system, deteriorating water quality, the addition of a new fish, etc. But as long as it is just smoldering I'd sit tight.
-B

 

[screwsloose]

i agree with the last post on this one. i have had ich in my tank for over 1 1/2 years. when i first got it i tore teh fish out and waited 6 weeks like it was suggested and then reintro'd them to the tank and 2 days later they all had ich again. not it comes and goes every couple of months but the fish are really unaffected. i just treat with garlic and clean water and it goes away with in a couple of days.

i am setting up a new tank and i will leave it fishless when i transfer things again for 8 weeks in hopes of getting rid of the ich but only time will tell.

 

[jgs107]

thats the whole thing.all my fish are very healthy.i run a uv 24 hours a day.feed with garlic in every meal.i never have a flare up.this is the first time since i set the tank back up that an ick breakout has occured and its gone allready.i will just continue to moniter and act accordingly.

 

[RBU1]

There are so many opinions on ich. My thought is a well fed fish can fight it off. So in my opinion keep your water quality good and your fish well fed. Good Luck

 

[jgs107]

well hes been swimming around a lot more and picking at the rocks so i think hes gonna make it.knock on wood

 

[RBU1]

Achiles tangs are the hardest to keep in my expierience. I would continue to feed algae soaked in vitamins and garlic and feed him very good. They also like a great deal of flow so make sure you have that available to him. Might also be a good idea to pick up a cleaner shrimp. I wish you the best of luck.