Hippo Tang has ich

[ozorowsky]

Please help.

My hippo tang has ich in my reef tank. It has a lot of rock and very hard to catch him. My hippo seems healthy as can be swimming/eating fine, just has spots on him.

Any guidance before its too late? What is actually working?

Thanks for any guidance here.

 

[ozorowsky]

Let me also state the fish are in a 55 gallon tank now, and I currently have a 340 cycling.

Trying to come up with game plan how to transfer everything cleanly from my 55 without bringing ich over or killing anything in the process.

 

[Dmorty217]

Move coral and inverts into the 340g when cycled and let it go fallow for 72 days while treating the fish in the 55g with cupramine,Chloroquine phosphate, or TTM

 

[ozorowsky]

Move coral and inverts into the 340g when cycled and let it go fallow for 72 days while treating the fish in the 55g with cupramine,Chloroquine phosphate, or TTM

Ok good plan. So my 340 has only been cycling for a week. . . just to dumb this down. I put a big piece of squid in there letting it rot. Haven't seen ammonia spike yet.

Is it too early to move the rock/corals/sand from my 55 over? I'm thinking of moving the rock/corals/sand over leave fish in 55 with couple small pieces of rock only no sand.

Then, I can dose copper and start the 72 day fallow in the 55. turn off protein skimmer, stop water from going down to sump, but leave powerheads running. From there, when no more signs of ich move fish to big tank? Does that sound like a good game plan?

 

[JustinM]

Do not use CP with a hippo tang. The only time I would advise this is if you’re dealing with a copper resistant strain of ich, even then I would try TTM first.

 

[ozorowsky]

Do not use CP with a hippo tang. The only time I would advise this is if you're dealing with a copper resistant strain of ich, even then I would try TTM first.

Thanks for the tip, I'm going to try to move the corals/rock to big tank this weekend.

Question here; is it only tangs I should worry about the ich? I have 2 clowns, a damsel, naso tang, hippo tang, goby, and a blenny in my 55 gallon. Should I wait the 72 days on all fish before putting in big tank, or should I just leave the tangs in the 55 for the 72 days?

The tangs are smaller so will be ok in 55, I would prefer to put them in the 340 sooner than later, but need to get this ich under control. I'll check now if i can order TT from amazon.

 

[JustinM]

To be 100% sure there is no ich, they all need to wait 72 days. After you treat, you will need to sterilize the 55 or you risk having a tomont hatch.

 

[ozorowsky]

To be 100% sure there is no ich, they all need to wait 72 days. After you treat, you will need to sterilize the 55 or you risk having a tomont hatch.

Got it so treat fish with cupramine for 72 days. Once that day hits, transfer to big tank.

Should I then just leave 55 empty for another 72 days, then turn it into a quarantine tank?

Do I still need to run protein skimmer on just quarantine tank? I want to strip the 55 down bare as possible.

 

[ozorowsky]

Also, I've heard you can put the fish in straght up ro di water for 10 minutes zero salt and it kills the ich then put the fish back in regular tank.

Any truth to that?

 

[JustinM]

A freshwater dip will kill some of them and clear mucous from the gills but not all of them. It’s more for temporary relief and to confirm flukes.

Do not run copper for 72 days. Run it for 30, collect the fish and put them in buckets with an air stone. Bleach the 55 and all equipment with a 1 tsp of bleach to 1 gallon of tap water. Let it soak for an hour or two and empty it. Rinse with tap and wipe it down and then use a hair dryer to completely dry it. It takes a couple hours but your tank will be sterilized.

Do not use a protein skimmer either. It’s nice to have a running qt but sterilization is a must between batches of fish or you risk keeping harmful bacteria and tomonts.

 

[Jdub968]

Sounds like Justinm has got ya covered for the ick so I'll handle the 340 cycling. All your rock and sand are In The 55? None in the 340?

 

[ozorowsky]

Most is in 55. I have some in 340. Putting more dry rock in tomorrow in 340 plan to eventually migrate rock and sand from 55 to 340.

 

[Jdub968]

Ok good if you don't mind I'll give ya my .02 on the sand and rock in the 55. Throw away the sand and start new sands cheap and yours is full of tomonts the rock in the 55 if you wanna save it put in a brute trash can with a heater and a power head and let it sit fallow for 76 days then add it to your 340. I would never add contaminated rock to a new system this could be trouble down the road.

 

[ozorowsky]

Here's picture of tang. This does look like ich right?

 

[Jdub968]

Sure does

 

[ozorowsky]

Thanks soaking in fresh water for 5 minutes then putting into my 140 with it ich free won't do the trick huh?

 

[Jdub968]

Thanks soaking in fresh water for 5 minutes then putting into my 140 with it ich free won't do the trick huh?

No unfortunately fw dips really only help clear the gills of mucus, it's not going to kill the ick. My suggestion is cu for 30 days. Cp and hippo tangs usually ends bad. There's also ttm or hypo and the DT remains fallow for 76 days

 

[Jdub968]

What other fish are in you dt?

 

[ozorowsky]

Cu as in copper right?

Big dilemma for me right now is ihave coral in my 55 and bigger tank still cycling. Trying to decide what to do and how

 

[ozorowsky]

Its 55 gallon with blonde naso, 2clown, blenny goby two cleaner shrimp, one damsel, fox face, and coral beauty. Ashley other fish happy as can be no signs of ich. Even hippo is happy eating seems fine.