Hippo Tang w/ Ich

[terry4505]

My Hippo tang has a pretty bad case of ich. It looked like it was getting better (though garlic soaked food) until the weather got really hot this week and the tank temp was hovering around 83-84.

Getting her out of the tank is going to be more trouble than I think it is worth. She is still eating great. In the tank with her are a pair of Perc clowns, 3 pajama cardinals and assorted snails, hermits, and shrimp. There are no corals in the tank, but I am hoping to begin adding some soon.

I am going to continue to monitor her, I do not have an established QT, and getting her out would only cause more stress.

I am more concerned about two white spots, about 1/8th of an inch in diameter that showed up right near her tail on her lower fin. I just saw them today. Not sure what they could be a sign of.

Aside from tearing tank down trying to get her out, considering I do not have a QT, what would be the best next step. I have had the fish a little over a week. I will not be making the same mistake again with no QT.

Any help would really be appreciated.

 

[MR HONDA]

I would leave the fish where it is as to not stress it out any more make sure your water quality is good and feed heavily as long as it is eating it should be fine but ich will be present in your tank..

 

[terry4505]

I understand that the fish can "get better" from good diet and non-stressful environment. But I also know that the parasite will continue to be present in the tank. Which makes adding additional fish down the road problematic.

My fear is that if I were to set up a QT, say 55 gal. What steps could I take to keep the water quality as high as possible without having time to properly cycle the QT?

 

[Pickupman66]

if you are going to do a QT, and using a HOB filter, put the filter media in your current tank for a week or two. this will get it loaded with bacteria. most QT are bare bottom with PVC hiding places for the fish.

 

[terry4505]

when I switched my current tank (75) over from HOB filter to sump, I placed some of the media (large sponge) in the sump, at the time it seemed like the thing to do. Now it looks like that could save me. I will try to locate a cheap 55 gal while monitoring the Tang to see how she is doing.

 

[SirusX1721]

I have the same issue with my Blue Hippo and Kole Tang. Picked up feedings (prepared/soaked) and upped my water changes. So far I've noticed they are more active, and the ich is slowly gong away. It's no quick fix, but it works when a QT isn't an option or you just cannot get them out of the tank.

Also if you wish to do a QT, Petco has the $1/gal sale going on. I'm not sure if it is in all areas so check your local PetCo.

 

[terry4505]

As soon as I am done with coffee, my daughter and I are headed to petco. I am going to set up a 55 QT, get all fish out of the tank and do hyposalinity.

Any chance someone with experience could run through the exact steps (with time frame for reducing salinity) that they would go through. I am doing all I can to save this fish.

 

[fishyness]

I was in a hurry and put them in significantly reduced salinity with no ill effects. They can take the lowering quickly, but make sure you take at least a week to bring it back up. So yeah in my haste, they went from normal to 1.009, not saying thats what to do tho....

 

[Pickupman66]

I reduced mine in a matter of 3 hours in my DT. they can handle that. it is the raising that is detrimental for them.

one thing, if it is easier to remove the inverts in the tank and house them temporarily, I would go that route and just lower the salinity in the DT so you dont stress teh fish as much by tearing the tank apart and catching them. I did this by adding fresh and removing salt. it was alot of water, but worked for me.

 

[terry4505]

Ok, I purchased and set up a 55 gal in the basement. Salinity is at 1.009, PH is around 8.2 and coming up, temp is 78.

I am running a HOB filter with a sponge that has been soaking in my sump to my DT. Two power heads keeping the water moving with lots of oxygen.

I do not have a light strip over the QT, is it necessary? I put some PVC fittings and elbows in the tank for hiding places.

Getting ready to move the fish over. I have read differing opinions on slowly lowering salinity as opposed to "shocking" the Ich.

I will monitor water specifications as closely as possible and adjust as needed.

Anything I am missing?

 

[Pickupman66]

nope, you should be good so long as teh params match your current tank. no light is needed as fish are NON photosynthetic! LOL. for our fish, the lights are more for our enjoyment than theirs.

 

[terry4505]

I added the fish (2 Perc clowns, 3 pajama cardinals and the infected Hippo Tang) to the QT. I raised the salinity a bit to help ease the transition. I moved all 6 fish to the QT and they seem to be doing ok.

The tang is doing a lot of laying on or near the bottom. I have read that this is normal behavior. She is breathing pretty heavy. The clowns and cardinal fish seem to be doing fine. I know this is only day 1 of 50-60, so I have a long way to go, I just hope I have followed the correct procedures.

I fed some flake food, and everyone ate, including the tang. I have 5 gallons of water prepping for a 10% change either tomorrow or the next day. I will test everything tonight, and again tomorrow.

 

[terry4505]

I tested the water parameters and everything is looking good so far.

PH 8.2-8.4
Ammo 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
Spec. Grav 1.010

So far so good I guess. Now the hard part.

 

[MelbaToasty]

Natrual Expellent

Natrual Expellent

I have a 72 Gallon Bow and added a Blue Hippo to my tank. It showed signs of ich after about a week. My local shop owner reccomended an all natrual expellent by herbtana called microbe-lift.

Like you, I didn't want to strees out the hippo by moving it to my QT. Not to mention, she is very fast and I have too many hiding places in the live rock. So I treated my entire displaytank for 10 days. The treatment ticked off my anemones, but they survived. The treatment was a great success for the tang, but it took its toll on my dragon goby. I am currently nursing him back to health in my hospital tank.

 

[mnswreefer]

Use Kent Marine Extreme Garlic. Mix with Seaweed and feed the fish. Ick should go away within a week. Blue hippo Tangs are well known that have ick. Don't surprise to see it come back later.

 

[terry4505]

I considered an all natural solution, but garlic and diet will not rid the tank and fish of Ich. The only way to do that is separate fish from substrate for 4-8 weeks and treat with either hyposalinity or copper. I chose hyposalinity as it is supposedly easier on the fish.

So far so good, but like I said, it is only day one.

 

[Pickupman66]

REgal blue tang? yea, they are funny and will lay down on you! not my fav tang, but they are goofy. get it down to 1.009 to make sure that parasite is killed off. you will see the cyst go away in a few days then they will scratch every 3 or 4 days for a few weeks. keep the salinity there for at least 4 weeks.

 

[terry4505]

Fish all seem to be doing well this morning. Spec. Grav is 1.010, bringing it down to 1.009 through water changes. Temp and PH are unchanged.

 

[zsqure]

Your hypo timeframe should not begin until you hit 1.009 sg. Ich has been known to survive at 1.010 sg. good luck, do lots of reading in this section including the stickies.... there is a written procedure in here somewhere to follow.

 

[Pickupman66]

I posted a good article or two here somehwere on ICH. one of htese other ICH threads fron the last few days... I have less than a week to go before I can raise mine back up.