Hospital tank for a Chevron Tang that doesn't eat nori?

[Boxelder]

I've had my eye on a Chevron Tang at the LFS for the past month and finally bought him yesterday. The owner had the Tang in the display tank for the past four weeks and every time I saw it he looked healthy which agrees with the the owner told me about the fish's condition. He seemed about as safe as a tang could get.

I added him to my 4' tank and he instantly started grazing the rock and glass (and pooing on the clownfish's host coral every ten minutes!). He's not shy at all and is extremely active and beautiful, eyes are clear, breathing is normal...but today there are little spots. You can only see them under the right light. I'm fairly certain it's ich.

I'm worried about putting him in a hospital tank with no algae to graze on and not taking prepared vegetable food. He eats shrimp like a horse though - it's pretty shocking how much shrimp this fish can consume in a day considering a lot of resources say they eat mostly plants (I've been feeding heavily to keep him happy and encourage algae growth to the same end). The owner of the shop says that tangs almost always develop ich when they are moved and that I should just wait it out if it's not that bad. Is this true? Can he live on shrimp alone through the treatment, if I treat?

There's also a pair if piccaso clowns and a Midas Blenny in the tank. They are fine so far.

I'm going to get the hospital tank tomorrow, it may be too late for the tang, but at least I'll have some backup if the clowns and blenny get sick.

Not a good start to the new tank.

Thanks for reading and any advice.

 

[Recty]

Since you placed him in your main tank and he has ich, you now have ich in your main tank whether you did before or not. Taking the tang out and treating it then eventually putting it back in your display just will reinfect him again.

When fish get stressed ich gloms onto them a lot easier, that's why you're seeing it on the chevron now. He probably had it in the fish store but the stress of the move brought it out in him.

You either have to pull all fish into a hospital tank and treat them plus leave the main tank with no fish for 10 weeks, or just let him tough it out in the main tank. When he gets over his stress of moving, he will probably live with small amounts of ich just fine.

 

[Boxelder]

Thanks for the response. I think the best course of action is to wait, which you seem to agree with. I'm very tempted to try kick ich. Some say it's worthless, others say it helped. There's probably not any decisive way that either side can tell what's the result of the medication and what's the parasites natural course though. I don't expect it to rid the tank of the parasite completely, just sooth the infected fish and keep it from spreading perhaps. Still debating. I don't have many corals or inverts besides hermits so it seems low risk.

if, when I add another fish, the parasite resurfaces I will remove and medicate all the fish...somehow. Some say 8 weeks some say 11. Some have done this and still get ich.

I've been reading about this all day long. I guess you can't take it too seriously. It might cause insanity.

I think the best thing for my fish is probably not keeping them in glass boxes to begin with, but they're so interesting!

 

[Ryno368]

hey box if you dont have any corals in your DT a product called Paraguard by Seachem is useful, but do not use it if you have corals. It will agiatate corals but i have not seen it affect inverts though, and it does fairly well against ich.

 

[Recty]

Thanks for the response. I think the best course of action is to wait, which you seem to agree with. I'm very tempted to try kick ich. Some say it's worthless, others say it helped. There's probably not any decisive way that either side can tell what's the result of the medication and what's the parasites natural course though. I don't expect it to rid the tank of the parasite completely, just sooth the infected fish and keep it from spreading perhaps. Still debating. I don't have many corals or inverts besides hermits so it seems low risk.

if, when I add another fish, the parasite resurfaces I will remove and medicate all the fish...somehow. Some say 8 weeks some say 11. Some have done this and still get ich.

I've been reading about this all day long. I guess you can't take it too seriously. It might cause insanity.

I think the best thing for my fish is probably not keeping them in glass boxes to begin with, but they're so interesting!

Just to clarify, I think the best course of action would be to remove all your fish, treat them, and let your main tank be fishless for 10 weeks so the ich dies off in that tank.

It's a pain in the neck though and most people dont want to do it... so I just mentioned that yes, they can live with ich as long as they arent stressed. I just wanted you to know that route was available and definitely the most commonly taken route, it probably isnt the best on the fish though.

When you add new fish, especially if you add a tang that doesnt like the existing tang, you'll see ich resurface on the chevron most likely since there will be some stress there.

I think it's kind of sad but I'm guilty of it too... if the fish being added are expensive, most are very careful about ich. If they are just having a bunch of cheap fish most people dont care so much because they see them as replaceable.

 

[Boxelder]

He'll be my only tang, at least. He actually seems better today. Even more active and I got seaweed into him by breaking it into little chunks and combining it with the shrimp while feeding. now I can clean my glass (heh). I think he`ll make it. i really hope he does, as I`m already attached.

 

[Recty]

He'll be my only tang, at least. He actually seems better today. Even more active and I got seaweed into him by breaking it into little chunks and combining it with the shrimp while feeding. now I can clean my glass (heh). I think he`ll make it. i really hope he does, as I`m already attached.

It's hard to say, but if he is in a low stress environment and eating good, which it sounds like he is, then he will probably make it.

The life cycle of ich is interesting in that it falls off the fish to the bottom of the tank and you think your fish is better, only to get massively reinfested a week later by all the reproduced ich. So just because he is looking better now doesnt mean he is out of the woods. If in a month he looks ich free, then you're probably going to have a healthy chevron

 

[Boxelder]

I`m fairly certain he was the carrier of the ich so fingers crossed that he`s building up some resistance by now. Thanks again.

 

[Boxelder]

hey box if you dont have any corals in your DT a product called Paraguard by Seachem is useful, but do not use it if you have corals. It will agiatate corals but i have not seen it affect inverts though, and it does fairly well against ich.

Interesting. I only have two corals in there right now but I could probably squeeze them into my nano...maybe. Can I add them back when it's done? probably not. I plan on keeping SPS eventually so I probably should keep it as "clean" as possible.

 

[Boxelder]

Just a quick update. The chevron seems to have healed himself almost entirely already. I thought it would take at least a week but there are just a few spots left now. Thanks for the help, even if I did nothing, it helped.

 

[RBU1]

DO NOT use paraguard in your main tank.

First of all most people say paraguard is not effective against ich and second it will stain your tank seals blue.....

CAll Seachem and ask them about using paraguard in your main tank.

 

[RBU1]

REmove the fish into a well established QT and treat him with Cuprmaine for 4 weeks. Leave your main tank fallow for 10 weeks and make sure you QT anything wet.

 

[Boxelder]

REmove the fish into a well established QT and treat him with Cuprmaine for 4 weeks. Leave your main tank fallow for 10 weeks and make sure you QT anything wet.

If I had done this he may have healed as well, but he`d also be in a hospital tank with nothing to eat and no room to swim around for months, and I wouldn`t have known that he just healed on his own. If I continue to have an ich problem in my tank I will go the irradication route, but until then I`m not going to do anything drastic and stress my fish and self out.

I will keep this thread updated if I get another outbreak so maybe others can learn from my success of failure. So far success!

 

[RBU1]

Good luck I have been there and done that..........