Internal Parasites Yellow Tang?????

[rustybucket145]

Ok, my Yellow Tang has been having stringy white 'poop' lately. I first thought it was from eating Chaeto, which resides in my fuge. I assumed that the chaeto was making its way through my pumps or growing somewhere in the display tank.

Well now after reading the 'Purple Firefish' thread here on RC I'm pretty sure it's internal parasites.

My Tang, despite it's healthy appetite has been steadily loosing body weight for the last couple weeks.

All my levels are optimal and the tank has been established for over a year.

The Tang has been with me for over 6 years and until recently has been thriving and healthy.

I believe that this parasite could have been introduced through a batch of live brine shrimp that I (stupidly) purchased from an LFS a few months ago. My tang seems to be the only fish showing signs....

I purchased some Jungle Anti-Parasite medicated fish food this weekend to help, hopefully, get rid of these parasites.

I don't currently have a proper Q-tine tank setup to seperate this tang from my tank for treatment. Plus he's used to the reef life and I'm afraid that putting him in a smaller tank may do more damage than good.


My Question:

Can I feed my Yellow Tang and my other fish this (Jungle Anti-Parasite Medicated Fish Food) food in my reef tank?

Will it damage or kill my corals (softies, SPS, LPS) or inverts (hermit crabs, snails, emerald crabs)?


I was thinking that since my Tang has this parasite, do my other fish as well?


Thanks to all in advance for any help, I'm open to suggestions.....

 

[Hattie B]

Can I feed my Yellow Tang and my other fish this (Jungle Anti-Parasite Medicated Fish Food) food in my reef tank?

Yes, It will not hurt them. Follow the directions (and all should be fine, plus if any of the others have any worms then you treat tehm too.

Will it damage or kill my corals (softies, SPS, LPS)?
I would call or write (email on their site) to make 100% sure. I am pretty sure not but just to be on the safe side.

Heremits, other inverts, all mine have eaten it nothing ever happened to them. (sexy shrimps, hermits, cleaners, camels and peppermints, they eat everything).

Your other fish will not catch the worms fromt he other fish. THey have to injest the larve from them to pass it on. Depending on how the YT got them its possible the others have them, but it will not hurt them to give it to them.

Good luck.

HB

 

[rustybucket145]

Thanks Hattie, I really appreciate your response. I'll try to contact the company for the coral issue.

 

[rustybucket145]

Ok, I have contacted Jungle and will be awaiting a response.

 

[stephen sykes]

google search 'waterlife octozin'.

 

[rustybucket145]

Well, very dissapointing, here's the response from Jungle labs, looks as though I've wasted my money.... at least they were honest.


Hello, Rusty

Thank you for your inquiry about Jungle(r) products. We are happy that you have
chosen our products to use in your aquarium to help you maintain the best
possible environment for your fish and plants.

I would not use the Anti-Parasite Medicated Fish Food in your reef tank. This
product can harm invertebrates and soft coral. Jungle(r) products are designed
primarily for freshwater aquariums, but our water conditioners are also
excellent for saltwater aquariums. Do not use any of our treatments for diseases
in saltwater aquariums. They are for freshwater use only. You may want to check
with your local aquatic shops to see if someone specializes in saltwater.

Thank you for being a Jungle(r) customer. If you have any problems or need any
other information, please do not hesitate to call our Customer Resource
Representatives at 1-800-357-7104 or e-mail us at info@junglelabs.com. And don't
forget to check out Club Jungle at www.clubjungle.com. Check back regularly for
tips and free samples!

Sincerely,

Cassandra Kearns
Customer Resource Representative
1-800-357-7104
www.Junglelabs.com
www.Junglepond.com

 

[rustybucket145]

Ok, just emailed Waterlife to find out some more info.

 

[NanoLurker]

how large is the tang? if he's wasting you may not have a choice and will need to QT and treat him there. carnivores are much easier to treat with meds (i.e., fenbendazole, metronidazole, and praziquantel) because you can inject the meds directly into feeder shrimp and feed out. direct injestion of meds is generally more effective and preferable to baths but in the case of your tang you may have to go that route.

i'll disagree slightly with hattie in that it's possible your other fish could eventually be infected with the parasite that is affecting the tang (we're unsure of what parasite you are dealing with and it's life cycle).

 

[Hattie B]

Hi Nano,

Not its OK, We mean the same thing. the yellow tang is not going to give the parasites to the other fish like ich.

Like I said its possible for them to get it but they will have to injest the larve or the same thing that the YT did. =)

 

[Hattie B]

DP.

 

[stephen sykes]

rusty.
let us know what waterlife say, im treating my tank with octozin as we speak. hopefully it will get rid of this white spot, fingers crossed!!!!

 

[NanoLurker]

stephen, i don't know if that product is available here in the u.s. i've never seen it.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9123816#post9123816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hattie B
Hi Nano,

No its OK, We mean the same thing. the yellow tang is not going to give the parasites to the other fish like ich.

Like I said its possible for them to get it but they will have to injest the larve or the same thing that the YT did. =)

got it! i've spent the past year and a half dealing with parasite infested fish (worms, scuticociliata, dinoflaggelates) so i tend to see everything from a slightly skewed angle

rusty - i forgot to mention, and i've never tried this product, but there's also ultra cure px which is metronidazole and praziquantel http://www.aq-products.com/geltek/geltek.htm

 

[rustybucket145]

Waterlife said it was ok to treat octozin to a coral tank and that it was safe for inverts as well.

But I'm still kinda skeptical. Stephen: I'm unfamiliar with octozin, is it a food? or is it a water treatment? Their site doesn't really provide alot of info on this product (which is why I'm still skeptical)

NanoLurker: Is ULTRA CURE PX a food? or is it a water treatment? Is it safe with corals?

Also, the tang is probably 5-6inches long. He's still in pretty good shape, I'm beginning to be able to see his lateral line and he has visably dropped some weight. He is still behaving in the same manner he was before this parasite but he does seem to have a little extra trouble relieving himself (pooping). He is a very friendly fish and will eat out of my hand. So getting him to eat... whatever, will not be a problem. He's the tank piggy. I could actually probably soak some dried algae in the treatment and then feed it to him if it was necessary.

I don't currently even have a tank for quarantine other than a 2gal nano and I don't think the tang would do too well in it. He likes his reef and his swimming room. But if I must I could probably pick up another tank for qtine treatment if absolutely necessary.

If I do have to go that route do you guys think a 20gal would be large enough to house this fish for treatment? Of course this would be a pretty good reason to purchase a larger tank and upgrade...... hmmm........

I'm still open to ideas or experiences. I've never had a fish come down with any illness before so I'm new to treating them with meds. Kinda got me worried......

 

[rustybucket145]

i've spent the past year and a half dealing with parasite infested fish (worms, scuticociliata, dinoflaggelates)

What were you treating them with? Was it successful?

 

[stephen sykes]

octozin comes in tablets, im putting 3 and a half tablets in a day for 3 days then i've got to leave it for 72 hours. from what i've been reading on this site im not convinced it'll work, seems to me that a qt tank and cuprazine are the only way to go, but like you i have no qt tank + it would be a nightmare to catch my goby! i have 2 clowns and a goby that are infected and there the first fish i've put in my tank, BUMMER. i'll let you know if the octozin works. my friend owns a shop and he had a delivery of 250 clown loaches that all had whitespot , he used octozin and lost only 10. he said he's never used it in marines but he's keen to know how im getting on. guess time will tell.

 

[NanoLurker]

from what i can gather, the geltek is a liquid "goo" food. i'm not a tang expert but gut feeling is he'd be more comfortable in a larger QT tank (bigger than the 20). not sure, maybe others that have treated tangs can offer a good size.

as to whether it's reef safe or not - i'll chicken out and say i'll leave that up to the manufacturer. i will say that since you're spot feeding the product in a large tank i don't think you'll have a problem. it contains both metronidazole (used for internal protozoa, dinoflaggelates) and praziquantel (certain worms). if you choose to use it in your tank just make sure you run some carbon.

as for what i've used this year: for worms i do rounds of praziquantel (generally use prazi-pro by hikari) and fenbendazole (panacur). the ciliated protozoa (scuticociliata, most notable member is uronema) i've used more things than i care to admit. give me a fish with a bacterial infection any day, these things are a nightmare. i've had the most success using several different products and treatment methods - that has ranged from FW dips, formalin baths, nitrofurazone, metronidazole, and paraguard (to name a few). the problem with this particular protozoa (uronema) is that it can infest a fish both internally and externally, it literally embeds itself into the tissue. uronema nigricans is a particular nasty one that affects tuna, makes a bee line right into the tuna's brain causing encephalitis and death. luckily all problems developed in QT and i've had pretty good success in treating it, but still, that's only 50%, not a number i'm too proud of. only time will tell for these fish, i have no way of knowing if there internal organs were infected or if the protozoa is internal. i do monitor the fecal samples for any signs of them.

make sure your tang is getting the appropriate varied diet that they require, you might want to consider soaking his food in vitamins or other supplements.

 

[rustybucket145]

He's getting and always has gotten a very varied diet. I rotate Plankton, Mysis, Enriched Brine, Krill and Squid for the meat, and there's always algae of some variety clipped in the tank, I have 3 different types of seaweed that I feed. Up until lately he has been a model of health as far as Tangs are concerned. Excellent, bright coloration (which he still has despite the weight loss), nice steady growth along with nice muscle mass and a constantly fat belly.

So it's looking like q-tine might be my only option.

I have tried to locate the gel-tek manufacturers webpage but I can't seem to find it. Anybody know how to contact with them?

 

[NanoLurker]

http://www.aq-products.com/contact.htm

 

[rustybucket145]

Thanks Nano, I've sent them an email asking for info.

 

[Hattie B]

Hi rustybucket145,

Wow, interesting from Jungle, I have used there products a lot (in a QT) I even had some of my inverets that were in QT eat it. Its great information. Thank you for sharing. I will stick with the praziPro or metronidazole from now on.