Is this Ich on my Kole Tang? (pic)

[Blazer88]

Here is an un-edited picture of my Kole Tang. Some of the spots are in the water column but I still think he has Ich. It seemed to be more prominent yesterday and today it isn't very noticeable. He is eating just fine and not showing any signs of stress. I've had him for about six months and I have never seen Ich before, so I thought I would ask here. Any opinions?

 

[Blazer88]

Here is a brighter picture of him that I also took today. I don't want to try and treat for Ich unless he actually has it. Thanks again for your help.

 

[fishfanv]

it looks as if he has it on his fin but can't tell for sure.

 

[DJM32189]

probably, tangs are ich magnets, I would remove to qt. just in case

 

[Blazer88]

Here is a good shot of his fins.

 

[gkarshens]

Do you soak your food in Garlic? Also, do you have a cleaner shrimp?

 

[Blazer88]

No cleaner shrimp or garlic. Will the garlic be enough to strengthen his immune system to fight off the ich?

 

[gkarshens]

I feed with it and never have any ich problems. I also have a cleaner shrimp so it maybe a combo of the two or I am just lucky!

 

[smleee]

What/when/how much are you feeding it?

eee

 

[gkarshens]

I pour in enough garlic to soak a cube of mysis. I let it sit for about half an hour before feeding. I do it everyday. I am using Seachem Garlic Guard.

 

[hawkfish21]

I don't think that is ich. When I had my Kole Tang, I kept it with neon Gobies. They were always attached to him. You might want to get a couple of them. Too many people see a few spots on a fish and think it is ich. Keep an eye on it.

 

[toonces]

in the first pic, i thought it was ick for sure. if he has those spots on his body, then it's ick.

ick will come and go with its lifecycle. they look a little bad, get a little better, and then WHAM they get it horribly.

i'm going through the same thing. i'm soaking my food in the seachem garlic guard as well- flake and frozen. i'm an cautiously optimistic that it's doing some good...

 

[robsmith32]

Do you have a sandbed? it could just be sand particles.
The kole i have, had gotten ick, didn't go near the skunk cleaner, but goes right to a cleaner wrasse i picked up, cleaner wrasse also eats frozen mysis.
Granted the first signs of stress in the system, ich will be back, but unless I got at least a 55g for qt, theres no getting it completely from display. As long as the fish can fight it off, its all good.

 

[miztic]

Looks like more then 'a few' spots to me, I'd say ich, definately with the pattern of being less one day, thats the ich falling off and multiplying in the tank, only to come back more the next time around. Even if he does fight it off with garlic treatment (results are anecdotal at best) the ich will still be in the tank, I would QT and treat with hypo.

 

[DJM32189]

It is a pretty and unique looking fish, why chance it with garlic.........just go for the copper in a quarantine. Even if it is like a 20 gallon, the tang will live for the required 5-6 weeks in order for the show tank to be fallow (that is just without the fish)

 

[Blazer88]

Thanks for the responses. I'll start soaking the food in Garlic until I can get a QT tank setup for him. I've heard of some reef-safe Ich treatments, but I am not sure how well they work. How large of a QT tank do I need? I have a 10 laying around but figure that's too small. Maybe a 20G or something? Thanks again for the help.

 

[Pandora]

Does he scratch against rocks? To me, it's a borderline case, and I could go either way (not treat, or QT). As has been mentioned, tangs are ich magnets and often fight it off without treatment. I wouldn't do treatment in the main tank either way. A lot of the supposedly "reef safe" treatments, while not killing off inverts straight away, will still affect the bacterial population in the tank and throw off the balance.

 

[gkarshens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6626174#post6626174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DJM32189
It is a pretty and unique looking fish, why chance it with garlic.........just go for the copper in a quarantine. Even if it is like a 20 gallon, the tang will live for the required 5-6 weeks in order for the show tank to be fallow (that is just without the fish)

How is it chancing it with Garlic? IMO Copper would be more of a chance.

 

[Blazer88]

I don't think he referenced to the Garlic but rather the "reef-safe" treatments. He isn't scratching against the rocks at all that I can tell, but I'll keep an eye on him. I'm trying to gather everything I need to make a QT tank for him where I'll treat him if I need to. If not, I'll get a 20G nano

 

[skylab1]

You could try Prevent Ich, its reef safe I used on all of my tanks all the time. 30ml once a day for a few days should do the trick for you.
I've just finished treating a 400 gallon reef with Prevent Ich, it took 4 weeks with two 4oz bottles a day to do it. At the end no lost of single fish and coral and got ride of the ich. Good luck.