New Blue Tang in tank, probable ICH, can't remove fish or corals

[P.Kelly]

Okay, so I'm probably fighting a loosing battle. I choose (unwisely) not to quarantine my new Blue Tang, as I have no other fish in my tank.

I am doubtful that I will be able to catch the Tang in order to quarantine at this point. I just installed a UV sterilizer off another tank, hoping it might do some good.

Aside from overfeeding, is there anything else I can do to improve the odds? If the Tang makes it, how do I ensure that the ICH doesn't return?

If he dies, the ICH will all die off after a few weeks?

Is there any proven coralation between a raised temperature and killing ICH? If so, how high and how long?

Thanks,
Pete

 

[pv1191]

The uv should help alot. But it depends on how bad the infection is. If the tang does not make it that should slow or stop and spreading to other fish

 

[kdblove_99]

A UV from what i have heard will not cure it once the tang has the Ich but they help against them getting Ich in the first place.

Which i have found true.

I soaked seaweed in garlic extract which i also hear builds there Immune system

 

[P.Kelly]

If the tang dies, do you guys know what the life span of Ich is in 78-82 degree water without host fish?

 

[Reefugee]

Pete,

My hippo blue tang has gotten ich twice due to my lack of quarantining a new fish. In both cases, the fish survived. It took a few weeks for the ich to disappear. I just fed the tang very well. I also added garlic to his food. Basically, I just pressed some garlic and soaked it to the frozen food. BTW - there is no proof that garlic actually helps fight ich.

Minh

 

[kevin95695]

Garlic may not help fight ich directly, but doesn't it stimulate appetite? Therefore aiding the fishes ability to fight ich?

 

[P.Kelly]

I read a really well cited article tonight that basically confirms that the UV, garlic and temperature have not been proven in well documented studies. But hey, some people swear by alternative medicine and western science hasn't proven much of that either, so what the heck.

 

[JeffReef]

My friend had a sudden Ich outbreak (no new fish was introduced) in his 135g recently. A hippo, powder blue, sailfin and a purple tang were all heavily infected. Nothing was done differently and all fish ate well during this period. After a couple of weeks, the Ich went away with no loss of fish.

Sometimes, I guess, this Ich problem just takes care of itself.

 

[MrMikeB]

Blue tangs are notorious for getting ich - especially when stressed. Some even have dubbed them the king of ich. The gestation period of ich is over 3 weeks, so not having ANY fish in the tank for a month might get rid of it in that they babies might starve to death before they are able to reproduce. I doubt it though as it seems that any addition to the tank (coral, fish, rock, etc.) might have some on it - so I personally think it is a lost battle in attempting to never introduce it into the system.

I have had/have many blue tangs and I approach it very pragmatically. Ich is natural, as its found in the wild, and having ich is not necessarily the end of a fish/world/etc. Fish have their own immune systems and methods of combating ich, and will do so readily if you have a stress free system, variety of foods, good water quality, and overall a happy system. I have read much in the way of treating ich (hypo salinity, UV, garlic, etc.) - but honestly in my experience letting the fish do what they do works the best. A couple cleaner shrimp definitely helps get the noticeable ich off before it spawns off make new ones - just makes the battle a degree easier for them.

Good luck!

 

[MrMikeB]

Oh, about the temperature - the concept is based (I believe) on the idea that raising the temp should speed up the ich metabolism, which theoretically will in turn decrease the ich's lifespan. I think in theory this seems to make sense, but in practice I doubt it very practical. By raising temperatures in a reef/established system you change a vital parameter that could indirectly cause other issues. It also can introduce additional stress to the fish, in turn lowering the fishs' ability to combat ich, and allow it to host a larger qty of the nasty stuff. It would also result in ich speeding up its typical 3-4 week development cycle, which means more frequent spawning of new ich. Also, I think you would have to raise the temperature significantly to actually speed up the metabolism process of anything - probably beyond typical reef temperature ranges.

In essence I would think raised temps = more baby ich = more stress for the fish = more problems.

Just my 2 (maybe 3) cents.

 

[airinhere]

It helps if you keep in mind the individual reasons for temp UV and garlic.

Garlic is intended to boost the immune system of the animal eating it (people too!). it does nothing directly to the Ick, it is just going to make the fish more likely to survive an outbreak or avoid one altogether. This is holisitc medicine at its finest.
(But I think it works personally.)

UV is not going to have any affect on Ick symptoms showing on a fish. (How could it? The fish never swims through the UV unit.) The U.V can only kill the Ick during the part of its life cycle where it has just hatched from its egg on the substrate and is swimming around looking for a fish to nest in. Trick here is that the water flowing through the UV must be very slow or the exposure time isn't enough to kill the Ick, just give it a good sunburn.

Last, the temp is just going to increase the metabolism of the Ick parasite so that it is going to consume all of its embryonic fluids and hatch faster than normal and then need to eat sooner than normal and then finally develop to sexual maturity faster and then lay its eggs. This makes it seem like the Ick went away, but it just got the parasite to lay its eggs and thus dissapears off the fish for a while.

All of this is great, but the Ick has four different life stages that can be present in a tank. You have to kill all the newly hatched fry. Kill all the existing adults that are sexually maturing and laying eggs. Kill all the fry as they emerge from the eggs that are waiting to hatch and that will be deposited by the adults when they reach sexual maturity.
Most people stop way too early when dealing with Ick.

 

[yoboyjdizz]

As most people say look into garlic... if your tang is eating thats a good sign you have a chance to fight it off naturally. By adding garlic and i would also recomend selcon and or vita chem to its diet to help boost its immune system, so it can fight them off on its own.. I've never lost of fish this way though a good qt is the best solution!

 

[chem-e]

My tang used to get ick early on when it was getting used to my tank and whenever I stressed it out (ie glueing frags, moving rocks, etc). Whenever it got ick, I fed it garlic soaked nori and left the lights off for the day. I figured the darkness gave it more time to rest with a less stressful environment, so it could build up its immune system.

 

[juaninsac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10315803#post10315803 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by petes97
If the tang dies, do you guys know what the life span of Ich is in 78-82 degree water without host fish?

6 weeks is a safe bet. If it dies, I would strongly suggest not getting any other fish for the tank for that period of time.

 

[P.Kelly]

Quick update... My wife says the Tang has been out of the rock work a lot today and has quite the appetite. She thinks that there may not be any white spots on the fish (but I'll check when I get home).

It is possible I over reacted, or that the parasites have all dropped off.

Anyway, maybe I'll get lucky and it will not have been ich.

 

[Auntbeez]

I'd say get a couple of "Skunk" cleaner shrimp. My Hippo got a light case when I accidentally put too much fresh water top off, and the shrimp was all over him. In a couple days there were no obvious signs.
If he is eating and it is not a really bad case, let it take care of itself. Trying to catch it or treat it in QT now will only stress it more.

 

[RobbyG]

Feed the Tangs a lot of greens like Veggy sheets etc. This really helps them to survive the ich.

 

[P.Kelly]

Thanks for all the posts!

 

[juaninsac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10320923#post10320923 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by petes97
Quick update... My wife says the Tang has been out of the rock work a lot today and has quite the appetite. She thinks that there may not be any white spots on the fish (but I'll check when I get home).

It is possible I over reacted, or that the parasites have all dropped off.

Anyway, maybe I'll get lucky and it will not have been ich.

Typical. The parasite drops off the fish to reproduce. It's part of the life cycle. Wait a week.

 

[airinhere]

Keep up with the UV. (It will help at this point) and feed that little tang. Healthy fish are far more resistant to Ick. And The Ick is not gone, just reached sexual maturity and now you have eggs scattered around in your tank. Nothing you can do about the eggs, but when they hatch, thats when a UV sterilizer can help get rid of the newborn parasites.

Check manufacturers recomendations on GPH for your size UV to get rid of parasites, most people use them based on the recomendations for controling algae. (Probably somewhere around 200 or so GPH to help control ICK.)

Even Better find the recomendation for controling bacteria and run it at that flow rate. Then UV can really become a boon for your tank.