New Tomini tang with ich

[125mph]

I made the mistake of not quarantining. I picked him up a Tomini Tang on Thursday and he seemed fine. Later thursday, I noticed some white specs on him but I didnt think much of it. Now its saturday and I see more white dots that look like salt.. It's definitely ich. I had to break down my rock structure and put him in a quarantine tank. I'm treating him with an ich formula from the pet store.

I have several other fish in my display tank. Will they all get affected or did I pull him out in time.

 

[Curious George]

Couple days is long enough for the ich to have fallen off and encyst in your display tank. There is also a chance that the fish in your DT have an immunity to ich and he was a magnet for ich, already in your system.

What kind of formula are you treating him with?---Cupramine, Coppersafe, Seacure?.....

 

[125mph]

hmm.. well the white spots increased on the tang and did not decrease, so is there a chance it didnt drop off? Anyway he died over night..

I was using Kordon Ich Attack, I was going to switch to cooper today.

 

[Sk8r]

Read the stickies. There is a lot there to understand. Plus a tomini is more a film-eater than an algae-eater, if I recall, and qt-ing AND treatment is very hard with them because of the diet. There is no bottled med on the market that is really that effective that I have ever seen proved, except cupramine, but that is a long-term treatment that depresses appetite and damages organs. See if you can get some particular help with this species. I have never kept one, and just know that they have special problems.

EDIT: our posts crossed. Sorry you've lost your fish. Before you get another, you now have to pull the fish in the dt and treat them (I would choose hypo, personally) leaving your dt fishless for 12 weeks.
The next time you buy, choose a disease-free source. Dealers that offer a live-guarantee are pretty good about this. And qt when you get the fish. If they start healthy, even a problem species has a good chance of surviving a shortened qt (2-3 weeks) that at least proves they're not infested.

 

[125mph]

Do you think its necessary to treat all the DT fish? Should I observe over the next couple weeks if any have white spots on it? I'm hoping the tang brought in the ich and it didn't fall off yet to reproduce. And I did notice the white specs just as I put him in the tank but assumed it was nothing. This was the first time I brought a fish from this specific LFS which I won't buy from again.

I would definitely treat them if I could but pulling all of them out is virtually impossible without tearing down the whole tank's rockwork lol.

 

[Sk8r]

There is a way to catch them: get several trashcans and line with garbage bag---potent pump, and a hole dug in the sand in the left front corner. (for the right-handed). De-water the tank fast. The fish (count them) will go to the deepest, and finally the last remaining water. Calmly transfer them as you scoop them up, and then rewater your tank: set a ceramic mixing bowl on your rock or drape the same with a flat garbage bag and pump away. It's no worse than the tide going out and coming in. The bowl or bag will prevent overturn of your sandbed. Or if you have a sump, you can re-water via the sump, which is also effective that way.
The alternative is to wait 6 months before adding another fish---assuming there is no further manifestation of ich---and there is some risk in that.

 

[fender4string]

Sk8r's right, if one fish has ich, it's pretty much a guarantee that it's everywhere else in the tank and it's just a matter of time before the rest of your fish become infected. I've done hypo 3 times with no ill effects. It's the treatment that I'll continue to use in the event of future ich breakouts (which I haven't had for nearly 2 years due to hypo).

Edit: Sorry to hear about your tang. It always sucks to lose fish.

 

[125mph]

But if my current fish are healthy with strong immunes systems, they could fight off the ich and I would be okay in 6 months? The ich would just have nothing to attack and die off?

I'm afraid of disrupting the tank too much by trying to take them out, which may cause some stress, and I have a little 5 gallon QT tank which can't really house all the fish.

And then theres the haddoni that I really don't want to get upset lol.

 

[Gill_bucket]

But if my current fish are healthy with strong immunes systems, they could fight off the ich and I would be okay in 6 months? The ich would just have nothing to attack and die off?

I'm afraid of disrupting the tank too much by trying to take them out, which may cause some stress, and I have a little 5 gallon QT tank which can't really house all the fish.

And then theres the haddoni that I really don't want to get upset lol.

This is a hotly debated topic. The issue is that in six months your fish may not be showing the ick but they will still have it IMO, this means that if you stress them out IE let the temp swing, feed improperly ext. The ick will once again become visible. This also means that if you add a new ick free fish that is stressed by it's new tankmates then you could see the ick on the new fish, this means you can't always blame your LFS. The ick lives in the fishes gills, this is why you can't always see i; I suggest you read as much as you can about ick from as many sources as possible because there is a lot of good and bad information out there.

It is important to note that if you do go the QT route then you must QT all new comers, this includes ALL corals and inverts, one turbo snail could re infect your system. This type of QT is just too impractical for most, however if you are going to run a massive system with tons of fish it is definitely something to consider, for myself I just don't have the space to run this type of QT.

 

[EllieSuz]

I have a Tomini Tang in quarantine right now with a month to go before he gets to join the party. He eats everything I put in there, including mysis, brine shrimp and pellets. I'm careful to feed him nori every day and he consumes more of it than I would think his stomach would hold. He's a bold fellow and greets us when we get near the tank. My husband has taken to calling him Must. Get it? Mustang? I know, I know...owe you all an apology...

 

[125mph]

Wow you guys are right.. I see white spots on one of my clown's tail and my wrasse's tail too.. Its time for full QT and no fish in tank for 10 weeks.

Hmm... This SUCKS.. I'm going to try to pull the fish out with the flashlight trick, if that doesnt work then the fish trap.. if that doesnt work, then its time to take out all the rocks.

So hyposalinity is the safest? I want to go from 1.025 to 1.009 over 2-3 days?

 

[fender4string]

Dropping the salinity quickly isn't and issue. They'll be just fine with that rate of decrease. Raising the salinity back up is when it has to be done very gradually.

 

[125mph]

Dropping the salinity quickly isn't and issue. They'll be just fine with that rate of decrease. Raising the salinity back up is when it has to be done very gradually.

Why is dropping not an issue but raising is an issue? So I want to be at 1.009?

I finally caught all the fish!! I caught 3 with the fish trap but the others were too smart.. I had to break down the tank rocks to catch them. But all is good, the corals are back in and appear to be fine

So now the DT goes fishless for 10-12 weeks and the QT tank (15 gallons) has my 6 fish and I'm going to do hyposalinty. How do I keep the ammonia level down since I don't have live rock in there? Do I just do daily water changes?

 

[fender4string]

Why is dropping not an issue but raising is an issue? So I want to be at 1.009?

I finally caught all the fish!! I caught 3 with the fish trap but the others were too smart.. I had to break down the tank rocks to catch them. But all is good, the corals are back in and appear to be fine

So now the DT goes fishless for 10-12 weeks and the QT tank (15 gallons) has my 6 fish and I'm going to do hyposalinty. How do I keep the ammonia level down since I don't have live rock in there? Do I just do daily water changes?

Dropping the salinity isn't an issue because you're not placing stress on the fishes kidneys (less salt to process as waste equates to less effort). When you're raising the salinity, the opposite happens. Also, if you're wondering why it's not better to keep salinity low at all times considering the low salt gives the fishes kidney's a break (logical question that I too wondered about), low salt levels over an extended period of time will cause the fishes kidneys to shut down. Not exactly sure why but it's what I've been told.

Congratulations on catching the fish! That's the hardest part for sure.

As for ammonia just do frequent water changes. I'd run carbon in a little HOB filter as well to help with contaminant levels.

Also, if you can stand it, I'd keep the DT fishless for longer. Up to 16 weeks I believe is the timeline (someone please confirm or deny). The fish shouldn't be in hypo that long however but should be brought back to to normal salinity by the 12th week and kept in QT. If you'd like to replace the fish at the end of the 12 weeks there's a chance there could still be ich in the tank. 16 weeks is safer but is still somewhat debated by some aquarists.

 

[125mph]

Sounds good. I will go fallow for 16 weeks and treat hypo for 12 weeks. But I can't beleive I wont have fish in the DT till around xmas time.. ouch.

 

[125mph]

Darn.. my fav fish, potters angel died in the QT tank this morning. Also the 6line wrasse died last night.

I'm pretty sure the stress of catching them and putting them in the QT cause the death, and not the ich. They were swimming weird in the bucket after I netted them and both were perfectly fine before I caught them.

Is my QT hospital tank set up right? I have 15gal tank, heater, powerhead, and thermometer. I am going look at some small hang-on filter or sponge filters today to help keep the water clean.

 

[MrTuskfish]

A healthy fish isn't going to die from the "stress" ( most over-used word in the hobby, IMO) of being netted. The Potters was netted on a reef, transferred several times, probably treated with copper somewhere, etc.; if he can handle that, he can handle being caught & transferred. I'd bet the fish have gills full if ich---their favorite site.
You're going to have to do frequent water changes to keep ammonia under control; so have plenty of water mixing and I'd get an ammonia badge, test kits may not work---depending on meds/chemicals you may add. Also, be sure to provide hiding places for fish in the QR; pieces of PVC are perfect. Getting rid of ich is a real hassle; so QT everything new after you're "normal" again and you'll never have to through this again.

 

[Gill_bucket]

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