Power blue tang has ick!!

T

talon4x4

New member
I have a huge problem. I just noticed some spots on my PBT tang, I'm guessing most definitely that it's ich. This is also the first time I've ever had to deal with it.

The problem, I'm going out of town on Friday for 8 days. I have someone coming to feed an look after the fish, but its not someone that can deal with the ich if I setup a QT tank.

The PBT is in the tank with a niger trigger, cinnamon clown, 6 line wrasse, some blue/green chromis', misc snails, crabs and coral.

Is there anything that can be done in the main tank that wouldn't hurt everything??

Right now the tang is still active and eating like a pig.

I'm desperate for suggestions. Of course this had to happen right before I have to leave town.

Thanks in advance!!
 
If the PBT is in your 55g once you have him cured you'll want to find a new home. If you dont you'll just have to deal with the problem all over again.
 
Most tangs are able to combat Ich with their natural immune system. They tend to show signs of it when under stress.

My Blue Tang (Hippo) will get Ich when over stressed. Removing the cause of stress and ensuring the fish has enough food (esp Nori) to snack on is the easier (and least stressful on the fish) method of combating Ich.

However, a 55G is going to be too small for that fish. So it will become continually stressed in a cramped environment. Best to move the fish onto a more suitable tank where it will be much happier (and subsequently, healthier)
 
sounds right to me, a PB tang with ich...nothing unusual tho.

Unless the fish is in really bad shape, otherwise ich won't be able to kill it. I have my achillies for about 8-9 months now, it has ich since the beginning, also ich just comes and goes on my other tangs, so not a big deal.
 
Just keep that water clean as possible. I have also noticed with my tangs that they do a lot better (color and against sickness) when they always have things to graze on, mine like sushi nori.
 
I know the tank isn't the best size, I bought the whole setup (tank and fish) from a friend who was moving, the PBT was already in the tank. He has been doing great for the past year and half, so I'm not sure why the sudden outbreak.

I usually put some nori on the clip 3x/day. All the fish like it and it doesn't last long so its tough to have it always in there.

Maybe I'll look into ick-attack. I could move all the inverts to my smaller tank. Does anyone know if ick-attack will have any effect on my coral??
 
Like I said my friend used it on his tank. He has lots of different inverts and softies and zoas and some LPS just no sps in his tank so I am not sure about the sps. But all of his corals were fine and non of the inverts were affected. I know Fosters and Smith sells it they might have the label information on their website.
 
I would never put a disease cure or preventative in a reef tank. Regardless of whether it claims to be 'reef safe' or not. There are way to many disasters with people doing this.
Obviously, QT is the best method (other than giving the fish a suitable sized tank). Seeing as neither of those are an option you should just 'ride the storm'. Most reef set ups have ich in them and it isn't that big a deal if your water is good and you are feeding nutritious food.
But...you do need to move the fish out of there soon. A 55g is WAY too small for a PB.
 
The only real way to be rid of the ich is to take all the fish out and treat in a separate tank (copper or hypo works the best for ich)Leave your main tank fishless for at least 6 weeks. This will let the ich in your main tank work through its life cycle and die off. Hypo is lowering you salt level to .009 or .010 this will kill the ich. I undestand that your not going to be there to do this but this is a proven way to be rid of ich for good. Unless you add something later without QT then you can put ich back in you tank. With proper QT and treatment it is very possible to have a ichless system.
 
I wouldn't set up a QT tank. If you PBT has it and shows signs of it, most likely all of your fish have it. When my yellow tang had ich, I just put a drop of garlic x-treme in with his food and let it soak. I fed the tank with that, although not exactly proven if garlic helps fish or not. The best method, in my opinion, is if the fish is still swimming fine and eating great, is keeping this fish in the tank as with the rest of them and feed normally and keep up with normal maintanance and it should be cured on its own.

However, as others have stated, the small tank could be the stressor on the PBT. PBTs need a lot of space and that tank isn't providing that. People assume because they buy the small 1/2" hippo tangs that their 20 gallon tank is suitable. Not necessarily true...

Just my thoughts, if the fish was doing great and healthy, then that was an exception... for a while anyway.
 
ich on pbt

ich on pbt

I'm a big fan of the garlic-xtreme and water changes. In my experience PBT having ich at some point is a given. Usually happens when the fish is introduced though. I would do several water changes before you go and use the garlic, that has always worked much better for me than treaments.
 
I agree with what most others have said. I've had mine for a little over a year now. It had ich after it was introduced to the tank but fought it off. Just keep it eating. Mine is very aggresssive and will routinely chase fish bigger than itself, a 55g will only exacerbate that behaviour. VERY active swimmer, needs room and lots of flow.

Good luck,
Ken
 
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