Sand or Ich on my purple tang

[naterealbig]

Everyone,

I have had a purple tang in 10gal QT for almost a week now. Of course, the day after I brought him/her from the store it showed signs of what I thought were ich - 10-15 very small white, slightly raised, spots. I did a little reading on WWM and saw that most people shied away from treating with copper. I decided to give the fish another day or two, because other than the small white spots that had shown up, he was acting fairly normal (wasn't scratching himself, breathing hard, or showing other signs of distress). After 2 days all of the spots had dissapeared, so I figured it was just a little bit of sand on it. I came home today, and did a visual inspection, and sure enough he is covered with the spots again, except about 100 spots on each side this time. I am looking very hard, but can't tell if its sand or a parasite. Just like before, he is showing no signs of distress or labored breathing, and is eating well. Any ideas?

 

[cayars]

Almost certainly sound like the ich life cycle.

You'll have to treat him before allowing him into the display tank.

 

[naterealbig]

I used rid-ich for a week on my blue damsel and maroon clown. Are the purple tangs sensitive to the malachite green or formalin?

 

[White Tiger]

One way to find out is to catch the fish. Once you have caught the fish, gently rub the white dots. If the dots come off or move, it's sand. If it isn't, then it is probably ich.

 

[gasman059]

UV UV UV. It will take care of the floating micros, but the fish with disease needs to be rx before hand.

 

[naterealbig]

OK. And you think that the UV would kill all of the parasites (other than the ones on the fish of course)? I have heard that UV's are beneificial, but for most, it has been put at the bottom of the shopping list. Should I put one on the main tank or the QT or both? What is a good brand and how much will it cost me? Would you recommend me running this peice of equipment in conjunction with any other treatments? I What size/wattage should I get for my tank? Can I hook it up inline with my return pump, or should I get a seperate pump due to head loss? Thanks

 

[FishyMel]

Some may not agree with me, but I don't usually chemically treat ich on my purple tangs because they all seem to come down with it when they are moved to a new tank. Here is what I do. I gradually reduce salinity to 18 instead of the standard 23 for fish tanks. Then I buy or grow fresh calerapa and fill the quarantine tank with it. I also UV sterilize. The fish will kick the ich in about 2 to 4 weeks with this protocol. Copper and dyes aren't necessary and cause more stress than they are worth in my opinion. I have killed tangs with chemicals but usually don't lose them with hyposalinity, UV sterilization and plenty of fresh greens preferably real live macro algae. Tangs are only completely happy when they can graze constantly and the algae gives them lots of vitamins which boost the immunity.

Don't worry about your tang. He is going to look much worse before he gets better, but it is par for the course to see ich with tangs when you first get them. They are hardy fish and usually kick it quite readily in a good environment with proper nutrition.

 

[FishyMel]

You asked about UV sterilizers. Get the biggest wattage you can afford and run it on both main tank and quarantine if at all possible. I have mine plumbed inline on my main tank and run it constantly replacing the bulb once a year. It also keeps your water that beautiful clear color by killing off unwanted algae that turns the water yellow over time otherwise.