Yellow tang "morning ich"

[The Plummer]

I picked up a 3" yellow tang last Friday from LFS. The owner said it eats good, looked healthy, active, not too shy. She said she's had it for three weeks now.

Brought it home, drip acclimated and left the lights out all night. The next morning it had four dots of ich on its tail. Within three hours the ich was gone and it was grazing on red algae on the LR. Fed it seaweed salad, as ate great.

Now it eats so much it's really fat. I can see its intestines bulging through its skin.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM. Every morning when I turn on the lights the tang has a few dots of ich on its tail and sail. They go away after a few hours but I'm worried about the health of my tank, or this fish.

Tank mates are two false perculas, very small peppermint shrimp, medium skunk shrimp & a few snails.

Water parameters are zero on all but phosphate (that's at .10 & falling) PH IS 8.2, 500 calcium and recent addition of Kent reef essentials.

Since adding the kent, all my fish's color has deepend and become more striking.

Do I have a problem or is my tang just afraid of the dark?

 

[jerpa]

Are you sure the spots aren't grains of sand or pieces of debris it picks up while sleeping? The spots associated with ich persist on the fish for 3-7 days.

 

[The Plummer]

Well that's a possibility, as one recurring spot (on the sail) is kind of reddish (but it appears in the same spot daily, so I don't think it's detritus) and I'm also using black aragonite substrate in my tank. Could possibly be a worm dirt pushing out of the LR during the night.

Would it be prudent to pull the fish out of the tank for a month (fallow) and place them in a hospital tank with hyposalinity?

 

[EllieSuz]

Removing all fish from the display tank is the only way to stop the lifecycle of Ich. The fallow period must be closer to twelve weeks, however. This occasional showing of spots is unusual. Perhaps you can post a photo of this fish in the early morning. It would be a shame to remove them to a hospital tank and treat them if the Ich doesn't actually exist. There are hundreds of Ich posts on RC and countless different opinions. For the definitive and most accepted treatment options, check out the stickies on this Forum. Read any Ich related posts by Mr. Tuskfish. His expertise is unquestioned. Hyposalinity is subject to frequent error, so the best treatment method is either tank transfer or copper. See if you can get a picture so we can help you identify it.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Yes, a pic would help. The spots coming and going is probably not ich. Some folks call these "stress" spots, sometimes its just a grain of sand. An ich parasite is not going to burrow into a fish at night and disappear the next day. Google "marine ich" (images) and compare the spots. The fish on any Google site will usually be badly infested fish, so just compare the individual spots. It sounds like you may have dodged a bullet by not quarantining this fish. I'd sure get a QT set up before any other fish is added.

 

[The Plummer]

Sounds good so far, I'll see about a pic tomorrow.

As far as a QT, your right. My impatients in waiting for my six gallon QT to finish its cycle is going to cost me dearly. It's still posting 2.0 ppl ammonia, haven't checked nitrite yet, no real need to.

 

[The Plummer]

Sorry, I wasn't Able to get a pic of the tang this morning, he didn't have any on him. Good thing, right.

Two things that concern me though, my skimmer has kicked into high gear within the last three days. Lots of white, sticky foam, with green water in the catch can. Again, good thing.

The cyano outbreak has miraculously disappeared at about the same time, another good thing.

But with the good comes the bad. I read somewhere here that a active skimmer will cause a drop in PH, I checked and confirmed that the PH has dropped to 8.0 (was 8.3-4).

I added alkalinity and got it up to 8.2, still a little low, but manageable.

I also read that PH affects calcium. Was at 500ppm a few days ago. Now well over 500. Do I need to be concerned? If so, what should I do to correct the issue.

My goal is to maintain as close to 500 as possible as I'm trying to promote coralline growth to begin to cover my white, dry rock. I also want the growth on the back glass as I don't like the stupid plastic aqua scape, nor want ugly algae growth to be prominent.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Sorry, I wasn't Able to get a pic of the tang this morning, he didn't have any on him. Good thing, right.

Two things that concern me though, my skimmer has kicked into high gear within the last three days. Lots of white, sticky foam, with green water in the catch can. Again, good thing.

The cyano outbreak has miraculously disappeared at about the same time, another good thing.

But with the good comes the bad. I read somewhere here that a active skimmer will cause a drop in PH, I checked and confirmed that the PH has dropped to 8.0 (was 8.3-4).

I added alkalinity and got it up to 8.2, still a little low, but manageable.

I also read that PH affects calcium. Was at 500ppm a few days ago. Now well over 500. Do I need to be concerned? If so, what should I do to correct the issue.

My goal is to maintain as close to 500 as possible as I'm trying to promote coralline growth to begin to cover my white, dry rock. I also want the growth on the back glass as I don't like the stupid plastic aqua scape, nor want ugly algae growth to be prominent.

I'd post this the reef discussion forum section; you won't get much response in the disease section.

 

[The Plummer]

Yes, a pic would help. The spots coming and going is probably not ich. Some folks call these "stress" spots, sometimes its just a grain of sand. An ich parasite is not going to burrow into a fish at night and disappear the next day. Google "marine ich" (images) and compare the spots. The fish on any Google site will usually be badly infested fish, so just compare the individual spots. It sounds like you may have dodged a bullet by not quarantining this fish. I'd sure get a QT set up before any other fish is added.

Thanks Mr. Tuskfish for all your help, even though I didn't listen when you posted this. I've learned my lesson about the perils of the ick monster.

I had completely forgotten how much trouble I had back on the 1990's with this killer. All the snake oil in the world did no good, but I digress.

I didn't study enough, was too cheap to implement QT procedures, possessed a false seance of security ( it won't happen to me), basically just stupid stubbornness.

You've convinced me, I took on a coral beauty that surely infected my DT.

I just completed the tank transfer with all finned fish and now am waiting out the remaining 9 weeks fallow time. All fish appear healthy and show no signs of disease.

I've since purchased a 40 breeder as what will be my permanent QT. a 10 gal hospital tank. 2-5 gal buckets for TTM duties, all necessary redundant equipment.

No fish of mine is going to live in a unhealthy environment, if I can help it.

I've taken on the procedures of a medical surgery center as far as cross contamination goes. Maybe a little expense today, but well worth it in the future.

Thanks again, I'm converted.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Glad to hear it!