Hippo Tang with ich

[allison211]

Hey all,

At this point I'm very sure my tang has ich, I don't have a QT, what is the safest and easiest way to remove this parasite? At first there was only one big spot but after a few days it seems like the fin and the other side of his body is starting to have some tiny white spots also.

Here's a pic of it..



what should I do?? He is eating and swimming. I'm mixing in some fresh garlic in his food.. any ideas that doesn't require a QT and killing all my inverts.

Thanks!

[Jnicho]

My approach is to feed a variety of high quality foods (frozen and the like not flakes) at least twice a day (several small meals a day seems to be better). I'm not sold on garlic, but I don't think it hurts. Selcon might be good to ensure as much nutrition as possible. Also, do everything you can to reduce stress.

[cronamator]

although you already know qt is best because of the myriad of available medicines, most of which cannot be employed in a main tank keep up the garlic dosing and ive used seachem kanaplex and focus. although this had no effect on the zoos and mushrooms i had @ the time, i would nowadays be a tad more cautious w/ my sps and clams(not that i dont think it would kill them, just i have a lot more time and money tied up in this tank. heres the thing, a tang can more often than not ride it out although you take a chance it wont (or others will not) tangs (esp. species that are not zebrasomas or naso) are ich magnets.

[allison211]

Thanks guys!! I do have a desjardinii and two true percs in there. Do you think adding a neon goby will help get rid of the ich?? I don't think my LPS will go crazy.. I hope. I was thinking about melafix, stop parasite...etc. What do you think ???

Kanaplex is not going to help much with a parasitic infection right? It is mostly use for fungal and bacterial infections... I think..

I'm going to try all the natural remedies... before I dose my tank.. gosh.. Does ich kill fishes??

[Fat Tony]

yes, Ick can kill your fish. I lost two Tangs over the last month due to it. I purchased a Kole with no signs of Ick and after about a week (my tank never had Ick prior to) I started seeing the spots. about 2 months into the battle I lost the Kole a week later I lost my Scopas...

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by allison211

Thanks guys!! I do have a desjardinii and two true percs in there. Do you think adding a neon goby will help get rid of the ich?? I don't think my LPS will go crazy.. I hope. I was thinking about melafix, stop parasite...etc. What do you think ???

Kanaplex is not going to help much with a parasitic infection right? It is mostly use for fungal and bacterial infections... I think..

I'm going to try all the natural remedies... before I dose my tank.. gosh.. Does ich kill fishes??

Neon gobies, cleaner shrimp and cleaner wrasses can all be helpful...although there is no guarantee any will clean and the wrasses can be hard to keep alive. I've not found any "additives" natural or otherwise that work in a reef tank...if it kills the parasite it will most likely kill something else too.

[allison211]

Gosh Tony sorry about your fish.. I hope my tang gets through it.. it doesn't look too serious right now. I have 2 cleaner shrimp in there, but my tang is hesitant about letting them clean him. I'm hoping that the neon gooby will attach himself to my tang and clean him.. ( Well I have to buy one first..)

Do you think it's going to stress out my tang even more by adding another fish in there 2 weeks after my tang got in my DT?

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by allison211

Gosh Tony sorry about your fish.. I hope my tang gets through it.. it doesn't look too serious right now. I have 2 cleaner shrimp in there, but my tang is hesitant about letting them clean him. I'm hoping that the neon gooby will attach himself to my tang and clean him.. ( Well I have to buy one first..)

Do you think it's going to stress out my tang even more by adding another fish in there 2 weeks after my tang got in my DT?

I don't think the goby will stress him out, but I wouldn't add anything else.

[allison211]

yea... I just checked him today and he looks a lot worse.. I'm going to go to OF and see if they have any suggestions.. I'll update later

[Ratpack]

I had a hippo that got ich. As long as he is still eating, feed him. I fed mine smaller amounts more often, just make sure he everything as to not add other issues. I would stay out of the tank for awhile so you don't stress him out. I did this regiment for about a week or so and he pulled through and I have yet to see any more ich since. Keeping the fish healthy is the best defense and cure for parasites.

[allison211]

yea.. I am now mixing his food with garlic and some other stuff (selcon, focus...etc) He's still eating today, but he's getting picky.. Won't eat brine shrimp only mysis - I guess he only eats the good stuff lol. Though, he looks kind of worse today.. the ich is definitely spreading quite fast on his body.. I'll try to get a good pic of him for update...

[Jnicho]

Couple of things...the ich will likely get better in a few days...this is a normal part of it's life cycle...don't let up on your feeding as once the new little buggers hatch they will be back again in force...use the "down time" to help your fish boost his immune system back up...the other thing is I wouldn't waste my time feeding brine shrimp...they typically have almost no nutritional value...keep feeding lots of small meals with a variety of high quality foods and you're doing about as good as can be done IMO.

[skey44]

I like the brine if it is enriched as she is doing, but if only eating mysis then go that route.

[allison211]

Thanks guys! I'll probably wait and see what happens in a few days..

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I had a Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum) that had Ich and I was able to get rid of it using a straight diet of New Life Spectrum Thera +A for 2 weeks and good water quality. I haven't seen it back since that time either.