SPS tank W/O fish...question..

[nevolved]

Hey everyone,

Well....I had a tang for 2 weeks in QT.. I put the tang in my tank, two days later he has ich. No other fish are in my display right now. Thus, I am left with removing the tang to QT, and then leaving my display without fish. (On this topic, is a month sufficient to clear the system?) Should I be adding something to makeup for the lack of amino acids that having no fish will cause? What other concerns should I be aware of?

Thanks in advance,
Nathan

[ANGRY JOHN]

not having fish is not going to hurt anything. usually cleaning up after them is the real pain. people like having fish becaue it adds to the appeal but are not realy required. tangs are netorius for getting ich so i am not supprised. sorry to hear about the disease and hope the fish recovers soon. a month might be a little short to fully get rid of the ich i think the gestation period is around 6 weeks but might be somthing to google.

[bosscrab]

This should help you.
The Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease (Cryptocaryon) parasite has 4 distinct phases in its life. (See Graphic below.)

• 1. Tomont Stage
  • Trophonts which have burrowed into the gills & formed cysts, protected by gill mucus.
  • Trophonts can live in the cyst embedded in the gills almost indefinitely.
  • No effective treatment at this stage.
• 2. Trophont Stage
  • Tomont cysts have been discharged from the gills.
  • Can survive for 6 to 10 days in the cyst.
  • Hyposalinity (Osmotic Shock) and some chemical treatments are effective in exploding the cyst and Tomites.
• 3. Tomite Stage
  • Parasites (Tomites) discharged from the Tomont cyst and become free swimming.
  • Tomites can survive for 1-2 days before they must find another host.
  • Hyposalinity (Osmotic Shock) treatment effective in exploding the Tomites.
  • Many chemical treatments effective at this stage.
• 4. Trophont Stage
  • Tomites which attached to the fish's gills feed from the host, grow, form a cyst and become dormant.
  • Tomites which attach to the fish's surface feed from the host, grow, detach from the fish and go to the Trophont Stage 2.
  • Hyposalinity (Osmotic Shock) treatment effective in exploding the surface cysts.
  • Some chemicals effective in treatment of surface cysts at this stage.

Most (wild captured) fish carry the Cryptocaryon parasite in the their gills in the Tomont Stage 1. A vast majority of Saltwater Ich outbreaks occur when new fish are introduced into an aquarium. The stress generated by capture and shipping is one of the main causes of the cysts in the gills being released, generating Trophont Stage 2.
The gill mucus encasing the Cryptocaryon parasite in the Tomont Stage 1 renders most, if not all treatments, virtually ineffective at this stage.
Hyposalinity (Osmotic Shock Therapy) and chemical treatments are most effective when the Tomites (the actual parasites) are most vulnerable, during their free swimming stage. Hyposalinity literally explodes the Cryptocaryon cysts in Trophont Stages 2 & 4, exposing the Tomites to both chemical and further Hyposalinity treatments.

[Harry_Y]

I read this a while back and this is how I now do it.

When I have a fish that gets Ick I feed it well but remove any food at night (so they get rest)

They will get healthy and fight it off on there own.

It is more stressful to chase the fish down to dump it in another tank.

My 2 cents but it works well for me.

Tangs get Ick from time to time, I just keep them healthy and it clears right up.

[nevolved]

Thanks all.

[Loverotties]

I had a Purple Tang,that got what people called it morning ick.I gave it food soaked in Garlicquard and it went away.

[raskal311]

If there isn’t any other fish in the system to get infected with itch I’d leave the tangs there and let them recover on their own. Moving the again would just stress them even more.