Not every tang gets ich and of those that do it is often transitory, being related to stress of a new environment. However, the phrase "ich magnet" applied to Tangs is certainly true. They seem vulnerable to ich more than other fish whether through sensitivity to bad water conditions, diet or tank size or a combination of all of the above.
I placed a very small yellow tang, less than 2" long, in my 55 to control a horribly invasive
macro algae. Normally, I would not have placed a tang in a 55 as I feel that they need more swimming room to avoid stress and remain healthy. It worked in this instance because he was so small, he had plenty of greens to eat and I have supplemented his diet with nori, spirulina and Selcon. He's never had an outbreak of ich but now that he has purged my tank of the dreaded "green menace" and has grown considerably, I'm planning on trapping him and putting him in a 240 gallon tank where he will have mega swimming room.
Prevention is the key to avoiding ich; aggresive *treatment* is not much of an option in a reef tank. There are some products out there that people have had success with treating in-tank like Ruby Kick-Ich or feeding garlic (even garlic seems to work best as part of a regular feeding routine for prevention) but copper and other such treatments cannot be used in-tank, they are death to inverts.
Prevention then would be: 1) Tanks of preferably 100 gallons or more. 2) Pick a healthy specimen to start with 3)Excellent water parameters 4) Compatible tankmates to reduce stress 5) diet consisting mainly of different macro algae products supplemented with Selcon or other fatty-amino acid supplement.
Normally, I would suggest a
quarantine tank for incoming fish; however in the case of tangs and since Q-tanks are usually 20 gallons or under, I feel they are counterproductive.
HTH,
~Alice
------------------
Reefkeeping is my life; I can't afford a hobby too!
