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2K views 36 replies 16 participants last post by  Casey 
#1 ·
I think that my new regal angel has ich. I see small white dots, about four of them on his top back fin. He also has one dot on his right fin. So far he is the only fish in the tank that has any signs of it, and i want to treat it before it gets worse. My best estimation of why he has contracted ich is because his immune sstem must be shot. I droped him in the tank last wednesday. That night he had a fighting bout with my sailfin tang over territories. After i moved some rocks, they get along fine, but the regal angel spent a lot of time in hiding. As of sunday he has started to swim more openly in the tank, but will still hide if anyone comes near him. The other big problem is that i still have yet to see him eat. All of my other fish have readily accepted the frozen shrimp, formula one, or lettuce( for the tang).

do you think that i should remove the angel from this tank and read him his last rights before the ich reproduces and spreads to other fish. Please let me know what you think would be the best solution. I would absolutely hate to have to do that to the regal angel, but i would rather chop off one finger than lose my whole arm.
 
#3 ·
i have a inverts, so medication is a no no. As far as the QT goes, i dont know if the effort/expense of setting it up is worth it right now. I got the regal for 25 at my lfs, and so i might just be willing to accept the loss and move on
 
#6 ·
i tried garlic already. good news is every else seemed to love it. but the regal would still not eat.

The tank is a 55g with live rock, 20g sump w/ refugium, uv light.

other inhabitants are cleaner shrimp, emerald crab, astrea snails, 2 clowns, royal gramma, 3 green chromis, 1 bulb tip anemone, 2 feather dusters, sailfin tang, and the sickly regal angel
 
#7 ·
ConstantNRG said:
i tried garlic already. good news is every else seemed to love it. but the regal would still not eat.

The tank is a 55g with live rock, 20g sump w/ refugium, uv light.

other inhabitants are cleaner shrimp, emerald crab, astrea snails, 2 clowns, royal gramma, 3 green chromis, 1 bulb tip anemone, 2 feather dusters, sailfin tang, and the sickly regal angel
does the regal angel look like this

http://padens.com/Fiji_Diving/pages/regal%20angel.htm

Or like this
http://www.divegallery.com/blue_tang2.htm

 
#9 ·
well to fix this problem you have a few options.
You can setup a QT tank, which is easy if you have a spare tank laying around. In this tank you can treat it for ich

You could try an hypo salinity treatment on it in a large bucket.

Or wait a day or 2 and see if the Ich goes away. If it only has a couple dots, you might not have a problem.
 
#10 ·
If it's just a few spots, I concur with the advice to add garlic to the food... however if it's not eating that's a problem.

Did you see the fish eat at the store? How long did the store have it? Where is it from? Red Sea is good, but Phillippines *can* be bad, depending on capture method. Not making any assumptions or accusations - just stating the fact that this can be a problem specie from that part of the world.

Make sure you have a cleaner shrimp available, watch and see. If it gets worse, or if he doesn't start eating you have a problem.

And while the life of the fish may not be worth the trouble of quarantine, for the $25 you spent on him :( if he transmits that parasite to others in the tank you could have a bigger problem.

Jenn
 
#12 ·
Get a skunk cleaner shrimp - Lysmata amboinensis.

A peppermint *might* clean but you've got better odds with the former.

Jenn
 
#13 ·
Thanks Jenn. I had bought a peppermint, hoping it would clean fish - the Caribbean cleaner shrimp label got me sold on it. I knew they were known to eat aiptasia, but I was hoping they would do both for me. No problem though, time for another shrimp!
 
#16 ·
i kinda agree with Jenn. i do not think you should remove the angel for treatmen. it will stress the angel more. when the angel is better you will then have to put it back into the display and you will have another fighting session with the tang. if they have settled out now, than let things be.

G~
 
#20 ·
YOu can use an actual garlic clove if you want. Pick a piece. Peel the skin...smash with a sideways butter knife, and let it soak in the water for 10-15 min. Pull the smashed clove out, add your food, let soak a little more, then add.

Or you can buy the many Garlic extract/flavoring products you'll find at your LFS. It's entirely up to you.

There is NO scientific proof that this helps, but there is a large (more than normal) amount of anecdotal evidence backing this theory up. It's up to you.
 
#22 ·
hey everyone. todays update is that he has two more spots on his tail, and still will not eat. i have tried garlic on the food. live brine, formula one, two, just about everything i could get my hands on. still no apetite for the food. will not even try to bite at it, just swims right past. As far as the cleaner shrimp, the regal doesnt like them, when they try to clean him, the regal swims away, or tries to nip at them.

i would love to keep him in the tank in hopes that he will become better, however i do not want to increase the chance of the ich reproducing by keeping it in the tank longer and longer.

i am going to feed them now. i will give him one hour in that tank to eat, if stil no interest, i think that means that he is going to take a ride down the porcelin express. unfortunate, but it is just about the only real option at this point, because even he i cure his ich, he will not eat, so his immune system will be shot anyway, and his health will continue to decline. i think it might be best for him to just have a quick and painless death than to starve to death.

any thoughts?
 
#23 ·
Geez, sorry to hear it's gotten so bad. Personally I would try a freshwater dip or quarantine tank before just flushing the poor guy. Who knows, maybe if you get the ich off him, he'll start eating again. If you must euthanize him, I've heard that freezing the fish is supposed to be a humane way.
 
#26 ·
well, i made the move. he went for a ride on the local sewage system. it was sad to do, but i think it was the right move. Only from experiance with my freshwater fishkeeping, and treating ich, i think that it was right to remove him before any hatched off of him and spread through the rest of the tank. Maybe with time he would have gotten better, but the world may never know.

thanks for the help anyway guys. i appreciate it.
 
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