Help - Blue Tang

[mxzx8004]

Hi all,
We've had our blue tang in our tank for about 5 weeks now. Everything has been okay, shes a rock rubber for sure as she likes to dive towards them, then eat something off of them. So shes had white marks on her from that, we also have a bloom of copepods and they have been sticking to her so I have been keeping a keen watch on her.

Last night we did a water change and she was hiding and seemed stressed. Today, her white spots look way different, like they are "in" her skin as opposed to being on the outside. Is this ICH? If so, do I give it a day or two to see if it's stress related (feeding with garlic etc)? I don't want to pull her out of the tank and stress her even more.

Thank you

 

[Pickle_soup]

Hard to tell from this picture, but it does look like ich to me. Did you add anything else to the tank during those 5 weeks?

 

[ErikVR]

The picture is a bit fuzzy but I would say ich.

 

[Uncle99]

Being this fish, I’d go with ick.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all,
We've had our blue tang in our tank for about 5 weeks now. Everything has been okay, shes a rock rubber for sure as she likes to dive towards them, then eat something off of them. So shes had white marks on her from that, we also have a bloom of copepods and they have been sticking to her so I have been keeping a keen watch on her.

Last night we did a water change and she was hiding and seemed stressed. Today, her white spots look way different, like they are "in" her skin as opposed to being on the outside. Is this ICH? If so, do I give it a day or two to see if it's stress related (feeding with garlic etc)? I don't want to pull her out of the tank and stress her even more.

Thank you

Pic is a little fuzzy and need clearer pic but preliminarily looks like either mucus cones or cryptocaryon associated with Marine ich and fish will have to be quarantined in a separate tank .
Best treatment would be coppersafe or general cure with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment. My other concern is the exposure to the other fish in tank in which the tank may have to be FishLess (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

 

[mxzx8004]

Hi all, nothing else added other than a piece of coral. Here is another picture. There is nothing on the 2 Clowns.

I do have a hospital tank I can setup, however I have read articles that stress induced ICK/H can clear up in a day or two?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all, nothing else added other than a piece of coral. Here is another picture. There is nothing on the 2 Clowns.

I do have a hospital tank I can setup, however I have read articles that stress induced ICK/H can clear up in a day or two?

Ich does not clear up on it own in most cases. It may appear to but often the cysts have fallen off to reproduce and return in numbers. If you find these dots not increasing over 36 hours, may not be ich. The opics are not clear enough to not clear enough to even make a guess at what is going on

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all, nothing else added other than a piece of coral. Here is another picture. There is nothing on the 2 Clowns.

I do have a hospital tank I can setup, however I have read articles that stress induced ICK/H can clear up in a day or two?

That does look like ich, but that rock diving you noted is called flashing and it isn’t a feeding response, it is scratching caused by parasites, usually flukes.

A fish with two possible issues at the same time is difficult to deal with, and really not possible in a display tank.

I think you should treat the tang with Coppersafe and Prazipro in a treatment tank. However, all the fish in this tank have been exposed and will need treatment as well.

Jay

 

[mxzx8004]

Hoping this works - Theres a lot of copepods floating in the water right now just an fyi.

 

[mxzx8004]

That does look like ich, but that rock diving you noted is called flashing and it isn’t a feeding response, it is scratching caused by parasites, usually flukes.

A fish with two possible issues at the same time is difficult to deal with, and really not possible in a display tank.

I think you should treat the tang with Coppersafe and Prazipro in a treatment tank. However, all the fish in this tank have been exposed and will need treatment as well.

Jay

Hey Jay - Was hoping you'd reply. I just wanted to make sure it isn't copepods sticking to it? The two CF seem fine (I will be very upset if I lose those). When it dives to the rocks its almost like its playing with its reflection in the glass, I will try to get a video of it tomorrow. I don't know if it looks like it's breathing fast so hoping the video works for your viewing.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey Jay - Was hoping you'd reply. I just wanted to make sure it isn't copepods sticking to it? The two CF seem fine (I will be very upset if I lose those). When it dives to the rocks its almost like its playing with its reflection in the glass, I will try to get a video of it tomorrow. I don't know if it looks like it's breathing fast so hoping the video works for your viewing.

Lots of free living copepods in a tank implies that there is a lot of extra food for them to feed on. Parasitic copepods are REALLY rare, and I usually see just a couple on any fish. There is a "micro predator" copepod that lives in the rocks of a tank and swims up and bites the fish, but those don't stay on the fish and they don't cause rapid breathing. The only time I've seen those is in tanks that used fresh live rock from the Gulf of Mexico.

I didn't see any flashing in the video, but it does look like ich. Ich won't cause that rapid breathing though, until the very end of the infection, so there is something else going on as well. I do think you will need to use coppersafe and prazipro on these fish....and that can be a difficult process.

Jay

 

[mxzx8004]

Lots of free living copepods in a tank implies that there is a lot of extra food for them to feed on. Parasitic copepods are REALLY rare, and I usually see just a couple on any fish. There is a "micro predator" copepod that lives in the rocks of a tank and swims up and bites the fish, but those don't stay on the fish and they don't cause rapid breathing. The only time I've seen those is in tanks that used fresh live rock from the Gulf of Mexico.

I didn't see any flashing in the video, but it does look like ich. Ich won't cause that rapid breathing though, until the very end of the infection, so there is something else going on as well. I do think you will need to use coppersafe and prazipro on these fish....and that can be a difficult process.

Jay

Hey Jay, thanks again, so here is a fun fact - Canadian goverment banned fish meds. So I am stuck with some local stuff to try .

The good news is, she/it looks better today. This is the weird thing, it seems when I do something in the tank it stresses her out and she gets the spots and then they go away. I don't want to treat for nothing but I also don't want to not treat when I should. Why is this hobby SO difficult lol

 

[TWYOUNG]

In my experience ich can go dormant and be managed,(not eradicated), with a combination of minimizing stress, properly sized UV, cleaner shrimps etc. That being said the Blue Hippo Tang is the biggest Ich magnet I’ve ever had and I doubt I’ll ever have them again.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey Jay, thanks again, so here is a fun fact - Canadian goverment banned fish meds. So I am stuck with some local stuff to try .

The good news is, she/it looks better today. This is the weird thing, it seems when I do something in the tank it stresses her out and she gets the spots and then they go away. I don't want to treat for nothing but I also don't want to not treat when I should. Why is this hobby SO difficult lol

Canada is about the toughest with medication acquisition. Copper power is available in Canada and I believe acriflavine which will address flukes

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey Jay, thanks again, so here is a fun fact - Canadian goverment banned fish meds. So I am stuck with some local stuff to try .

The good news is, she/it looks better today. This is the weird thing, it seems when I do something in the tank it stresses her out and she gets the spots and then they go away. I don't want to treat for nothing but I also don't want to not treat when I should. Why is this hobby SO difficult lol

Yes - treating fish in Canada is a huge issue.

One thing to be aware of with marine ich is that early on, due to its life cycle, the spots will come and go, because they are all dropping off the fish to reproduce at the same time. Eventually, the disease ramps up and the disease organisms get out of sync and you see spots all of the time.

Jay