Web Burr Puffers and Sailfin Tang

[WI Reef Lover]

I have a question about putting the Sailfin Tang and the Webb Burr Puffer together. Are tangs and puffers generally OK to put together.

I also have another question in regards to Webb Burr Puffers.

My boyfriend loves this type of fish, but every attempt at him keeping one has failed, every time he gets one it gets ick and dies. Ick seems to be a real problem for him in his tank. He gets it gone for months at a time and then all of a sudden, a recurrence (generally of fatal proportions). This in fact happens every time he gets a Webb Burr Puffer. What is the magical secret of keeping this fish.

Thanks

[Monkeyfish]

The only way to get rid of Ich permanently is to leave the display tank fishless for 6 weeks. This encompasses the various stages of the parasite throughout it's life cycle allowing it to die (which will happen without any fish hosts). If this is not done then there will always be Ich in that tank. Afterwards you should quarantine all new fish for at least a week prior to introducing them to the display.

Certain fish are more resistant than others. Burr's can be difficult to keep. Not the hardiest of puffers.

How big is the tank that these 2 fish would be going in? I wouldn't suggest putting a sailfin tang in anything less than a 75g as a juvenile and it will need at least a 125 (preferably larger) tank as he grows.

[gotoneon]

Ich is typically a reaction of one of two things, stress and temperature change. How stable is the system? Larger tanks will have a more stable water temp and typically better water constistancy which means less stress on the fish. I would treat the new puffer for ich in a QT tank reguardless of whether or not it shows signs because comming from a LFS it almost certainly has ich. And like Monkeyfish said, let your main system set without fish during this time. If you have no inverts, which I am guessing you don't because of the puffer, you could hypo the whole tank and try to treat the ich in that manner. Tangs and puffers are the worse two fish for ich, but other then that in a good sized tank they should get along just fine.

[WI Reef Lover]

its actually a 60 gallong tank. He has done the no fish for 6 weeks before which worked, but he does not quarantine and now he is dealing with it again. The fish are starting to look better but now the tang is really picking on the puffer. The tang is a good size so maybe it's at the point where he is getting just too big for this tank especially with another large fish. It's funny this is the first time i've ever seen this sailfin tang act like this. He's usually always been so peaceful with other tankmates.