Please help with Regal tang

[mr_anderson]

Hi, I have been reading about dipping fish into freshwater to help rid tangs from Ich/parasites. I have a few questions some of you experts can answer.

1. how long should I dip for? (i've heard up to 10 minutes)
2. do I have to acclimate the fish when I'm ready to place him back into the main tank?

My look is eating fine and is swimming but he has some small white dots that looks to be ich. I'm just wanting to help him out if I can.


Thanks ahead.

[kar93]

IMO regals are "ich magnets" not chick, ich. Ive never FW dipped but i would recommend hypo in QT

[Twz]

i wouldnt dip it,
most of the time they die from shock,
i'd do QT
But if you do i just looked it up in my book and it said about 60 seconds and no longer then 4 minutes
And i would Acclimate the fish (Quickly Do it But still do it)
But i would seek further information.

Kyle.

[yoboyjdizz]

I would avoid fresh water dips as well if possible.. For tangs, hypo is a good treatment. Adding garlic, selcon and vita-chem to their daily feedings and increasing the feedings can help fight it off naturally if not overall too bad and giving the fish is eating.

[poppin_fresh]

I quick FW dip probably wont rid the fish of ICH. Treatment by copper or Hyposalinity is probably the best methods.

I would observe a little longer, but also make sure the tang is well fed. With a proper diet many fish can shrug off a minor case of ICH.

[hahnmeister]

QT it in a reef with at least 250 gallons... being in a tank that is too small can be a cause for the stress in the first place.

[mr_anderson]

OK, I guess I'll do the hypo treatment but have one more question.

Do you acclimate the tang when it goes into hypo and then acclimate again after the treatment going back into the main tank?

[poppin_fresh]

Hypo takes weeks. You will need to acclimate it to the QT tank...very slowly (over a couple days) bring the salinity down and hold it there for a couple weeks. Then you will need to very slowly bring the salinity back up to normal. You will then need to reacclimate the tang to the display parameters before transferring it back.

Its not for the faint of heart...or the lazy.