Achilles tang has ich...maybe?

[psimitry]

X-Posted from Disease forum

So I picked up an achilles tang about 2 months ago. Was ich free at the time of purchase, and had been at the store for quite a while without showing any symptoms (I think for about a month). He's been eating nouri and other meaty fish foods ever sinec I put it in the tank - overall he's been quite the model fish.

Recently though I've been noticing he's been doing some itching on the sandbed. I started looking for white spots, and indeed there is a few. So I think he has ick - but here's the kicker:

He also has what looks like a small bubble on his dorsal fin on the left side. When he itches, he ONLY itches that side. And he will be usually white-spot free in the morning and the white spots only show up AFTER he itches.

He still eats like a pig thoughand he doesn't appear to be showing any stress other than the itching.

Whaddaya think of that??

Sidenote: In the eventuality that it IS ick, what is the procedure for disinfecting a reef tank? I can build a pair of non-reef hospital tanks that I can either go hyposaline, copper, etc, but I don't really have enough hospital room for ALL my fish.

[Untamed12]

Well....if there is ich in your system, the Achilles will find it. I have it in my system, and the Achilles nearly always has some sign of it.

There are 18 fish in the system, and the Achilles and the Lookdown are the only two that show symptoms.

As it is about impossible to catch all the fish and leave the tank fallow for 11 weeks...I'm just living with it.

[Kannin]

Soak the food in Garlic Extreme and add some flow. A Koralia 2 would be great. He will swim directly into the flow.

[abulgin]

Picture please.

[ExoticSteve]

I a found that the addition of TM immuvit also gives them a great boost, along with the garlic, you should have a winnig situation!
Good luck!!

[guppychao]

hook up an uv sterilzer?

[abulgin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12943699#post12943699 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by guppychao
hook up an uv sterilzer?

These really aren't effective in ridding a system of Ich, and they do come with their "cons".

From Anthony Calfo:

"UV sterilizers do a terrible job of preventing Ich. You money would have been much better spent (and less of it) on a hospital tank that all new fish go through first. These quarantine tanks (QT) prevent Ich from entering your display through faithful screening and treatment. ***The problem with a UV sterilizer for controlling pathogens is that they have a narrow range that they will work in. The UV lamp must be less than 6 months old, the water MUST be prefiltered of all particulate matter (sediment free), the tank water MUST be crystal clear (heavy frequent use of carbon else discolorants reduce efficacy of UV light), the UV chamber must be frequently cleaned of sediment and organic slime buildup inside or light is blocked (just look at how much slime builds on power filter tuber in one month), the water flow must be rather slow as per mfg rating for kill time and the bulb must be sufficiently intense to handle the rate of turnover for the tank. And even after all of those things have been satisfied, it can only denature the parasites that are run through it... some may travel through the water and attach to fish without ever traveling through the UV! For disease control Ozone is easier, much more effective but easier to abuse. My vote is always for a QT tank for all new and sick fish"

More here:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/bizuvs.htm

The better solution to this problem would be to study the fish to make sure that the spots are not detritus or air bubbles. If the fish is in fact infected, the best approach would be to remove all fish to a hospital tank and allow the main tank to go fishless for 6 weeks, while treating the fish in hospital appropriately.

If you post a picture, that will help us determine whether your fish has ich.

[psimitry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12943779#post12943779 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abulgin

The better solution to this problem would be to study the fish to make sure that the spots are not detritus or air bubbles. If the fish is in fact infected, the best approach would be to remove all fish to a hospital tank and allow the main tank to go fishless for 6 weeks, while treating the fish in hospital appropriately.

If you post a picture, that will help us determine whether your fish has ich.

While I agree that it would be a MUCH better solution to remove the fish to a hospital tank, I'm not sure that it would be feasible to do so. If it was just the achilles tang, yeah I could probably do it. But I have a 50 gallon tank as my hospital tank and I don't think that my 2 clowns, achilles tang, 4-line wrasse, and coral beauty angel would like it all that much if they were in a single tank about 1/3 their normal tank size together for 6 weeks.