Blue Tang and Ich

[aykim2188]

Are blue tang really that susceptible to ICH? I am reading everywhere that they are very prone to and one person even said 90% of them will get it sooner or later?!

[SleepyJ]

Blue Tangs do have a reputation for getting ich. I don't know if 90% is entirely accurate or if there is a truly established percentage. If you plan on getting one, make sure you have a quarantine tank set up.

[bhammer]

If you QT your fish before placing in the DT, you should not have any issues with Ich.

[DetroitReefer]

If you QT your fish before placing in the DT, you should not have any issues with Ich.

Unless the Hippo gets stressed, or angry, or gets water on it...

Blue Hippos are VERY probe to ICH. it's not really a full-on communicable ICH. mine has had it off and on for months. If she gets stressed, two little white spots appear on her sides and she itches on the rocks for a week, then it goes away with no transmission to my other fish.

[jbird69]

When I got my blue nearly 2 years ago, It was quarentined, it still got ich. It survived, ther was no sign of ich in the tank for 18 months. I upgraded to a larger tank, Added ONLY the contents of the former tank. The tang broke out in a very light infection with no outside influence. He cleared up pretty quick. I added two new quarentined, copper treated tangs a month later. Everything was peachy for 6 weeks. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, all three tangs came down with it. I just lost my powder brown. My blue and yellow tangs are recovering but not out of it yet.

If youve heard that a tank thats had no sign of ich for 3 months (or whatever) the ich wont survive... Believe me, its not true. My tank was apparently ich free for a year and a half and it came back.

[bhammer]

Unless the Hippo gets stressed, or angry, or gets water on it...

Blue Hippos are VERY probe to ICH. it's not really a full-on communicable ICH. mine has had it off and on for months. If she gets stressed, two little white spots appear on her sides and she itches on the rocks for a week, then it goes away with no transmission to my other fish.

IMO you don't have an Ich problem. Ich isn't just a couple white spots. That could be a number of things.

If the tank ever gets intorduced to ich then you have to get rid of it the correct way. Ich has to come from somewhere.

[jenglish]

Tangs have a thinner slime coat than other fish making it easier for them to break out all over. Their ability to deal with this parasite is not an issue in the wild where they will be far away by the time the ich they drop looks for a host again. If they are in a system without ich they won't ever get it despite this lowered defense. Tangs get white spots from stress that are different from ich, just part of their coloration.

[MaineReef22]

They are prone to it but if your not stressing them out you shouldnt have anything to worry about but in the case it does get it the last thing you wanna do is start adding all kinds of medicine. What you want to do is start feeding a lot of nori seaweed because it builds a strong immune system which will help the tang fight off the ich then just double up on the water changes for a little while until its gone. My hippo got it about a month after i got him i didnt quarantine him i just left him alone and fed him lots of nori and he was fine in no time and it didnt spread to the other tang or clownfish. A year later and hes never got it again i think once they have gotten it once there system builds up an immunity to it kinda like the chicken pox. So in a way its good if they get it once but if there getting it a lot there is something stressing them out either you or something in the tank.

[aykim2188]

The LFS I go to puts copper in the tanks they sell the tangs in. Is that good enough?

[RBU1]

The LFS I go to puts copper in the tanks they sell the tangs in. Is that good enough?

As long as the tang has been in the fish stores tank for 3 weeks or so. Copper will only kill the free floating stage of ich. So if the fish just came in to the store the copper in the system will do nothing for you.

[bertoni]

I would set up a quarantine system, and run 8 weeks of hypo (SG 1.009) on a tang, or use the transfer method.

[dossfj]

QT it and hope for the best. All tangs are extra susceptible but if we are all responsible fishkeepers and provide good tanks with healthy water stress is generally kept minimal.. When buying the tang just make sure you get one that is feeding and has been at the LFS for several weeks at least already. And if you don't have corals, or plan on ever getting them with current Live rock, then ich can be treated in your display tank using copper-based medication very easily. Copper only harms invertebrates.

[aykim2188]

I have a second tank that is running and it doesn't any live rock...but it does have live sand -________-..can I still use it as a QT tank?

[bertoni]

After you have set up a biological filter for it, that should be fine. I'd get something like an AquaClear or maybe a sponge filter. If you don't mind doing a huge amount of water changes and dosing a lot of Amquel, you might be able to start now. Live sand won't do any useful amount of filtration.

[aykim2188]

i have a marineland 150 on there...is the aquaclear that much better?

[gnashty]

keep em happy and healthy and you should have no issues

[bertoni]

Any of the little filters are fine if they're rated for the appropriate tank size.