Please help - Kole Tang doing bad - need advice

[smspring]

I believe this is ich, but i have been treating with No-Ich for a couple weeks now and it's not helping. I havent done hypo because i have some inverts I want to keep alive. Should I pull the poor guy out to do a freshwater dip? here are some photos:

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127728

Thanks,
Scott

[RBU1]

Is he still eating?

[smspring]

He is nibbling on algae around the tank, eating very little of food i put in (Rods, Nori, flakes).

[RBU1]

I would do nothing at this point and see what happens. Keep your water quality good and hope he continues to eat. In my opinion if you try to move him now he will only die from the stress of moving him. You have a 50/50 chance of him fighting it off and pulling thru. After it clears up then you have to decide if you want to remove and treat all your fish and leave your tank fallow for 8-10 weeks.

[smspring]

Well... I found him dead this morning. Not too happy about it. The other fish I have is a lawnmower blenny, a longnose hawk, and a wrasse. They all seem to be doing very well, no symptoms. I'll watch them.

I've read mixed things on leaving a tank fish-free for 10-12 weeks... will that really clear it up?

[RBU1]

Yes because there is no host for the parasite to live off of....Sorry to hear about the tang.

[smspring]

Thanks RBU1

[RBU1]

No problem, Good Luck

[ArtemisGoldfish]

Well... I found him dead this morning. Not too happy about it. The other fish I have is a lawnmower blenny, a longnose hawk, and a wrasse. They all seem to be doing very well, no symptoms. I'll watch them.

I've read mixed things on leaving a tank fish-free for 10-12 weeks... will that really clear it up?

Fallow is going to be the highest chance at eradicating the problem with 99.9% effectiveness. The .1 accounts for that "x" factor. All reef safe treatments are garbage. The two most effective solutions are copper and hyposalinity, with the former being more effective than the latter.

As for duration, Anything above 8 weeks is only going to improve aggregates regarding overall effectiveness. 6-8 is the general consensus. I've used 8 with great success.

The mixed results people experience are due to 99.9% user error with the .1 being attributed to some "x" factor of the parasite.

One thing to keep in mind is that the super long life cycles of the parasite are only witnessed in colder waters. The water temperature we use in our tanks rules this issue out.

[sdusky]

Add a little Garlic to the food. This will help the fish keep eating, and I swear there is something about the garlic that helps fight the ick (not proven). It worked for me.

[smspring]

Fallow is going to be the highest chance at eradicating the problem with 99.9% effectiveness. The .1 accounts for that "x" factor. All reef safe treatments are garbage. The two most effective solutions are copper and hyposalinity, with the former being more effective than the latter.

As for duration, Anything above 8 weeks is only going to improve aggregates regarding overall effectiveness. 6-8 is the general consensus. I've used 8 with great success.

The mixed results people experience are due to 99.9% user error with the .1 being attributed to some "x" factor of the parasite.

One thing to keep in mind is that the super long life cycles of the parasite are only witnessed in colder waters. The water temperature we use in our tanks rules this issue out.

How do you treat a tank with copper if there are inverts? I've also heard that the substrate/rocks can absorb the copper, and is dangerous even after the copper is removed from the tank... is that true?

[SaltwaterAdict]

How do you treat a tank with copper if there are inverts? I've also heard that the substrate/rocks can absorb the copper, and is dangerous even after the copper is removed from the tank... is that true?

Yes, you are correct, copper will kill all inverts/corals in the tank and do immense damage to the bacterial population in your tank. I would leave things be and everything should clear up as long as your feeding healthy and keeping up with WC's. I wouldn't do anything extreme at this point. I would presume the fish was caught by cyanide poison which attributes to the very skinny fish. I had the same issue with my naso tang before, he would not eat anything and slowly began to get skinnier and skinnier. I bought another naso and he eats like a champ and is very plump and healthy. The yellow eye kole tangs are very nice fish and I'd try another one if I were you. Could very easily been a sickly fish to begin with. Make sure they're nice and plump in the store. Take note this is not your fault as long as you were offering him a variety of foods and he wouldn't eat. Looks like you did everything possible. Sorry for your loss.

[SaltwaterAdict]

Add a little Garlic to the food. This will help the fish keep eating, and I swear there is something about the garlic that helps fight the ick (not proven). It worked for me.

+1 Sdusky, selcon/garlic are great for strengthening the fish and has worked wonders for me as well. How's your tank doing, did you get that 125 set up?

[ArtemisGoldfish]

I'll clarify. Copper is for your quarantine tank, NOT for your display tank.

Everything you stated regarding the dangers of it is correct and is why it should be used in controlled situations and why your QT should not have a substrate* or porous decorations.

*: Some critters need substrates in quarantine...

Quarantine everything....

Regarding the Cyanide poisoning...the fish being skinny is not indicative of this problem. For that the fish would suffer a myriad of neurological and physiological side effects, such as the inability to swim straight, keep afloat, erratic swimming behavior and so forth. Not eating is a secondary effect of a larger issue.

Selcon is good, garlic is hit or miss.

Some studies link garlic to hepatoxicity in fish, so take that for what its worth. Similarly, the effect upon a fish's diet is based upon uncontrolled studies.