Blue tang with ich, help with management.

[konatown]

Hi everyone. I have a blue tang that has been battling ich for 2-3 weeks now since I got her. All other fish in the tank are showing no signs.



I have decided to do Ich eradication on my next tank. However, for now I’d like to manage as best I can. I have read a lot about ich (jay and humble) and understand there’s no beating it without treating the whole tank.. but I’d like her to start showing some signs of progress for now so I can manage it from here on out.



I got a scopas tang that was very skinny. Once I got it, it had a pretty good ich outbreak also. But with stability and good feeding, it has beaten the ich for now and is very fat and healthy. I was hoping the blue tang would get over ich, but it’s not getting better. The cysts are big and the scratching is constant.



I do want to say that the blue tang is acting very happy, eating like crazy and otherwise normal. However I was hoping the blue would have gotten over it a bit quicker like the scopas did. They fought a little for the first few days, but are mostly friends now, so there’s little stress from aggression.



I plan on continuing stability and feeding well (they get Larry’s, pe mysis, and nori on a daily basis), and I plan to add some selcon to their food from now on. Is there anything else I can do? She scratches a lot and I just feel really bad for dory.

 

[resortez]

It all depends on what type of system you have & the type of animals you’re housing. Approach is limited if you’re housing invertebrates & coral. If it’s FOWLRS, then you can throw everything at it. We would need a quick rundown of your system, history, numbers & tank mates in order to suggest in how to approach your problem with ich.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi everyone. I have a blue tang that has been battling ich for 2-3 weeks now since I got her. All other fish in the tank are showing no signs.



I have decided to do Ich eradication on my next tank. However, for now I’d like to manage as best I can. I have read a lot about ich (jay and humble) and understand there’s no beating it without treating the whole tank.. but I’d like her to start showing some signs of progress for now so I can manage it from here on out.



I got a scopas tang that was very skinny. Once I got it, it had a pretty good ich outbreak also. But with stability and good feeding, it has beaten the ich for now and is very fat and healthy. I was hoping the blue tang would get over ich, but it’s not getting better. The cysts are big and the scratching is constant.



I do want to say that the blue tang is acting very happy, eating like crazy and otherwise normal. However I was hoping the blue would have gotten over it a bit quicker like the scopas did. They fought a little for the first few days, but are mostly friends now, so there’s little stress from aggression.



I plan on continuing stability and feeding well (they get Larry’s, pe mysis, and nori on a daily basis), and I plan to add some selcon to their food from now on. Is there anything else I can do? She scratches a lot and I just feel really bad for dory.

Based on the symptoms and what I can see in the photo, I think your first course of action is to confirm that it is indeed ich. The spots look kind of large, and scratching isn’t a common symptom of ich.
Can you try for some clearer pictures and perhaps a short video taken under white lights?

Of course, fish can have multiple problems at the same time!
Jay

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Looks like ich. You have 2 options. 1. Treat display tank with copper (in which case that tank and everything in it will be tainted and cannot be used for anything sensitive to copper). 2. Move fish to quarantine tank and treat with copper.

Your display tank is now seeded with ich. So the only way you can get rid of it is to remove all inhabitants and have a fallow period of at least 30 days.

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

can you possibly get a better picture? in this one the spots look a little too large to fit ich - kali

 

[mike89t]

How big is that tang? Hard to tell in the photo.

 

[konatown]

Based on the symptoms and what I can see in the photo, I think your first course of action is to confirm that it is indeed ich. The spots look kind of large, and scratching isn’t a common symptom of ich.
Can you try for some clearer pictures and perhaps a short video taken under white lights?

Of course, fish can have multiple problems at the same time!
Jay

Hey jay thabks for chiming in. Yea the spots did get large, this is a small blue tang she’s about two inches long but I did notice the cysts were rather large. And she was doing a lot of itching. Any idea what else this could be?
On a positive note, they are mostly gone and she is doing much much better. Still some slight itching. But she took a couple weeks to battle the outbreak before mostly getting over it, which is why I worried.

Looks like ich. You have 2 options. 1. Treat display tank with copper (in which case that tank and everything in it will be tainted and cannot be used for anything sensitive to copper). 2. Move fish to quarantine tank and treat with copper.

Your display tank is now seeded with ich. So the only way you can get rid of it is to remove all inhabitants and have a fallow period of at least 30 days.

I have corals so I’d have to use a qt tank. I will on my next build. For now I’m trying to manage as best I can.

can you possibly get a better picture? in this one the spots look a little too large to fit ich - kali

Thanks. Most of the spots are gone now. She’s only two inches long but yes the spots did look rather large. Any idea what that could be?

How big is that tang? Hard to tell in the photo.

It’s about 2 inches.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey jay thabks for chiming in. Yea the spots did get large, this is a small blue tang she’s about two inches long but I did notice the cysts were rather large. And she was doing a lot of itching. Any idea what else this could be?
On a positive note, they are mostly gone and she is doing much much better. Still some slight itching. But she took a couple weeks to battle the outbreak before mostly getting over it, which is why I worried.

I have corals so I’d have to use a qt tank. I will on my next build. For now I’m trying to manage as best I can.

Thanks. Most of the spots are gone now. She’s only two inches long but yes the spots did look rather large. Any idea what that could be?

It’s about 2 inches.

Just beware - when ich first starts up, the cysts are all in sync and they drop off around the same time, then replicate and re-attach the fish in larger numbers. Just keep a close eye on things!

Scratching is often a symptom of flukes, but sometimes you see that with ich, just not as often.

Jay

 

[konatown]

Just beware - when ich first starts up, the cysts are all in sync and they drop off around the same time, then replicate and re-attach the fish in larger numbers. Just keep a close eye on things!

Scratching is often a symptom of flukes, but sometimes you see that with ich, just not as often.

Jay

Gotcha, thanks. I have a scopas in the tank also, it got an outbreak when it was new. And then completely went away in a week or so. She is very fat and happy now, and didn’t get a single spot when I introduced the blue tang. Then the blue had a pretty bad outbreak when I added it, likely due to the stress of buying it, but it didn’t go away for over two weeks. Now that it has finally gonna away, she is also gaining weight, I am going to try to keep them as stress free as possible. But will definitely keep an eye out.

I’ve read a lot of your info and a lot from humble fish. I appreciate your response! I lost some fish recently and researched the hell out of ich and almost went full on eradication, but I’m still new in the hobby (6 months) and didn’t want an empty tank for the next 3 months. I’m going to manage for now and continue learning.. my next tank will 100% be absolute eradication.

The cysts did get really large, is there anything I can start researching to see if that might be it?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Gotcha, thanks. I have a scopas in the tank also, it got an outbreak when it was new. And then completely went away in a week or so. She is very fat and happy now, and didn’t get a single spot when I introduced the blue tang. Then the blue had a pretty bad outbreak when I added it, likely due to the stress of buying it, but it didn’t go away for over two weeks. Now that it has finally gonna away, she is also gaining weight, I am going to try to keep them as stress free as possible. But will definitely keep an eye out.

I’ve read a lot of your info and a lot from humble fish. I appreciate your response! I lost some fish recently and researched the hell out of ich and almost went full on eradication, but I’m still new in the hobby (6 months) and didn’t want an empty tank for the next 3 months. I’m going to manage for now and continue learning.. my next tank will 100% be absolute eradication.

The cysts did get really large, is there anything I can start researching to see if that might be it?

If the cysts are present for more than 36 hours in the same location, it is less likely for them to be an ich trophont. Blue tangs develop "idiopathic mucus plugs" often after a copper treatment. This could be them.

Jay