Help! Ich, velvet or what?

[EntitledSushi]

My Yellow Tang has white spots all over. I know they look blue in the photos but they are white. I bought him last week, he has been eating and seemed fine. The spots appeared overnight. What to do? I don’t have a quarantine tank. Fish store is closed today too.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Looks like ich. At this point, you will need to consider options as I see you have a blue tang and it appears to be a main display. I would check out the disease forums for your next move.
Basically, you can either go fallow and treat all fish or manage the disease in display. Good articles on both. Good luck!

 

[EntitledSushi]

By go fallow, do you mean remove all the fish? If so, that's a problem as I don't have anywhere to put them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Good news and not so good news . . . . . .

The Good:
This is not actual ich but known in the industry as Black spot disease which is caused by a parasite that commonly infests tangs and can be contracted by other fish and mollusks (shellfish) as well. Black spot disease is also called tang disease or black ich, although ich is actually caused by a different type of parasite. The black spots on the fish are tiny Paravortex turbellaria flatworms embedded in the skin of the fish. Black spot parasites are much less dangerous and life-threatening, and easier to treat, compared to protozoan parasites such as Oodinium, Crypto and Brooklynella. It is a problem where infected tangs with these parasites need to be treated.

Now the bad:
The treatment starts first with a freshwater dip which is effective on these worms. After a freshwater dip, you will give the fish a formailin bath and continue treatment in a quarantine tank. Praziquantel has been used with some success to treat affected fish in quarantine tanks BUT IT IS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND THIS, FORMALIN AND QUICK CURE PRODUCT.
You can dilute formaldehyde to a 35% solution but you must be accurate with dilution.

 

[vetteguy53081]

By go fallow, do you mean remove all the fish? If so, that's a problem as I don't have anywhere to put them.

A simple 20 gallon tank with a hang on back power filter and a basic heater will suffice ( about a $60 investment if you buy a starter aquarium kit at walmart.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I have not dealt with this one. Will it affect his blue tang too? Curious if this particular disease spreads much.

 

[EntitledSushi]

Unfortunately I can't color correct the images on my phone and I'm not able to get to a computer right now. The spots are definitely white. Does that change the diagnosis at all?

How much time do I have? Do I need to stop now and deal with this immediately? Or is tonight OK?

 

[EntitledSushi]

A simple 20 gallon tank with a hang on back power filter and a basic heater will suffice ( about a $60 investment if you buy a starter aquarium kit at walmart.

This is very good info. The bigger issue is that if a second fish tank arrives it will likely be the end of my marriage. I'll have to think about this one a bit ...

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is very good info. The bigger issue is that if a second fish tank arrives it will likely be the end of my marriage. I'll have to think about this one a bit ...

Its a small treatment tank for the health of your specimens, not a second tank

 

[Qasimja]

Its a small treatment tank for the health of your specimens, not a second tank

somehow i dont think his wife will understand the difference if shes going to complain about a second tank lol

 

[EntitledSushi]

OK, so it looks like I will be setting up a quarantine tank. I read through a bunch of threads on here and came up with the following list. Anything else I need?

1. Aqueon LED 20 Gallon kit (Glass Aquarium, Low Profile LED Hood, QuietFlow Power Filter, Filter Cartridge, Submersible Preset Heater)
2. Ruby Reef Rally Pro (alternative to Formalin)
3. Seachem Cupramine
4. Seachem Kanaplex Antibiotic
5. Seachem Ammonia Alert
6. 20 gallons saltwater

 

[vetteguy53081]

OK, so it looks like I will be setting up a quarantine tank. I read through a bunch of threads on here and came up with the following list. Anything else I need?

1. Aqueon LED 20 Gallon kit (Glass Aquarium, Low Profile LED Hood, QuietFlow Power Filter, Filter Cartridge, Submersible Preset Heater)
2. Ruby Reef Rally Pro (alternative to Formalin)
3. Seachem Cupramine
4. Seachem Kanaplex Antibiotic
5. Seachem Ammonia Alert
6. 20 gallons saltwater

While treating, make sure there is no carbon

 

[DeniseAndy]

You may want an air pump and airstones too. I always run them for o2 exchange in my qts. Make sure the filter return breaks the surface of the water too.

 

[EntitledSushi]

Time for update and a couple more questions. Based on the availability of materials I had to adjust the above stock a bit.

1. Bought a 10G Tetra tank kit including cover, lights, and HOB filter. Removed carbon for filter pouch so now there is just an empty filter bag and a sponge-like material in there. Filled with fresh saltwater and let it run for a while.

2. Caught Yellow Tang (that was an adventure) and put him in a same temperature (78 degrees) freshwater dip for 5 minutes. For the first couple minutes he was lying on his side in the bucket and I was sure I had just killed him. But then he righted himself and started swimming around.

3. Transferred him to a bucket of saltwater with Seachem Paraguard for a 60 minute dip. This time he got stuck to the fish net and wouldn't let go. I was at a loss for what to do. I left him for a minute in the water, stuck to the net while I went to get some gloves. In the meantime, he freed himself thankfully.

4. Transferred him to the QT along with the small recommended dose of Paraguard for long term treatment.

Question 1: Directions suggest keeping him in the QT for 28 days, adding 5ml Paraguard daily. Does that seem OK?

Question 2: The QT smells bad. I'm sure the lack of carbon filtration and generous feeding isn't helping. Is there anything I can do about that since I can't add carbon?

 

[TheOldSalt]

Don't feed so much, and give your mechanical filter sponge a daily rinse. This will keep things cleaner.
You might have to do a water change it two along the way.

The pattern of spots on the fish really look like worms more than "ickies," but we'll assume the worst. It could be Cryptocaryon instead of the more common ick, and that would explain the look. That would be good news, too, because Crypto is not as deadly.

The fact that your Tang is still alive is a good sign. Oodinium is usually a very rapid killer, and most of the damage is done to the gills where you don't even see the spots.

Keep doing daily freshwater dips. They are very helpful.
Saltwater fish give themselves freshwater baths every time it rains, so don't worry about stressing them.

Tangs are often called "ick magnets" for good reason.
Every saltwater fish in the petshop IS carrying disease. Period. You must quarantine new fish. If you don't, you will have nothing but problems.

 

[EntitledSushi]

Yellow Tang wasn't eating so I tested ammonia in the Quarantine Tank today even tough the ammonia badge was OK. It is 8ppm! I've been doing 20% water changes every couple of days. I don't know what else to do. Seems like I can't add anything to filter out the ammonia because it will also filter out the medicine. Maybe go to 50% water changes? Any suggestions would be appreciated.