How to catch my 2" Blue Tang for treatment?

[SeahawkMom]

Before I go and rent/buy a fish trap, I was wonder if anyone had success with the DIY waterbottle traps? I easily caught my bully six-line wrasse with a small one I made. I was amazed! Has anyone had success with a "DIY waterbottle trap" on a small tang? I've tried treating my DT with PraziPro for my Blue Tang having "black ich" flukes. I've done 3 cycles, and the flukes keep coming back. I want to put him in a separate QT, and freshwater dip and keep him in PraziPro for a few weeks to make sure he's totally clean. At the same time I will treat my DT with PraziPro so any eggs/larvae are killed. (I don't see flukes on my other fish yet - Clowns & Mandarin). My question is which trap to use to catch the guy. He's active and eating. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm not sure that a bottle trap will work on that fish. Tang turbellarian (black ich) sometimes does not respond to praziquantel. Here is a section from my upcoming book about it:

Turbellarian Infection (a.k.a. black spot disease, black ich, tang disease)
Turbellarians are a group of worms related to trematodes. They often go undiagnosed as a cause of active infections in fishes except for one group: Paravortex sp.

Cause and symptoms
Since this disease is often seen in newly acquired fish, the suspicion is that the fish bring the disease with them and become infected due to the transport stress they endure.

This parasite causes very distinctive black spots on some species of fish, most notably tangs and surgeonfish. Other fish that may become infected with Paravortex include butterflyfishes, angelfishes, gobies, and jawfishes.

The worm encysts under the fish’s skin, and the fish deposits black melanin pigment as a reaction to the infection. Since these spots are so apparent to even the casual observer, this disease is easily diagnosed, even by beginning aquarists.

Often self-limiting
The problem is that this sometimes causes the aquarist to overreact and begin a treatment that actually might be more harmful than the disease itself. It turns out that many cases of Paravortex infections are self-limiting; unless tank conditions are very poor, the worms often die out and the infection goes away on its own.

Only if the spots increase greatly in number (more than 20 spots on a fish) or the fish begin showing other signs of ill health should a treatment be undertaken.

Cleanliness counts
Some aquarists have reported that careful siphon-cleaning of the aquarium substrate and improving overall cleanliness in the aquarium helps to reduce this infection. It is possible that Paravortex has a non-parasitic, free-living form at one stage of its life cycle and that careful cleaning will remove the parasite at that point.

Some turbellarians are tougher to diagnosis
There are other turbellarians that do not cause melanistic skin changes in fish and are much more difficult to diagnose. Ichthyophaga is one type known to infect fishes and can cause significant fish loss in crowded conditions. Diagnosis of this parasite generally requires a skin scrape.

It’s also noteworthy that treatment with freshwater dips may contort the worm’s body shape so much that positive identification is difficult. In some cases, no real symptoms are seen until fish loss occurs. Under the microscope, look for an oval-shaped worm with a pair of dark eyespots.

Treatment options
Because turbellarians cause a fairly deep-seated infection, they are difficult to remove using freshwater dips or other topical treatments. Other treatment options that have been utilized with varying degrees of effectiveness include:
● Praziquantel at 2 mg/l is a safe, commonly used treatment for this malady, but for some reason, it is not always effective.
● A 45-minute formalin dip at 166 ppm can be effective, but then the fish must be moved to a non-infected aquarium.
● Chloroquine at 15 ppm has been shown to be an effective treatment, but some fish may experience toxic reactions at this dose.
● Organophosphate pesticides, such as Trichlorfon (Dylox), have been the treatment of choice for many years but cannot be recommended due to their potential toxicity to humans.
● Copper treatments are ineffective, at least at the concentrations well tolerated by fish.

Jay

 

[jtf74]

I use a cheap clear plastic bug box w/ lid hung on the side of the glass with weighted down nori inside for catching tangs. Don't feed for a day and let it get comfortable eating inside the box then pull the lid shut with fishing string. Usually takes a day or two but always worked for me as long as the tang eats nori off the clip already.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I always use fish traps and successfully
The strategy I use is to bait it with brine shrimp But leave it open and let it eat and build trut with trap. The next day I bait it again but this time, I release the string when it enters. First pic is the type i use

 

[SeahawkMom]

Thank you Jay, Jtf74 & vetteguy! Great info! Much appreciated! I have my QT tank setup and ready for my tang. I'll go with Jay's recmmended conservative approach to start. I forgot to mention I had him home for a couple weeks and all was fine, then the black dots showed up.

I'm done with the 3rd round of PraziPro, and there's still some remaining black spots on his "nose", and a few tiny ones on his side. It cleared up with the 2 rounds of PraziPro, then it came back, hence the 3rd round. His one cloudy eye that showed up with the 2nd infection has cleared up, and less spots than 4 days ago, so that's promising. I've turned the skimmer back on and put carbon in. I'll stop the PraziPro at this point, as it's likely ineffective in my DT after 3 treatments. I'll start doing do quick vacuums of my sand bed 3 times a week for the next month to suck up as much of the eggs/larvae as possible, along with weekly water changes. He eats like a pig, is active, and has regular poops.

If I see an increase in the black dots or cloudy eyes, then I'll get the Trap-eze to catch him and treat in the QT tank. I've been trying to feed nori for the past couple days on a cheap plastic clip, but it moves around alot and he seems afraid of it and won't go near it. He love the frozen food with mysis shrimp, so that's likely what I'll bait the trap with. I'll look into the other medicating options mentioned. I've also ordered Fembendazole, but I know it shortens lifespans, so it's more a last resort.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[rwreef]

I've always had luck with using a plastic jug/bottle. I like using a Tropicana bottle , cut top off, place a plastic baggie over the cut hole. Cut a slit into the baggie and rubber band it to around the new opening. Then push the baggie inward into the container. Place food for bait and wait!. I've had 100% success with this over the years. I've caught a couple of tangs, marbled wrasse...it just take patience.

 

[SeahawkMom]

I've always had luck with using a plastic jug/bottle. I like using a Tropicana bottle , cut top off, place a plastic baggie over the cut hole. Cut a slit into the baggie and rubber band it to around the new opening. Then push the baggie inward into the container. Place food for bait and wait!. I've had 100% success with this over the years. I've caught a couple of tangs, marbled wrasse...it just take patience.

Cool! Thanks for the suggestion! How much slack do you have on the plastic baggie? Is it like a small ziploc sandwich size baggie? Larger? Also how big a slit do you cut? Slightly bigger then height of fish, twice the height? I’m assuming you don’t want too big a hole, right?

 

[rwreef]

I use a sandwich size baggie. Correct, the hole slightly bigger than the fish. Once the fish goes in they cannot figure out how to exit the trap.

 

[SeahawkMom]

I use a sandwich size baggie. Correct, the hole slightly bigger than the fish. Once the fish goes in they cannot figure out how to exit the trap.

Thank you! Time to get some orange juice!

 

[SeahawkMom]

Update: My Tang is looking even better today in my DT, so I may not have to hurry to finish that orange juice. Fingers crossed.

 

[SeahawkMom]

Update: Looks like the 3rd round of PraziPro and frequent sand vacuuming worked. Tang is definitely all better, and now nori trained, so he's eating like pig and has a big fat belly. No need to catch him after all. Hopefully no more reinfections. We'll at least now I have a QT tank all set up for future purchases, and have a great tip for catching him if I ever need to. Thanks again!