Ich?

[nomar5050]

Hoping to get an ID on what's wrong with the yellow belly hippo tang. I just picked him up from the pet store earlier today and he showed zero signs of Ich. He seemed to acclimate to the tank fine. But it's been about 9 hours and it looks like he has developed pretty serious ich. He's fins seem to still be working when he is just sitting at the bottom of the tank switching between upright and laying down.

I bought him and 2 clownfish today and they were actually the first fish in the tank. I've had ich in a cichlid tank before and it seemed to be a much slower progression.

I've recently added new water to the tank and I have noticed some sand on the glass sides. But I thought if it was sand particles, it would be on the clownfish too

Is the ich diagnosis correct? Any help on treatment? Thanks

(Yes I have seen the other threads on ich but just wanted to make sure I was making the correct diagnosis first)

 

[omykiss001]

Very bad case of ich, or might be velvet. With that may spots so quickly I'd lean toward velvet. You'll need to get him out into a hospital tank ASAP and start copper treatment or CP if velvet. Generally tons of fine small sugar grain specks is velvet if more like salt grain ich. In any case does not look good if was only 9 hours. Look at the stickys above for treatment options and what to do with your tank. Any inverts? If so you'll need to go fallow if velvet otherwise any new fish is prone to getting it, you'll also need to treat all the other fish too. @Humblefish might have a definitive diagnosis one way or the other.

 

[omykiss001]

And @melypr1985

 

[melypr1985]

That looks exactly like velvet to me. I'd get him and the clowns out and QT with copper or CP and leave the display fallow for 6 weeks

 

[melypr1985]

some of the dots do look a little large to be velvet but with the amount of them and the quickness of it showing up, I'm going with velvet.

 

[gashunk]

Because it's a hippo tang DONT use cp it's bad for hippos do the copper treatment I'm on day 2 of my treatment rite now and all is doing good @domination2580 can help and [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] will be more useful then I can

 

[Humblefish]

Could be ich or velvet (its a close call), but I wouldn't take any chances. Copper treats both: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/

Don't use CP on a Hippo Tang.

 

[melypr1985]

I think it's just habit to mention CP every time! I'm glad you guys are here to correct me when I do that! geeze, what a bone head I am today!

 

[omykiss001]

Thanks forgot Hepatus tangs and CP don't go well together

 

[nomar5050]

So since I'm a newbie and don't have a QT set up... Am I SOL? Or is it worth getting 5 gal tank tomorrow with a sponge filter and transferring some of the salt water over? Can I QT all three fish in the same tank?

The only other things in the tank are hermit crabs...

I really appreciate all of the replies and assistance. Thank you

 

[melypr1985]

So since I'm a newbie and don't have a QT set up... Am I SOL? Or is it worth getting 5 gal tank tomorrow with a sponge filter and transferring some of the salt water over? Can I QT all three fish in the same tank?

The only other things in the tank are hermit crabs...

I really appreciate all of the replies and assistance. Thank you

Your not SOL at all. You can absolutely set up a QT and treat all 3 fish together. A 10 gallon might be better for you though with a power filter on the back. But you want to get it set up as quickly as you can just in case. Grab an ammonia alert badge, coppersafe, Stability (or similar product), a heater -if you dont have an extra, and some pvc elbows for them to hide in. An air pump and air stone never hurt either.

 

[domination2580]

That would be velvet. Melypr1985 has it. What you will want to do is a freshwater dip to relieve the stress. To do this, fill a bucket of fresh rodi water, raise the temp to the temp of the tank. Aerate it for AT LEAST 30 min before you dip the fish in. Once it is ready to be dipped, put the fish in the bucket and observe closely. Id say 10 minutes top but most reccomend 5. Make sure you watch the fish very closely especialy for difficulty breathing. Cp can be harsh to tangs so id go with copper or formalin. Set up a qt tank. Dose to the thearaputic levels over 5 days. Start off slow. Do water changes when is needed such as high ammonia. Wouldn't hurt to aerate the qt for more oxygen. Remember to keep the thearaputic levels at all times even after suet changes. Leave the display tank fallow for 72 days minimum.

 

[nomar5050]

Your not SOL at all. You can absolutely set up a QT and treat all 3 fish together. A 10 gallon might be better for you though with a power filter on the back.

If I use a power filter though, I would just be using mechanical filtration right? Again, I know more about FW tanks, but in a FW QT, you can't use biological filtration (that is in most power filters) because it will take out the medicines from the water. Is it the same thing for salt water?

Also, unfortunately when I woke up this morning, I am unable to find the tang in the tank. I was a bit late for work so I wasn't able to move the live rock to check under it, but I'm assuming the tang died over night. Should I still QT the clowns even though they show no sign of velvet? Can I still add new coral to the tank or should I hold off on that as well?

 

[melypr1985]

You need the biological filtration in a SW QT. You'll remove the carbon and only use a sponge to harbor the bacteria you need. Definitely QT all the fish in the tank and treat with copper. Leave the tank fallow (fishless) for a minimum of 6 weeks. You can add corals during this time but I suggest doing it early in the fallow period then not adding any more after that.

 

[domination2580]

Melypr has you covered sir