Possible itch diagnosis

[florida reef]

Ok, so today my wife and our foreign exchange student bought me a hippo tang. The tang is about 2" long and looks like he is in really good shape. They bought it from the LFS I always go to. They are reputable and I would like to think they would not have sold my wife a fish that knowingly has itch. I came home from work and to my surprise my wife and exchange student were acclimating it! I was so excited the thought of quarantine didn't even cross my mind. I began to notice some white spots on the tang and immediately thought "itch". Here are two of the best pics I was able to get of him. All you experts out there, tell me what you think. He is acting normal and eating mysis and macro algae. He has not been harassed by any fish that I have seen.

 

[gar732]

It may be just be the stress of a new environment. I just got a pair of flame wrasse that had a quick bout with ick. They didn't have it when I took them out of the box they came in but had a few spots when I got home from work. I've been told a fresh water dip will get rid of it but catching and dipping the fish will stress him out more IMO. I fed garlic soaked food for about a week and it cleared up in less time than that. Garlic is supposed to boost their immune system. As long as its not getting worse and he's eating, I'd stay optimistic. I believe kent makes a garlic product, I just used the juice from minced garlic. There are other products that are reef safe but I have never used them.

 

[MoneyPit]

It looks like what my blue tang has. Here is a link to my thread about ich from a couple weeks ago with more answers. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-discussion/51571-looks-like-ich.html I am dosing No Ich and feeding garlic for the past week with limited results. I still haven't caught my bully of a damsel and I think that is my problem.

 

[jonzee2006]

hippos are noctorius for getting ich. feed him a nori and try to enrich his food with vitachem or something similar just to get his immune system stronger. Mine got it when I first got him and I did this and it was gone in about 2 weeks or so. hippos and powder blues are so ify to start with.

 

[ScottyMcReefer]

Ok, well I got one last year and she was a beut. The next day she started with a little ich on her nosey, and i kind of just let it fly by and before i knew it she exploded with it. Tangs are well known like you said, but watch her carefully. I used "ICHATTACK" and it worked like a charm, its all natural and reef safe. I now dose my live food with a little garlic xtreme and havent seen it since. Garlic does the trick IMO ; )

 

[ScottyMcReefer]

might i add, i also use "zoe" to prevent that lateral line disease....they look fuglyyyyyy if they get that =/

 

[florida reef]

I woke up this morning and there were more white spots and they are more pronounced. The tang is beginning to "itch" himself against the rocks. As so as my LFS opens up I will consult them and buy some garlic and check on the "ITCHATTACK".
Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[altobelli10]

the best thing to do is remove all your fish out of your display tank and quarantine them for at least 6 to 8 weeks drop salinaty to 1.009.The fish needs copper and he needs it now. And if you can get quinicrine hydrocloride which is a malaria medication you could use that with the copper, that will clear the fish in about a day. Freshwater and cleaner fish and shrimp will do nothing to cure ich. If it is ich and you can see very tiny spots all over the fins, it means the gills are loaded with paracites. It is the paracites in the gills that kill the fish, not the ones you see on the fins. They multiply so much that the fish can no longer extract oxygen from the water. That is why they breath fast.
Unfortunately the fish may have too many paracites and his gills may already be too far damaged.

 

[florida reef]

Update: So I don't think the fish ever had ich. The white spots were plentiful and very noticable in the morning, but in the evening before I would turn the lights off the tang looked perfectly normal with no spots at all. I began asking a friend of mine about these curious white spot and he said he believes they are some kind of pod attaching themselves to the fish as it sleeps at night. Does ich appear and then disappear?
At this point, more than 3 weeks after I acclimated the fish, I would say if it was ich the fish would have succumbed to it by now. There are no white spots and the fish has been a heavy eater.

 

[mizzoumed02]

Garlic, Garlic, Garlic. Even if the fish are not showing signs of Ich, I add it too their food twice a week. I also add a few drops to the tank with water changes. My Hippo had some white spots a few days after adding him to the tank. Garlic is the only thing I did different and he cleared up in two days and has been fine ever since.

 

[pickupman66]

In light of my laziness, I will copy most of a post I just made. do some homework like you already are. that will be the best key to it. not what a bunch of us respond to you in a thread.



crypt is a parasite that according to all fo the research I have read, is only beaten two ways. 1. Copper and 2. Hyposalinity. it had a life cycle like every organism and yes, it can dissappear and then come back. usually with a vengence if the fish still has a weakened immune system. Garlic may stimulate the appetite and allow an other wise healthy fish eat and then fight off the parasite, but it is NOT a cure for that. there has been no Scientific evidence of this. there is also very little evidence of reef safe products like KICK ICK actualy working 100% in the reef tank.

Good garlic Article
Garlic: What has been Studied Versus What has been Claimed by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
and from the same magazine about treatment of Crypt.
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com



while both are from the same place, I feel they are a great source of information. best I can say is read and know your enemy. most of us have been there (myself included) and know the headache.