Purple tang with ich

[Jay Williams]

so I’ve had a purple tang in a 75 gallon reef tank for about 2 months and i tried to add a small bristle tooth tang to my tank. The purple tang chased it around for a bit so I removed the bristle tooth tang and put him into a smaller aquarium and he’s happy now. However, I’ve now noticed spots on my purple tang and I figure ich may have arisen from the fiasco with the bristle tooth. He’s still behaving normally but isn’t eating as much. He is a large healthy fat fish so im not sure whether to pull him and treat him or see if he gets over it. Any suggestions?

 

[Lavey29]

Take him out and treat him

 

[Jay Williams]

Gotcha thanks.

 

[Gtinnel]

Usually not the answer people want to hear but to do it the right way you should pull all fish from the tank and treat them, while letting the tank go fallow. If not you have treated the fish but it can just as easily get ich from the tank again.

Depending on the size and number of fish that may not be a reasonable solution though

 

[dnorth64]

I had a very similar issue when I first purchased my purple tang, my LFS recommend installing a good uv light and it cleared up within a week and I haven’t had any issues since. Just my personal experience, I’m no expert lol

 

[Jay Williams]

Usually not the answer people want to hear but to do it the right way you should pull all fish from the tank and treat them, while letting the tank go fallow. If not you have treated the fish but it can just as easily get ich from the tank again.

Depending on the size and number of fish that may not be a reasonable solution though

I only have a purple tang in here with a pair of clowns who aren’t bothered by the ich, the tang won’t eat but he’s behaving normally. Only issue I have is that I’ve had ich before with a blue tang , chased him around trying to catch him and the treatment I tried didn’t work and I used copper and was very vigilant keeping it at the right level and still lost the fish. I guess I’ll take the Risk again.

 

[mehaffydr]

What they said. I would pull him and treat him. You will need to pull all fish and let tank go fallow for 76 days,

 

[Jay Williams]

What they said. I would pull him and treat him. You will need to pull all fish and let tank go fallow for 76 days,

Alright , do clownfish need treatment ?

 

[mehaffydr]

Clowns do have a thicker slim coat and often will not get Ich but if you leave them in the tank the Ich will have a host and as soon as you put the Tang back in he will most likely get Ich again. I think your best bet is to just treat all as you need to get all fish out and let tank go with No additions for about 76 days. I know Ive seen where people are saying if you increase the tank temp you can reduce the days so you may want to search the forum for "Fallow"

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jay Williams]

Clowns do have a thicker slim coat and often will not get Ich but if you leave them in the tank the Ich will have a host and as soon as you put the Tang back in he will most likely get Ich again. I think your best bet is to just treat all as you need to get all fish out and let tank go with No additions for about 76 days. I know Ive seen where people are saying if you increase the tank temp you can reduce the days so you may want to search the forum for "Fallow"

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks, I don’t have a tank that I can use as a quarantine tank I’d need to buy one..I’ll try to set one up quickly how long will my tang live for with the ich? Roughly

 

[Lavey29]

Keep in mind the bristletooth tang you removed from the primary tank was exposed also and may have contaminated the new tank you moved him to.

 

[mdowney]

I recommend putting him in a quarantine tank and treating him with Copper Power per the guidance on the humble.fish forum. Worked well for me.

Copper treatment

EDIT: Taking the Hanna copper checker's margin of error into consideration, we are now recommending 2.2-2.3 ppm for Copper Power. This ensures that the copper level is "just right" i.e. not too high, not too low. (y) Copper treatment (updated 5-16-2023) What It Treats: Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon...

humble.fish

 

[mdowney]

Thanks, I don’t have a tank that I can use as a quarantine tank I’d need to buy one..I’ll try to set one up quickly how long will my tang live for with the ich? Roughly

Ich isn’t as dangerous as velvet. You should have time. You can pick up a 20 gal from Petco, throw a hang-on-back filter and a heater in it, and get the tang in there quickly. You can do a 50% water change every couple of days instead of waiting for the tank to cycle. Just pick up one of those Seachem ammonia monitors to stick in the tank and make sure it doesn’t turn green. Only issue with doing the frequent water changes is that you’ll have to keep doing the math to add Copper Power back in in order to maintain the copper levels. Picking up a Copper test kit is important to make sure you don’t overdose the copper (for me, 6 mL of Copper Power equaled 0.5 ppm in the water - which you’d want to confirm with the test kit. I used the Hanna copper checker.). It’s important that you maintain the copper levels throughout the treatment. Per the Humblefish guide I linked above, you’ll want to start CP at 0.5 ppm then increase by 0.5 ppm ever 48 hrs until you get it to 2.5 ppm. Then maintain that level for at least two weeks.

 

[Jay Williams]

Ich isn’t as dangerous as velvet. You should have time. You can pick up a 20 gal from Petco, throw a hang-on-back filter and a heater in it, and get the tang in there quickly. You can do a 50% water change every couple of days instead of waiting for the tank to cycle. Just pick up one of those Seachem ammonia monitors to stick in the tank and make sure it doesn’t turn green. Only issue with doing the frequent water changes is that you’ll have to keep doing the math to add Copper Power back in in order to maintain the copper levels. Picking up a Copper test kit is important to make sure you don’t overdose the copper (for me, 6 mL of Copper Power equaled 0.5 ppm in the water - which you’d want to confirm with the test kit. I used the Hanna copper checker.). It’s important that you maintain the copper levels throughout the treatment. Per the Humblefish guide I linked above, you’ll want to start CP at 0.5 ppm then increase by 0.5 ppm ever 48 hrs until you get it to 2.5 ppm. Then maintain that level for at least two weeks.

Okay! Thanks so much!

 

[Jmcg89]

Okay! Thanks so much!

Check out fb marketplace too! I bought a couple 20 gallon tanks cheap off there.

 

[MnFish1]

so I’ve had a purple tang in a 75 gallon reef tank for about 2 months and i tried to add a small bristle tooth tang to my tank. The purple tang chased it around for a bit so I removed the bristle tooth tang and put him into a smaller aquarium and he’s happy now. However, I’ve now noticed spots on my purple tang and I figure ich may have arisen from the fiasco with the bristle tooth. He’s still behaving normally but isn’t eating as much. He is a large healthy fat fish so im not sure whether to pull him and treat him or see if he gets over it. Any suggestions?

1. Assuming its CI, I would take him out and treat any other fish as well with a copper containing medication.
2. A picture would help
3. Though many advocate a ich management approach - there is at least anecdote that that works best in more mature tanks.

Hope this helps

 

[MnFish1]

PS - I agree with @mdowney about the ammonia alert, copper levels, etc. @mdowney I would be careful about using abbreviations in medication threads (CP) - while it could be copper power, its also the abbreviation for Chloroquine Phosphate - which can also be used for CI (Cryptocaryon) lol.

You should also treat any other exposed fish - and leave your tank fallow - as per your choice of methods

 

[ZoWhat]

With it being Lent Friday.... if it doesn't work out, you can have a catholic lunch fish sandwich

 

[Jay Williams]

1. Assuming its CI, I would take him out and treat any other fish as well with a copper containing medication.
2. A picture would help
3. Though many advocate a ich management approach - there is at least anecdote that that works best in more mature tanks.

Hope this helps

The tank is well established and I’ve had it running for over a year, the tangs been in there about 2 months so I’m not worried about his overall health but I’ll get a QT and try to treat him.

 

[MnFish1]

The tank is well established and I’ve had it running for over a year, the tangs been in there about 2 months so I’m not worried about his overall health but I’ll get a QT and try to treat him.

The problem IMHO - is that the tang developed new CI. After the addition of a new fish. Meaning your other fish may well be at risk as well - additionally, once you treat the tang - and put him back into the tank with CI, it may very well recur since the theory is that the other fish are passing it around between themselves. Thats the principal of ich management - either you don't treat any fish - or you treat all the fish - and fallow the tank.