Tangs and ich?

Brandonsegula · Apr 4, 2017

This is just some general thinking. I never really understand why most tangs get ich when they are stressed. My lieutenant tangs is healthy as hell but once in awhile. He will have a small ich break out. I don't get it??

thabizness · Apr 4, 2017

From what I understand its because of tangs slime coat. Its not as thick as other fish types slime coat and makes it easier for them to get the parasite. Since Ich is in your tank whenever stressors are present they run the chance of breaking out. Since he is healthy its only a nuisance to him.

roostertech · Apr 4, 2017

My hippo would have a break out for a week at a time when he is stressed. And he is a fat pig. No ich so far on yellow tang or another other fish.

Brandonsegula · Apr 4, 2017

thabizness said:
From what I understand its because of tangs slime coat. Its not as thick as other fish types slime coat and makes it easier for them to get the parasite. Since Ich is in your tank whenever stressors are present they run the chance of breaking out. Since he is healthy its only a nuisance to him.

Yeah it's a nuisance to me lol

Brandonsegula · Apr 4, 2017

roostertech said:
My hippo would have a break out for a week at a time when he is stressed. And he is a fat pig. No ich so far on yellow tang or another other fish.

Yeah it's strange. My never shows signs of ich other than the white specs

djrice69 · Apr 4, 2017

My yellow Tang would get black ich not typical white one. He always lets me catch him out and do a 20 min fresh water dip

Maritimer · Apr 4, 2017

Tangs' mucous coat is a bit thinner than some other fish, allowing the ich parasite an easier path to drill through and into the fish's flesh. In the wild, that's not a major problem, because the tangs aren't sleeping in the same bed every night, but in an aquarium it's pretty likely that wherever the tang decides to bed down for the evening, someone else slept there last night. (Think of it like bedbugs - if you are sleeping in the same hotel bed someone else slept in last night - and someone else the night before, you're probably more likely to come down with 'em than you might if you were hiking across the Mojave desert, sleeping in a different lonely spot each night . . . )

From what I'm given to understand, most tangs can come down with the occasional brush of ich from time to time and just deal with it, but a lot of the Acanthurus tangs (Achilles, powder-anything) will not thrive under those conditions.

~Bruce

Dogtown · Apr 10, 2017

Tangs don't actually get ich from stress. It's much like saying that one can catch the flu virus from stress.

Selk Oner · Apr 10, 2017

Every fish has ich .... just like every dog has mange.... when tangs get stress they are more prone to it because of there skin ... but they only way to fight it off is feeding All tangs with seaweed with garlic... as much as possible...... that will help the immune system.... and will fight it off if ich was ever introduced into the tank again

Maritimer · Apr 10, 2017

Ich is a parasite, which has to live _most_ of its lifecycle _off_ of a fish. There's no magic to it.

It's not on every fish, it's not in every tank ... and it doesn't have to be in yours. It _can_absolutely_ be eliminated from home aquarium systems.

Good, healthy diet (with or without garlic) will certainly help to boost a fish's immune system, but it won't cure the fish of parasites on its own.

~Bruce

Dogtown · Apr 10, 2017

Every dog does not have mange. Mange is a skin disease caused by several species of tiny mites, common external parasites found in companion canine.

Dogtown · Apr 10, 2017

Ich parasite does not exist in every tank.

wkscott · Apr 11, 2017

It's always interesting how twisted some reef keeping "facts" become. I do feel sorry for some newer hobbyists that can't tell reality from fiction like: all fish have ich, all tanks have ich, garlic cures ich and all dog face puffers :Dhave mange.:eek:

Bdog4u2 · Apr 11, 2017

INTERESTING FIND: If no new MI is introduce into an infected aquarium, the MI already there continues to cycle through multiple generations until about 10 to 11 months when the MI has ‘worn itself out’ and becomes less infective. A tank can be free of an MI infestation if it is never exposed to new MI parasites for over 11 months.

Not sure how true this is but evidently in some studies many moons ago this is what they found.

wkscott · Apr 11, 2017

Bdog4u2 said:
INTERESTING FIND: If no new MI is introduce into an infected aquarium, the MI already there continues to cycle through multiple generations until about 10 to 11 months when the MI has ‘worn itself out’ and becomes less infective. A tank can be free of an MI infestation if it is never exposed to new MI parasites for over 11 months.

Not sure how true this is but evidently in some studies many moons ago this is what they found.

I read this exact study a few years ago but I haven't been able to locate it again. That 11 months was the same magic number. Hope it's true as I always have quarantined fish but about 20 months ago I started to quarantine everything wet. Haven't tested it yet as I haven't added any new fish since then.

evolved · Apr 11, 2017

Bdog4u2 said:
INTERESTING FIND: If no new MI is introduce into an infected aquarium, the MI already there continues to cycle through multiple generations until about 10 to 11 months when the MI has ‘worn itself out’ and becomes less infective. A tank can be free of an MI infestation if it is never exposed to new MI parasites for over 11 months.

Not sure how true this is but evidently in some studies many moons ago this is what they found.

For that particular strain of ich that the study covered, but recognize that there are a lot of different strains.

Zack K · Apr 11, 2017

I know @4FordFamily did a few experiments on this

Maritimer · Apr 11, 2017

If ich becomes weaker after 11 months, how has it survived in the wild for untold millennia?

And how is it so virulent in our systems today? Every fish captured from the wild isn't bringing a new strain, is it?

I'd want to see that study duplicated / repeated . . .

~Bruce