Powder Blue Tang; NOW HAS STRIPES?

[the6goat6man6]

Is this normal? I got a powder blue tang, looked great at the LFS. He swam back and forth in their tank, all other fish looked good and healthy as well. I spent about hour and a half watching this fish befor I decided to buy him. I took him home, floated for 45min, and dripped for 2.5 hours. Used my cup method to scoop him out of the bucket(I don't have to chase fish so much, less stress). He swam around great, looked like he was born in my tank. The next day he had ick, the next worse, he was covered with it. After work I went to get something to treat him (1.5hours away is the only reputable LFS). By the time I got home the spots were reduced! So I did nothing, the next day only a few spots, and the next nothing! The only other fish is an Engineer goby, and it was never effected. So, it's been a little over a week now and everything looks great. Fish is happy, swimming back and forth, pecking at the rocks and glass.
--Today I came home from work and did my usual inspection, everthing looked great. I was walking by my display and looked at the PB tang and he had stripes! Both sides were symetrical(SP?), looked very pretty. He was up front swimming in front of me, as if displaying for me! So I looked for pics of this and can't find one! IS THIS NORMAL?
--OK, now I am going crazy! After typing this I looked up and the stripes are gone!

 

[YamahaF934]

Lay off the drugs man. . Haha Just kidding.

Get a picture if the "say" stripes appear again.

 

[WABlonde]

He's getting ready for Easter

 

[lewisriverfisherman]

Something may have spooked him. I have seen Naso tangs get white spots on them when they get a little stressed or spooked.

 

[07FocusST]

Its a sort of camo method that fish use. It should go away after it settles down. My Yellow & Scopas Tang get a white horizontal stripe when they're excited or scared.

 

[the6goat6man6]

This was verticle strips, they only lasted a few minutes. If it wasn't stressful, they could stay, it was pretty.
-I will try and get a pic, I am watching. He was right up front in my face when it happened, I thought maybe he was displaying or something?

 

[Frankie]

My atlantic Blue would get stripes also when excited. I would not worry to much about it.

 

[TheKraken]

This is one of the reasons I do not like Saltwater Ick. You see the hint of something the day after you get home and it becomes a mild bloom and goes away. In my case I thought I dodged a bullet until a month or so later when I had a more dramatic case on my Hippo tank and almost lost the fish!

I hope your case turns out different, but there is a very good chance the ick is in the resting stage gathering strength. I did an 8 week fallow tank and no problems with Ick since.

 

[returnofsid]

The stripes are most likely nothing to worry about. The Ich, on the other hand, is something to be concerned about. I'd be figuring out a plan to QT all fish, asap. They'll need to be treated with hyposalinity and display tank will need to be kept fallow, for 8 weeks.

 

[the6goat6man6]

Ok, what is fallow?

 

[YamahaF934]

Empty with no fish!

 

[WABlonde]

Empty with no fish - meaning all of your fishies in the QT/Hospital tank to receive hyposalinity treatment. Your display doesn't need to be emptied; you can keep all of your snails/crabs/corals/liverock/water as normal in your display.

 

[the6goat6man6]

Thank you everyone for the clarification. Now, how low of salinity, for how long?

This ought to be fun, trying to catch these two fish. The engineer goby lives under the biggest rock set.

 

[returnofsid]

Read through the stickies, on QT Tanks, Ich Diagnosis and Ich Treatment, in Lee's Marine Discussion Forum. That'll answer all of your questions.

 

[mcoomer]

The vertical stripes is your fish's way of showing that it's perturbed. I've seen this when they're scrapping with another fish or checking out their reflection. Once it calms down they'll go away and it's color will return to normal. Another thing that I've found, purely anecdotal of course...fat healthy tangs and regular water changes means no ich. Feed nori regularly and keep up with your maintenance and I'll be you don't see a return of your ich.

Mike

 

[the6goat6man6]

It happened again, here it is;

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[the6goat6man6]

The vertical stripes is your fish's way of showing that it's perturbed. I've seen this when they're scrapping with another fish or checking out their reflection. Once it calms down they'll go away and it's color will return to normal. Another thing that I've found, purely anecdotal of course...fat healthy tangs and regular water changes means no ich. Feed nori regularly and keep up with your maintenance and I'll be you don't see a return of your ich.

Mike

I am pretty religiuos about maintaining "my little peice". Trust me, I catch alot of crap for it, cause "THATS ALL I CARE ABOUT", LOL.
-This is what I have for food, Ocean Nutrition;Seaweed Select, Green Marine Algae with natural garlic extract. Doesn't say what kind of algae, just that si macro.

 

[leebca]

the6goat6man,

I suggest you take action to handle the spot issue, starting with a diagnosis. Start reading here and follow the guidelines given: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/curing-fish-marine-ich-50933/

 

[the6goat6man6]

All right, I am a little confused on how long to leave my DT fish free?

I read 8 weeks, then read 10-11months?

 

[Frankie]

Some people want to take this opportunity to put into the display system additional clean up crew, corals, invertebrates of any kind, etc. It’s okay to do this, but the 8-week clock begins AFTER the last addition. Keep in mind this is only for Marine Ich. If you don’t routinely quarantine new marine life forms, you might be bringing any other kinds of fish diseases into the aquarium. BUT, with the 8-week fishless time, there won’t be any Marine Ich alive.

That's it. I see nothing about 10-11 months in the first post and that is the one that matters.

Hang in there Goatman, follow the directions and you will prevail. I did the hyposalinity treatment an few years back when I discovered my fish had MI and it worked perfectly.