Tangs and Ick

[Roly]

Why is it that Tangs get Ick a lot? I dont get it. If you dont introduce Ick into your tank and you QT the fish, why is it that Tangs can still get it? Thanks

 

[cwby416]

Cryptocaryon irritans or "ich" does not "appear" through any amount of distress of the fish. It is either present or it's not. It can be eliminated 100% of the time when guarded against correctly and prevented from entering an established system. That means anything wet must be QT'd for a minimum of 6 weeks prior to entering your display system. Corals, mobile inverts, fish, macro alga's, rock and so on. It does not need fish to be transported, only to complete it's life cycle. A UV will not prevent a tank from becoming infested either. At best it will keep the population to a manageable level.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

I can't say it any better myself...

 

[ronj]

If you dont introduce Ick into your tank and you QT the fish, why is it that Tangs can still get it?

they can't!! if you qt and don't introduce it, then there is nothing for them to catch!!

 

[cwby416]

so If you did the proper QT and they still got ICK, your tank had it when you introduced them...

 

[leebca]

As stated, they get infected so long as it is available to them. However, they are actually more likely to contract Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) because of a couple of reasons.

If you think about tangs in general, you'll note that as sub-adults and adults they travel around the reef and ocean looking for algae. The 'cows of the sea' move in large numbers, some over 25 miles a day. With such movement, they pick up Marine Ich (MI) now and then, but don't stay long enough in one spot to keep getting reinfected. They are on the move!

So maybe Mother Nature decided it wasn't worth providing them with a super physiology against parasitic attack. Energy wasn't put into a very effective, anti-microbial mucous coating like in other fishes. Their defenses are not only less in quantity (of mucous) but also in quality (of mucous). The physiology of the 'generic tang' is that they don't do very well at resisting MI infection -- but in the open sea how much defense do they need?

We, however, put them into a closed system. Let MI into the system and they will 'feast' upon the tangs who now can't get away from a bloom. We are in essence providing the MI with trapped hosts. The display tank of several tangs becomes an MI buffet! :evil:

If you really want to keep tangs (or any other fish for that matter) you need to take action against letting MI into the system.

 

[Roly]

Thanks for the help guys. Thank God I dont have Ick. My Tang is doing fine. It's just that I have heard many times that Tangs always get it. Good info Lee!

 

[ronj]

It's just that I have heard many times that Tangs always get it.

people that don't know it is a parasite and/or don't understand its' lifecycle usually share that info with others...don't be fooled by people who say this..

 

[plack]

What can you do to prevent Mi from entering your tank other than quarantine? How do we get it into our tanks if the tang does not have it ? How could we tell if no fish showed sighns in our reef if we had it and other fish were not affected by it?
I am thinking of adding a tang or two into my 180 and am curious as I have heard of sooo many peoples tangs getting ick.

 

[leebca]

I wrote a post to address some of the myths and facts of Marine Ich: http://www.reefland.com/forum/marin...e-treatment/20321-marine-ich-myths-facts.html You'll find most of the answers there.

In short, MI can get into the display system very easily and quarantine is the only thing you can do to totally stop it. While it is embedded into the fish's skin, the parasite is so well protected that dips and surface treatments won't work 100%. So there is no short cut to the quarantine process for this parasite control.

Very large public and private aquariums have found the sure-fire method of preventing MI entering into their display tanks -- quarantine everything.

How can you tell if it's there? VERY CLOSE observation. Not just looking for spots but looking at behavior. Is any fish flashing more than 'normal?' is their respiration rate elevated (but sufficient gas exchange and oxygen is there)? If a fish dies, inspect the gills of the fish through post mortem. Etc.

 

[steve-s]

What can you do to prevent Mi from entering your tank other than quarantine? How do we get it into our tanks if the tang does not have it ? How could we tell if no fish showed sighns in our reef if we had it and other fish were not affected by it?
I am thinking of adding a tang or two into my 180 and am curious as I have heard of sooo many peoples tangs getting ick.

There some good info on this site. I would highly recommend reading it.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

There is also a 5 part study here...
http://marineaquariumadvice.com/aquarium_fish_1.html

The biggest reason fish get sick after being added to the tank is people mistakenly assume that only fish can bring in these kinds of problems. Anything wet can potentially carry in a problem to your tank.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php