What is the best way to treat a sick blue tang?

[aquarookie]

Hi everyone,

I just got a large (6" or so) blue hippo tang ("used") after he had been placed into a 10 gallon tank for several days. The fish was so stressed out, and had small whitish bumps on him. I did not want to stress him out any more by putting him into my 20 gallon quarantine tank (I am glad I did not, because something happened in it a couple of days ago that killed a yellow tang).

Anyway, I acclimated him to my reef tank and put him in. He is happy as a clam, but the whitish bumps do not seem to be any better, and he has cloudy/slimy stuff over his eyes (although it seemed to get smaller for a while yesterday).

He swims energetically, and is very interested in food (I do not know how much he is actually eating).

I am just wondering, should I leave him in the reef and add a cleaner shrimp, or a cleaner wrasse, or other animal (suggestions would be great), or should I take him out and medicate him? I am afraid to cause undue stress to the fish, but if this stuff is contageous, I do not want my other fish to get it.

I always appreciate your input and advice

Thanks a lot

Julia.

P.S. I have been neglecting to top off my tank with fresh water lately, so the specific gravity is a little high (1.027) and I will slowly bring it back to about 1.024 over the next day or two. I hope that helps the fish.

 

[NaH2O]

For a reef tank, your salinity is not that far off...you want it about 35ppt, which is 1.026.

Was the tang caught with a net? How many days has the tang been in your tank? I would suggest getting your QT tank ready for the fish to be treated in. Some time in a hyposalinity environment may help out tremendously.

Hopefully others will have some more information for you, as I'm not sure about medications.....

 

[steve-s]

I would suggest getting your QT tank ready for the fish to be treated in. Some time in a hyposalinity environment may help out tremendously.

Words to live by...

At this point meds would not be needed that I can see, hyposalinity may not be a bad idea though. From the sounds of it, this could be C. irritans but need more detail. The eyes are definately a lead into a parasite, I would not immediately treat this. Need to rule out the possibility of velvet.

Can you actually see small white spots on the skin like grains of sugar or more like pox marks/craters and just discolored? Or is it like a sheen of gold/black in certain light?

Cheers
Steve

 

[aquarookie]

Well, the trouble is, the fish swims back and forth in front of the rockwork UNTIL someone approaches. Then it goes and hides behind the rocks. So it is hard for me to tell what the heck it's got on it. I just catch glimpses of it now and then, and it looks like it has blurry whitish slightly raised bumps, although today it seems like the white is more concentrated (almost like sugar grains, I suppose, but like I said it is hard to tell for sure).

I have no clue what the fish was caught with. I was not there when it got caught. If it makes a difference, I can ask the previous owner.

The tang has been in my tank since Saturday afternoon (so 3+ days), but it spend 2 hours in the bag before on the way home and several days in a 10 gallon tank at his "old house".

The quarantine tank will be ready tomorrow morning. I had to refurbish it since the yellow tang died in it the other day

 

[steve-s]

Once the tang is in the QT, you will be able to get a better diagnosis. Most likely it will be C. irritans in which case hyposalinity will a good choice. Do you have a refractometer?

Cheers
Steve

 

[aquarookie]

Hi Steve,
I sat "under" the tank (out of fishes view) this morning and got a slightly better look at the blue tang. The spots seem worse (or at least more intense). Instead of blurry whitish bumps they look like smaller, sharper white bumps (definitely three dimensional). Half the eye is cloudy. I did not notice any black or gold sheen, but who knows. Yeah, the bumps are starting to look like slightly fuzzy sugar grains.

And what is a refractometer?

 

[cvp7900]

Quarantine asap! It's got ick! Check this site out for info on ick and hyposalinity treatment : http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

I've also heard (but never tried) that "kick-ick" works well.

Make sure you quarantine though.

 

[steve-s]

A <<refractometer>> is about the most accurate/easiest means you can use for measuring salinity and will not be effected by debris, salt build up or air bubbles like your typical swing arm hydrometer. They really are a must have item IME. I would not recommend hypo unless you have one/can borrow one. It can easily mean the difference bewteen a successful or failed treatment.

Once the tang is in the QT, follow the directions in the above link provided by cvp7900. Be especially mindful of alkalinity and pH levels during the drop and ensure they (along with salinity) are tested at least 2x daily. Salinity will increase with evaporation and due to the diluted chemistry, the alk/pH will drop off so buffering will be needed. When first lowering the salinity you will need plain RO (RO/DI) so be sure you aerate and buffer it to the right ranges before use.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Paul B]

The fish has ich and more than likely will die in a few days unless you treat it now. I myself would use copper.
Paul

 

[aquarookie]

LOVELY (OK, not really). Anyone have ideas on how to catch the guy with the least amount of stress possible? (The only way I can think of is taking all the live rock out, but I imagine that would stress out ALL of the tank's inhabitants). Should I quarantine the other fish as well? (yellow tang and three stripe damsel). What about my mandarin dragonette pair? I have heard they are not susceptible to ick, is that true? Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

[tony2005]

i don't know if this will work for u,but it did for me.if u have a clip to put some seaweed on and if the hippo is eating good wait for about 1min then try to get him while he is feeding,i did this with the yellow tang and it work outbefore he knew what was going on,he was in a 44gal tank:lol:

 

[steve-s]

Treating sooner than later is highly advisable but I doubt it will die in a matter of days. It has only been 3-4 days (only 1 in the larger tank) so far. Wether or not to use copper is definately a choice that must be made but unless velvet is suspected I wouldn't use it. If you cannot identify the possibility, it is an option to be considered though. If so, Cupramine is your best choice.

Some do recommend copper for tangs specifically as they can sometimes have both C. irritans and A. ocellatum simultaniously. Personally I tend to recommend trying to determine that first and choose the lesser of two evils. As I said though, if you do not have the confidence/ability to determine that, copper may be the way to go.

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

Judging by your previous posts though I do not think this came from an LFS but a fellow hobbyist? If so, I would less inclined to think velvet where a possibility.

Cheers
Steve

 

[steve-s]

I need to type faster... :shock:

Should I quarantine the other fish as well? (yellow tang and three stripe damsel). What about my mandarin dragonette pair? I have heard they are not susceptible to ick, is that true?

All of these fish should be removed and treated. Since there is a mandarin, I would definetly skip the copper and just do the hypo. If you could confirm the previous "residence" of the tang that would help.

As far as the catching the fish, NaH2O (Nikki) has a link somewhere. I'll have a look unless she gets her first.

Cheers
Steve

 

[aquarookie]

Steve,
yes, the fish came from a fellow hobbyist who says he had it for about 10 months. I would not have thought it to have any diseases, except for the fact that its previous owner added another fish to the tank before this one came out). So I guess this guy could've caught something just before he left his old home. This stinks but thanks for all the advices

 

[aquarookie]

Hey, should I put the mandarins in a separate tank with hyposalinity, and treat just the tangs/damsel with copper?

 

[cvp7900]

I would not use copper in any tank. That's just my opinion. I would try the kick-ich or the hyposalinity method. Just MO though.

Crissy

 

[steve-s]

Hey, should I put the mandarins in a separate tank with hyposalinity, and treat just the tangs/damsel with copper?

You could choose that option. Personally I would use hypo for all but be sure the mandarin is not treated with copper. If you have a second QT available, I would definately seperate the mandarin no matter what you decide. It will make it much easier to train the mandarin on alternate foods and less stress/competion.

FWIW, I wouldn't use Kick ich for anything.

Cheers
Steve

 

[aquarookie]

Okay, this may sound really dumb, but I have an idea (not one that would necessarily work in this case, but in general).

If all the fish got infected at once, and the parasite goes through the first part of its cycle and falls off the fish, can't you take the fish out of the tank at that time and won't they technically not be infected? Just a thought.

 

[aquarookie]

Oh, I forgot to mention: I am going to attempt catching the tang (and other fish) in the dark (the only way it worked for me in the past, with the clowns) and transferring him into the QT. I am concerned about causing him extra stress, but I guess it's worth the gamble. I will start slowly adjusting them to hyposalinity.

 

[steve-s]

That would be nice but it's not a perect world

It would actually work though if repeated over a period of time, refered to as the three day transfer method. It's a process where two tanks are set up and the fish are added to one. After three days, they are transfered to the second. The first tank is destructed, air dried or steralized and then reset up. After another three days another transfer and so on for a total of four transfers.

Anything less would not be effective since you would not be eliminting any possible trophonts embedded in the epithelium.

Cheers
Steve