PurpleTang has Ich

have a Purple Tang for 2 weeks now and hes got Ich twice; He was a little under weight when i bought him but has been eating like a horse; Water is perfect, cant figure it out; treating with Rid Ich right now......

Any comments would be appreciated


72 bowfront fish w/Live rock...3.5 month old tank

Dottyback,Percula, Bleen, and the newest Purple Tang

 

Hmmm, tangs are notorious for getting ich. I would recommend, however, to never buy any fish that looks even a little underweight. It is not a good sign, and generally speaking, the fish don't recover the lost weight. It could be stress, cyanide caught, or just plain starving...

Good Luck!

 

Thanks,
ive learned my lesson; guess my good nature to nurse this guy back to health isnt going to get me anywhere

 

Sadly, I have that same drive in me, to give it a good home and nurse it back to health, but unfortunately...marines don't fare too well once they are in poor condition. I am sure most of us have done the same thing : I know I have! How is the fish doing? (I secretly always hold hope...)

 

Ich is gone for now and hes still eating like a horse; Someone recommended Spectrum pellets for them and he/she seems to like, them and of course the dried strip seaweed and frozen brine; thanks for asking Ill keep you posted

 

OK ICH IS BACK AGAIN; seems like it is worse when the lights are on for 6-7 hours; Im near the giving up point as I dont want to Over dose the tank with Rid Ich; hes still eating well, but today he was covered with it; Water isa still good and the temp is 80

 

one idea that might help if you are dosing is turning the lights off for a while...maybe a week, some people says that after the ich has left the fish to reproduce no lights make it hard to re attach to a fish... not sure how well it works but always worth a try also maybe try some garlic, there r alot of paste products out there...could help

 

Have you tried adding a few Cleaner Shrimp to the tank???

Mine eat the ich right off my school of yellow tangs...

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/shrimpphotos/l/blii_cleanershr.htm

these guys are really amazing creatures, they are known to set up cleaning stations in the tank. The fish will swim by and get up close to the shrimp and allow the shrimp to eat the dead skin of thier bodys, and also devour that pesky ich.

 

Is your water temp fluctuating at all. In a recent meeting in which Anthony Calfo came, he mentioned that spring and fall brings about a lot of ich--especially with tangs and it is because the temps fluctuate and stress out the fish.

How is you little guy doing now?

 

This is not a great picture...but it is named "hospital" you can probably guess why!