Regal Tang has Ich

I think my Regal Tang has Ich, he's got white spots all over him. He doesn't seem to be bothered about it though, swimming around happily as always, eating fine too.

Here's a pic of him:



I assume it's becuase for the last 2 water changes i've used tap water instead of RO?

What's the best way to treat him? Can I just add a treatment to the tank?

 

my little guy had that for a week or 2 all i did was throw in some cleaner shrimp and started givin him some cyclop-eeze and its not returned since

 

I feed with garlic guard and fish stay healthy. Why are you using tap. It sounds by the post that you understand its not the best thing for your tank. I doubt it caused ICK but it could have stressed him enough to cause him to get it.

 

Yeah I was kinda just testing to see if it was worth using tapwater instead of RO, the guy in my LFS said it wasn't that much different, but it seems that it's definately a good idea to use RO instead.

I have some Garlic Guard, i'l soak some Algal pelets in it and shove it in, he always eats them so should be ok.

Should I always mix the food for all the fish with Garlic Guard?

I also have 2 Clowns, Sixline Wrass a few hermits and a Peppermint Shrimp.

 

All food for my fish is soaked in Garlic guard. Not every time I feed but atleast every other time.

 

He's looking a bit better today, fewer spots than yesterday.

 

As long as hes eating and swimming and acting normal, leave it be and just feed a little more.

 

Just keep an eye on him. Remember that the life cycle of the parasite (keeping it simple) is to live for a few days on the fish, then to drop to the rock/sand to reporduce, then to hatch and find the fish again.

So the fact that he has fewer spots today could mean that he is getting better, or could simply mean that the parasites are dropping off of him to reproduce. I agree that you should probably keep him happy and fed for now and see what happens. But if he takes a turn for the worse, you may consider a quarantine.

 

I just went through a major case of ich in my 150. Basically, as long as the fish are still acting normal and eating normal, I wouldn't take any drastic measures. Keep feeding nori and supplement misis(or whatever you're feeding) with something like Selcon or Garlic.

 

I would switch back to RO/DI water if I were you. I would also watch out taking advice from someone that says it isn't much difference. Tap water is usually loaded with Phosphate and all kinds of metals including traces of copper.