Ich and tang...

Add Homonym wrote:

OK. So, the ich is small white spots. Sounds like cryptocaryon.

Yep.

take ALL fish out of the tank for 1-2 months. Take the infected fish,
give it a dip in freshwater buffered to PH to match tank water, with
formalin and copper sulfate added. I usually add some methe;yne blue to
help boost oxygen, since it is also an anti paraiste and won't hurt.
After the dip (dip for about 7-10 minutes) put fish in a seperate tank
and continue treatment with copper sulfate until all symptoms are gone.

I don't use the dip - just go straight to the hospital tank dosed with copper
sulphate. I prefer "CopperSafe." Also get a decent copper test kit that works
with the type of copper treatment you're using (I use "FasTest" with
"CopperSafe"). If you're going with CopperSafe, add half as much as the
directions say to add, wait an hour or two, and test the concentration. Add more
in stages until you get up to the recommended dosage of .15 to .2 ppm. Maintain
that level for two weeks and then quit adding copper.

The freshwater dip is a bit satisfying, though. The parasites swell up and sort
of explode. On the other hand, the fish isn't exactly comfortable either.

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.

I`m a little confused, are there different kinds of "Ich"? Is there a kind
that is not contagious?

When I introduced a super-juvie Hippo Tang 4 months ago, it broke out in
white spots for a few days, but it went away on its own after soaking its
food in garlic for a few days. Ive never seen my other fish have any
symptoms (knock on wood).

Ive read many similiar posts in reef forums. There seems to be a lot of
people who have Tangs break out in "Ich"--- but then do water changes or use
the lights less and their Tangs also recover W/O any dipping or medication.

StringerBell wrote:
I`m a little confused, are there different kinds of "Ich"? Is there a kind
that is not contagious?

There's Oodinium and Cryptocaryon. Oodinium is usually called "velvet disease"
and Crypto is usually called "ich", but both are sometimes called "ich." They
are both contagious. With velvet, the parasites are pinpoint size. With crypto,
they're pinhead size. According to authors like Fenner, Cryptocaryon is ich.

Ive read many similiar posts in reef forums. There seems to be a lot of
people who have Tangs break out in "Ich"--- but then do water changes or use
the lights less and their Tangs also recover W/O any dipping or medication.

The stage when the parasites are attached to the fish is the adult breeding
stage. The adults then drop off and lay eggs in the substrate or live rock. When
the eggs hatch, the parasites enter a free-swimming stage. Those that encounter
fish during this stage attach themselves to the fish and become adults. The
entire cycle takes about 3 weeks. The eggs can be introduced in food such as
seaweed or on live rock. Juveniles and adults usually come in on parasitized
fish or the water in the bags containing new fish.

Some people think their fish has recovered when the adults drop off and find
that they have another "outbreak" two weeks later. In other cases, something
like a cleaner shrimp population manages to kill enough of the things to break
the cycle.

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.

StringerBell wrote:
I`m a little confused, are there different kinds of "Ich"?

Yes. Amyloodininium is sometimes icorrectly called "ich" - it can break
out in white spots, but they tend to look more "powdery" - crypto is
more defined dots.

Another less common thing seen in the marine world is Black Ich - mostly
seems to hit yellow tangs for some reason. Small black spots instead of
small white spots. Usually casued by some sort of plathyhelminthes
turbellaria type worms.

Is there a kind
that is not contagious?

Not really.


When I introduced a super-juvie Hippo Tang 4 months ago, it broke out in
white spots for a few days, but it went away on its own after soaking its
food in garlic for a few days. Ive never seen my other fish have any
symptoms (knock on wood).

Parasites are ubiquitous in nature. One theory says most fish have them
at low levels, and they become apparent when the fish's immune system
gets compromised (from stress, injury, or whatever) - it is quite common
to see a new fish get some form of parasite, as being ripped off a reef,
shipped halfway around the world in a dark sealed syrofoam box, put in a
tank way to small for it at the LFS, then a few days later scooped out
and put in a sealed baggie, then put into some other tank an hour or so
later, tends to be sarcasmslightly stressfull/sarcasm to the fish.


Ive read many similiar posts in reef forums. There seems to be a lot of
people who have Tangs break out in "Ich"--- but then do water changes or use
the lights less and their Tangs also recover W/O any dipping or medication.

Very often this is the case. Ich usually is nothing to worry about in a
marine system, but it CAN be an indicator that something is stressing
the fish, and lowering it's immune response. That is why water change
often works wonders...(bad water stresses fish, changing the water ends
stress, immune system recovers - parasites go away)