HELP!!

Wow. So much to say here... Tangs are known for coming down with an ich infection due to stress of a new tank. Of course, once the ich starts going crazy on them, it can overpower the immune system of other fish. That is why it is good to quarantine fish before putting into your main tank.

Now you will need to set up a separate hospital tank, it will need water flow, filtration (using something with bacteria from your main tank, which if you weren't planning on it, you may not have, heater, hiding places (cleaned PVC pipe pieces work well) etc. Put the fish in there so that you have a controlled environment. Do whatever you can to get them eating. A starving fish will have a harder time when you add meds to the water. Then add whatever you have for ich treatment. In a quarantine tank, Cupramine is recommended as it is easier on the fish. Whatever you do, do NOT treat the fish in the main tank. The biological filtration will crash, and you will have an even worse situation on your hands.

Nothing in your hospital tank (besides the fish) will ever be able to go into your main tank and the ich treatment will leach into the main tank and start killing off inverts and other reef goodies.

Unfortunately, to treat this correctly, the fish will need to be in the hospital tank for a long time (several weeks) as you will still have ich "spores" in the main tank that will need to "hatch", and then you have to wait for them to die off. Otherwise you will just be putting the fish back into a tank with ich.

On a side note, all fish from the ocean come with ich and other parasites on them. Their immune system holds them at bay until some variable changes, such as stress, which causes the fish to have reduced immune function. That is why a quarantine, even for a short period of time, helps to get rid of the easier stuff, like flukes, and give the fish a better chance against the ich.

Hopefully this helps. My tone in this is meant to scare you a little bit (although I know that you are already stressing out about it) because it is very serious and I want to reinforce quick action. With that said, I am sorry that you have to scramble now to deal with this.

 

When I first started up my 90g both my clownfish looked fine, put them in my tank and then the next morning had spots on them. I soaked the food I fed in garlic juice for the next while and eventually they were fine and I've never had any issues since, and my tank has been up and running for close to a year, if not over now. (well, was... we just combined the 2 we had, haha)
I made sure I was rotating the foods I gave them more, to make sure they were getting the nutrients they needed and the garlic juice to help with the immune system.

Now some people don't believe in the garlic juice thing, so this is purely my experience. Good luck /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

Garlic, in theory, is good for most animals - including humans... It helps provide the right "stuff" (whatever that is) to help build up immune systems. There is some logic behind it, then again a lot of people that have done testing with super expensive equipment in laboratories have generally decided that the amount of garlic required to make a big difference in an existing crisis is so astronomical, that it really isn't helping much if at all.

I still error on the side of trying everything to help our fishies out though, so garlic (if they will eat it, again just eating when they are fighting parasites is most important, with or without garlic) is still something I would do as just another step.

I have the ability to set up a hospital tank pretty quickly, but 1) I am not near you, 2) I am not sure that I have the time to put into the proper hospitalization of someone else's fish (plus I would feel horrible if it died).

 

It does sound like ich but pictures would help. Sometimes you will see the ich on the fish and sometimes not. Are they flashing? It is better to QT and treat them and, allow the display tank to be fallow for at least 6 weeks. Corals and inverts can stay in the display while fallow. Definitely add garlic to their food ;0) No action or a slow response to the ich is a death sentence for fish...

 

You do need to add slowly. And your best bet is to add them into your qt first I qt my fish for a MINIMUM of two weeks. Preferably with water that system mixed un 60/40.

 

Nickboul I have to disagree with the garlic thing. It is great for fish to help stimulate appetites, which is IMO keeping your fish eating is the most important thing in keeping your fish healthy and help them fight off things like ich but given to frequently it can cause kidney infections.

 

Yeah.... Garlic has long since been a panacea in our hobby. There has been no scientific links to either ick curing bacteria fighting or appetite stimulation in marine animals. Its a. It of a snake oil. Pm for scjentific references if interested.

 

Did you keep your bacteria population going while the tank was fallow? If not, your tank will do another cycle. Bacteria need a carbon source/ food to live or they die off. If you fed the corals, you are probably safe.


Definitely QT your new fish! Use PVC so they have places to hide/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif Provide clean SW at all times as poor water quality will be detrimental to your new fish. Test the water frequently so ammonia doesn't cause problems. Be patient! Your new fish will appreciate subdued lighting and they need to learn to recognize you as their caretaker. You also need to learn your fishes behaviors. Approach the tank slowly and feed them a good quality food with garlic/garlic juice...not pieces of garlic. There is no need to hurry the process as you will have your fish for years when properly cared for.


We can help you along the way. What size tank do you have? What fish are you wanting? Research and planning goes a LONG way with this hobby/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wow.gif Let us know if you need further help.

 

This has become more of a myth that used to be considered fact. I am not saying NOT to use it, but just that it doesn't actually treat the actual infection.





You are correct, however, that an eating fish is at least feeding its own immune system to try to fight things off, but garlic is not a medicine, which was my point.