Ich

[chad]

everything was going so good then...

all of a sudden my blue tang has started to show signs of ich. I know, I know... quartine tank. Need one, don't got one. I need some advice on taking care of this..

Is their a safe way to treat this with inverts in the tank? or do I just need to get a quartine tank to treat her?

Any recommendats would be appreciated! thanks.

[gwen_o_lyn]

Yup, only way to dose treatments without harming your reef is with a QT. Tell us more about your setup. How long has your tank been up? What size? What are you params?

[chad]

65 gallon display tank.
29 gallon sump
1 blue tang
1 clown
1 pygmy angel
1 BTA
2 sand sifter stars
70 lbs of live rock.
?? Snails

No coral yet - thank god.

[chad]

tank has been up about 4 months.

[chad]

The worst part about it is I think she got this from a used protein skimmer? That's the only recent change... is that possible?

[Rob]

well one of the leading cuases for a tang getting Ick is stress (stress lowers the immune system and allows them to succumb to Ick)

one of the leading causes of stress for Tangs is a tank thats too small..

the smallest sixe tank for a tang 75 gallons if we're talking about a yellow tang or kole tang. 100 or larger for all other tangs.

so, that said, i suspect that the tank is too small, and possible not mature enough..

how big is the blue tang (im assuming you mean the blue/hippo/regal tang... Paracanthurus hepatus)
unless its really small its probably too big for that tank

[gwen_o_lyn]

A great article about Ich by Steven Pro:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

A quote from that article, "I have dealt with literally hundreds of these fish, and I could probably count on one hand the number of Blue Regal Tangs that appeared to be completely free of infection."

I must be lucky- my regal is very healthy- had him 2-2.5 years

[Rob]

I must be lucky- my regal is very healthy- had him 2-2.5 years

me too.. i have never had a tang with Ick, and i have had 4 over the last 2 years (lost one in my flatworm disaster), hippo, Naso, yellow, and Kole

*knocking on wood*.. ;)
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_10_2.gif

[Amphibious]

chad

Sorry to hear about the Blue's ichy problem. Rob and gwen_o_lyn, are right on with their advice. There is one other option that I'd offer even though it's a bit late. I highly recommend UV steralization for all tanks housing fish. If you get one NOW it may still do some good to eliminate the ich from getting worse and help prevent it in the future.

Here's a link to the UV Sterilizer I recently bought - UV Sterilizer (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3666&N=2004+2032+113778). It was on sale at a decent price. I bought the 25 watt, you could get by with a smaller unit. There are other brands, too.

Dick

[chad]

you got it rob, I do mean Paracanthurus hepatus. she is about 3 inches long & 2 tall.

[Rob]

well, i cant say for 100%, that fish is proably borderlining on being to big.. if its not now it will be withing a few months if healthy
and im sure there are people that will say its too big now.. but i tend to push limits a bit more than others.. :) (push, not cross... )

[Rob]

oh, i didnt catch Dicks post..

yes, personalyl i think a UV steralizer is a great addition when haveing fish, especially when keeping tangs, as they are very messy fish...

[chad]

Thanks for guidance, I'll let you know how it goes.

With the UV sterilizers do you hook them up to an extra pump in your sump?

[Rob]

yep..
there are many ways to hook them up.
if you get one that can handle the flow rate, some people hook them up in-line to there skimmer, so the skimmer removes the stuff the UV kills.
the problem is that the small UV units need a flow rate that's too slow to feed the skimmer..

but again, there are many ways to hook them up.

cehck out Amphibious tank journal thread, you can see some images on how his is setup (i think he posted them already)