Juvinile Hippo w/Ick

[frofan]

I have a juvenile hippo tang that has been in my tank a week. After doing a 20% water change this weekend, I noticed ick on the tang the following day. I don't know if the large water change and cleaning all of the pumps caused it, or if it had it from the LFS. It is very small, probably around an inch to inch and a half in length. It is currently in my display tank with all of my other fish. None of them show any signs of having it as of yet.

I have a 10 gallon hospital tank that I just started, but I'm not sure if I should pull the tang out or leave it. I have heard that some times it is best to just feed them good and leave them in the main tank, as it can be more stressful to put them in a small tank. It currently only has 3 or 4 small dots on it, and is swimming and eating very good. I have noticed that it scratches against the live rock every once in a while. I have premixed water ready for the 10 gallon tank, and copper. I'm going to have a very hard time catching it, as it likes to hide and swim in between my 110 lbs of live rock. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

[rayme07]

Hi frofan welcome to TR.
Can you tell me a little about your setup and the parameters would help out a bunch.:)

[frofan]

Hi Raymond, he is in a 72 bow w/ 20 sump, 100 lbs of live rock, and a 4" DSB. SWC 200 protein skimmer, 2 little fishies phos reactor, 600 gph overflow, 2 vortechs. Params are very steady and are listed below. I'm aware of the problem with the tank size, and plan on upgrading when he out grows my current tank. I'm new to the hobby, and just don't know if it is best to remove him now, or wait and see if it progresses. I don't want to lose all of my fish though. The day before I noticed the spots, I did a 20% water change, and moved some rock around.

Temp - 80
SG - 1.0245
PH - 7.9
KH - 11
CA - 440
Ammonia, Nitrate, & Nitrite - 0
Phosphate - Between 0 and .15

[rayme07]

I think the problem may be the tank. Hes probably getting stressed due to very little space. Hippos need lots of room that's why they need 100 gallons or more. If I was you I would try to catch him and treat him for ich in the quarantine tank (QT). Then I would give him back to the LFS for store credit or money back. Because he may spread the ich around and may cause problems with your other fish.:)

[CarmieJo]

Hi Steve and :welcome: to TR.

The only sure fire way to make sure that you have eliminated the ich from your DT it by fallowig it dor 6 weeks. You can either use coper in the QT to treat the ich or you can use hyposalinity.

This ich/stress issue is the reason why we say that tangs need a 6' tank. Even though he is a tiny baby now his nature is to be a big swimmer and they get stressed out when they don't have that.

[saltaddict]

Hi - sorry you are having problems.

I have a 4" hippo that in the beginning would become stressed every time I messed around for very long in "Her" tank and she would get a few spots. I would watch closely, mix all food with garlic, selcon and zoe and it should help boost the fishes immune system. All of the food I feed is dosed with the above three additives to ensure good health.

If you don't see it improving then I would pull and put in QT and use hyposalinity before I used copper.

At this point I don't think the size of your tank is the issue as the fish is only 1" long. What are the dimensions of your tank??

[frofan]

The tank dimensions are 48x18x22. I saw another spot this morning, so I pulled her out. I already had copper mixed in the QT tank. I only have a lever hydrometer, so it would be hard to get an acurate reading for hypo. Is Copper that bad for them if I keep a close eye on the levels?

[saltaddict]

I just prefer to try natural methods first before using chemicals and I don't use copper because I can't use the QT for corals too.

Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

[Amphibious]

Tangs in general are prone to getting and/or carrying the Ich parasite. The Hippo is one of the most prone. That is the reason for QTing them and all new arrivals. A QT system, up and running, should be an integral part of every marine aquarists set-up. Since you didn't do that, Qting him now may not be the best thing for him and your system. Your system is contaminated. In my opinion, it's best to leave him, feed him and the others with good food fortified with liquified vitamins and garlic. That is about the best scenario for now. DO NOT add anything to your system for the duration of treatment which could last two months or longer. Harsh reality, I know but, that's life in reefing without a QT. Get your QT set-up and ready for the future.

Good luck comes from planning to succeed. Failure comes from failing to plan. Don't beat yourself up, we've all been there. The lesson here is, if you fail to change your plan you will fail again. Same action in the future will gain the same result. A change in game plan is in order.

I suggest you read my article on buying healthy fish and keeping them healthy - Nine Simple Rules (http://theculturedreef.com/nine-rules.htm)

Dick

[frofan]

Amphibious, after seeing a new spot on him this morning, I moved him to the QT I had setup with copper. It is currently a low concentration of coppersafe at around .2 ppm. I'm most concerned with keeping the rest of my tank healthy. The hippo is curled up under a 3" PVC pipe I have in the QT. Since he is already in the QT, I'm guessing it is probably best to leave him in there, right? Are there any conditions or symptoms that would warrant me moving him back to the DT?

Why do you think moving him to QT now is a bad idea?

[saltaddict]

Moving them is very stressful in itself - it can often cause more harm than good. No - I would not move back to the DT now. It would certainly be shock as well as a stress.

[Amphibious]

No, what's done is done. Leave him in QT. Realize you are in for a long dry spell for adding anything to the DT. The disease is in there and must run it's course, about 8 weeks, even if no other fish shows symptoms. The next fish to go to DT is a healthy Hippo from QT and that should be in 8 weeks also because you can't treat the DT.

Best of luck with your patience. It will pay off in the long run.

Dick

[frofan]

The other fish in the DT can stay, right? I would only need to put them in QT if they show symptoms? I don't plan on adding any other fish for at least 6 months (Green Manderine), so I'm not concerned about that.

[PhotoJohn]

leave the others in the DT unless they need ick treatment as well