fish flashing

[i love fish]

I have had my 2 inch hippo tang (Dory) for nearly 3 months now, I had her in QT for about 6 or 7 weeks coz I saw her flashing so I performed hypo (in hypo 3 wks) on her even though there were no actual signs of ich (just 2 b safe).
She's now been in the DT for nearly 1 month now and about 2 or 3 weeks ago (1 wk after I put her in the DT) she started flashing again. There r no signs of ich or any other disease, she's eating fine, active etc, the only other fish that's flashing is my female perc.
All water perametres r fine except 4 the trates 25ppm and the phosphates which r 1 and the temp is abit on the high side approx 83degrees.
Is this normal behaviour 4 hippo tangs, do they sometimes scratch 4 no reason? I think if it was ich she'd b showing actual visual signs of the disease by now, right? Could it just b the bubbles from the skimmer tickling her or do u think i may have an actual problem?
Should I place her back in the QT and do hypo on her and the female perc again or do u think they r fine?
thanks evey1

 

[sly]

Do you leave out algae sheets for your tang to feed off of? They are constant grazers and if they don't have a regular source of algae (or lettuce) then they can get ICH more easily as their metabolism weakens.

 

[i love fish]

No i'm not feeding algae sheets but I will be once the grocery restocks their shelves, I've been trying 2 get my hands on some 4 weeks now.
I do have alot of diatoms and green algae growing on the LR and the hippo grazes on them all day long non stop. will that be sufficient for the time being until i can get the nori?

 

[sly]

For the most part, algae that grows in the tank is not sufficient for a tang. It is poor in nutrients and the tang eventually eats most of what it can get. Then it is searching constantly for food that it can't find.
My guess is that the problem you are seeing is due to there not being a stable food supply. The fish gets stressed and that makes it susceptible to all sorts of diseases. The two most common, that I have seen, are head and lateral line erosion and ICH.
I would get some romaine lettuce ASAP and start leaving it out for the tang to eat until you can get some nori to feed it. The way I prepare mine is to separate the leaves from the stalk and then put them in the freezer. Let them get into a deep freeze. Then when you are ready to feed, pull one out and thaw it quickly under running hot water. This blanches the leaf and also rinses off any contaminates which could be present. It is very important to rinse the leaves...
After feeding both, my yellow tang prefers romaine over the nori sheets.

 

[aquaknight]

When you moved the Hippo to QT, were there other fish still in the tank? If so, you're shooting yourself in the foot. All of the fish have to be removed, and the tank remain empty of fish (corals, shrimp, crabs, are fine in there) for a minimum of 6-7 weeks. If one of your fish has Ich, all of them do, to a degree. They just may be able to cope with it better then the tang.

 

[i love fish]

Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/2767377
When you moved the Hippo to QT, were there other fish still in the tank? If so, you're shooting yourself in the foot. All of the fish have to be removed, and the tank remain empty of fish (corals, shrimp, crabs, are fine in there) for a minimum of 6-7 weeks. If one of your fish has Ich, all of them do, to a degree. They just may be able to cope with it better then the tang.
Yes, the other fish where in the DT when I moved the hippo to it, but none of the fish, including the hippo have any kind of spots on them, just the hippo and the female clown scratch on the rocks from time 2 time. The hippo has been doing this for the past 5 weeks now and no visual signs of ich. Could it be something else other than ich?
BTW, i found some nori and the hippo and foxface r loving it. Thanks