have little white bugs

smackdad

smackdad

Member
i've started a reef at the new year and everything went good tell i got a powder brown tang and a Sailfin Tang. they both died of ick so now i have a 58gl. show with 20lb of live sand, star fish, 30 or more lbs of live rock and little white bugs all over the rocks and the glass.
are they good or bad?
 
joe's reefer

joe's reefer

Member
get a mandarinfish and if you do he'll be in <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" /> <img src="graemlins//uhuh.gif" border="0" alt="[U-Huh]" />
 
smackdad

smackdad

Member
mandarinfish feed on these than. my tank has only ben up for 4mo. and has had fish that had ick and died is it safe to get a mandarinfish?
 
ren

ren

Member
ummm he'll deplete the population and likely starve. Need a 100gl+ to support enough pods for em. OR buy one that is feeding on frozen at the LFS - they are a rarity but do happen - mine does.
 
ren

ren

Member
BTW tank needs to be fish free for 30 days appx to rid the ick. Powder's are extreamly suspectable to ick and not sure on sailfins. I battled ick and then copper poisioning and hlle as a topper with my purple tang - but it made it and is full health and color now - no scarring even!
 
byrself

byrself

Member
i think you should wait at least 30 days to add any more fish if you don't have any right now. let the ich die off if it will so maybe it will be less of a problem later. or, you could get a fish now and quarantine it while you let your main tank stay empty to kill the ich. that seems ideal to me. just my op. <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
i pretty mcuh agree with everything mentioned, they are probably pods, if they are they are also good, i would wait 30 days before getting any fish(no matter how much water you change), and a mandarin will more than likely wipe them out before long(i would not add one to a tank with any less then 75 lbs for less than a year)
HTH and good luck
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
First...2 tangs in a realitively new 58 gal reef and they died of ick!!Well tangs need room to roam and the ones you picked a brown & a sail fin are a couple of the harder to keep(especially in a smaller system)...plus those tangs are well known for their ick related problems!!So those fish when added to a new system that was too small to provide for their requirements developed ick....sounds like a typical outcome of a ill advised addition!!
Second...I agree the "white bugs" may be copepods/amphipods...likely came with the LR...good to have in a system and provide some of the natural fauna diversity needed for a stable system.
Third...a manderian dragonette will primarily feed off of copepods and amphipods...some may be able to feed off of frozen mysis/brine but that is the exception and not the rule...personally I think a manderian needs a mature/stable system with a minimum of 75-100 lbs of LR and a thriving pod population to even have a chance.
 
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