Ich? yes or no?

[petem]

I know it's hard to tell without any pics, however, I have my Blue Hippo Tang for almost 2 weeks now. I bought him from a reputable LFS. However, It appears that he may have Ich. At first I noticed tiny clear or whitish spots. Almost like bubbles attached to him. But now it appears that they "bubbles" are spreading. He's in there with other fish, but none of them show any signs of the same condition. If treatment is necessary, should I treat the whole tank? Thanks.

 

[luka]

I have the same (identical?) problem.
My 75 tank has 1 hippo tang, 1 foxface, 1 dottyback, 2 clown, 2 hermit crabs and 1 shrimp. All readings fine.
I have seen the white bubbles (not small dots) on my h-tang for about one month and she is the only one who has it. I did not treat the tank with anything. All I have done is to feed them with garlic juice soaked food (both frozen and dry) once a day.
The tang is very happy and growing very day. No sign of stress and eats like a pig. Every evening she goes to her same spot under the rock and lays flat to sleep, comes out in the morning waiting to be fed. She does stratch a bit on the decor but not like crazy.
The white stuff stay about 3 days the most on her body and gone, then come back again a day or two later and stay for a couple of days and disappeared. This has been going on and off for the past one month. I keep telling myself: donot disturb them by 1). medication the tank or 2). chasing the tang out to put to the QT, as long as all the fish are still eating well and no one else has the problem.
( I had some bad experience by taking fish out to QT, in doinging so, more stress was introduced and killed the fish and treated the QT with copper and killed my fish. )
I am not sure how this will end. Is this is a right move or not to leave the tang in the tank? Please advise.

 

[petem]

That's my problem too. I went out today, and bought a QT set it up, then went back to notice the Tang. He seems fine. Now the "spots" "bubbles" whatever, seem less prominent. He's eating fine, chasing after the flakes. I would assume the other fish would have it as well. Any other thoughts?

 

[elfdoctors]

If the tangs are otherwise healthy and are eating well there is no rush to make an immediate diagnosis. I would monitor the fish closely. If the fish shows signs of worsening, then treatment for ich should be considered. You could also use garlic while you are watching.
In the meantime, I would recommend getting a QT set up. This will prevent diseases in the future and get that tank at least partially cycled (use water from your display tank). Just feed that tank with a small amount of food as if a pair of fish were in it to help bacteria build up without getting the large spike you probably had with your display tank. You would need to do a water change and get any rotting food out of the tank when you needed to use it.
Hippo tangs like to hide and sleep in tight places in live rock. Sometimes they can get sand granules stuck in their skin slime layer which can look like salt granules. This will vary from day to day but should not get worse.

 

[petem]

Elfdoctors, you mentioned Garlic as a remedy. How does one do that? Do you soak the food in Garlic juice or powder? also, update on the tang situation....it seems to be worsening on some days, and then other days he looks allright. My wife seems to think it looks like some kind of fungus or Mold. But, there's no tail rot, or fin rot. However, One of my domino damsels is also showing same signs as the tang, that is, spots. I"m thinking I'll try the garlic first.

 

[petem]

Oh, I almost forgot. When I asked my LFS for advice on treating Ich (if that's what it is) he said, to raise the temp to 84 degrees Farenheit first before putting any medicine in there, to try and get the parasite to come out. Is this true? He said this because the medicine, I think it's called Greenex would kill my beneficial bacteria. But he said it's safe for snails and crabs.

 

[elfdoctors]

There are several ways to use garlic. Probably the best way is to soak some food in it and then feed it to the fish. It can also be dripped directly into the water. You can make your own by squeezing fresh cloves. There are also several commerial products. I have tried GarlicGuard and Garlic Extreme. I like Garlic Extreme better as it is much easier to use (it comes with a dropper).
I have no experience with Greenex. I know some of the moderators do not think the product has any value. I probably wouldn't use it.
Fungal infections are very rare in marine aquaria. When they look like mold it often is a bacterial infection. If this seems to progress, Maracyn 2 is often a good treatment.
Raising the temperature probably doesn't do much. It does speed up the lifecycle of ich (and therefore makes it more susceptible to certain medications) but this is not reliable and can put more stress on fish (less oxygen is available at the higher temperatures and the fish have higher oxygen requirements. Bacteria seem to like the higher temperatures. If you have a bacterial infection of the sores the higher temperatures might even make this worse.
That's about all I can say to help you. Good Luck!
I am going out of town for the next week. You may have to start another thread to get an opinion from Beth who has the most experience. She seems to be primarily responding to threads that no one else has answered.

 

[petem]

You are very informative. I thank you for your advice. Just wanted to update you...again. It seems that my Tang and Domino Damsel have both died. After closer examination, it doesnot look like Ich. As I mentioned previously it appears as though they had a "white fuzzy" mold growing on them. One other Domino Damsel is missing. The other fish in the tank dont have any other symptoms. I'm debating whether to bring those dead fish back to my lfs to get a positive ID on what caused this. Thanks again for your advice.