ick i think?

[clown lover]

we have a 53 gall hex. There is a lot of live rock. We have a tang, gramma, 2 damsels, sea cucumber, anemones and lots of snails and hermmies. We have notice small round white cirlces (spot) on the live rock. When we tried to wipe it off it is very hard. You need to scrap it with your nail. Is this ick? Everything but the Tang has been in the tank for quite some time. The Tang looks like he has small white spots on him. We are going to set up a 10 gallon for sick or new fish. We really aren't sure what to do. Any suggestions? Help!

 

[ross]

First of all we need to know more specifics about the tank. What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. What kind of tang is it and how long has the tank been established? It sounds like ick on the tang. It is probably stressed out from either bad water conditions or to small of a tank. Tangs need alot of room to swim and a 53 hex doesn't give alot of room to swim. Don't just set up a new tank and put the tang in it. The tank needs to have cycled first. If you took some sand strait from the big tank to the smaller quarantine tank then it might not cycle. Either way you will definetly need to treat the tang. Once he gets healthy again i would strongly recomend getting rid of him because that size tank just isn't big enough.

 

[jumpfrog]

Could very well be ick on the tang. As stated, not the best tank for a tang. As for the hard white spots on your rock. Sounds like some coraline algea that has bleached. No worries and that happens some times. It will come back. Don't worry about the stuff on the rock, but do look into treating, moving, returning the tang.
Good Luck!