powder blue tang help..
- Thread starter eric36
- Start date
cenainn
New Member
My first question is going to be what size tank is he in? If they look like grains of salt and you notice him scratching(ie: rubbing against LR and sand) then its Ich and i would quarantine him immediately. Hypo salinity is my preferred way of treating ich, you can read detailed write ups on it in other forums.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Sounds like ich to me. If that is the case, all fish will need to be treated with hyposalinity in an appropriately sized quarantine tank for 3 to 4 weeks.
eric36
New Member
I have a 30g tank (i know everyone on here says not to have a tang in that small of a tank) with live sand and about 20lb of live rock and the tang, 2 clown,2 cleaner shimp, and 10 hemit crabs, 2 crabs. I do not have a quarantine tank as im new to this hobby. Is there anything i can treat my tank with?
alyssia
Active Member
Originally Posted by eric36
I have a 30g tank (i know everyone on here says not to have a tang in that small of a tank) with live sand and about 20lb of live rock and the tang, 2 clown,2 cleaner shimp, and 10 hemit crabs, 2 crabs. I do not have a quarantine tank as im new to this hobby. Is there anything i can treat my tank with?
No. You need to do hypo in a QT. How long have you had the tang? The tang probably has ich from the stress of being in a tank that size. How old is the tank?
I have a 30g tank (i know everyone on here says not to have a tang in that small of a tank) with live sand and about 20lb of live rock and the tang, 2 clown,2 cleaner shimp, and 10 hemit crabs, 2 crabs. I do not have a quarantine tank as im new to this hobby. Is there anything i can treat my tank with?
No. You need to do hypo in a QT. How long have you had the tang? The tang probably has ich from the stress of being in a tank that size. How old is the tank?
lion_crazz
Active Member
No, I would not treat the tank with anything. That will only create more problems, usually. Hypo is the only sure way to get rid of ich. However, there is little hope for the powder blue in the 30 gallon anyway. He is highly stressed. Powder blue tangs NEED at least a 180, because they are CONSTANT swimmers.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Ah, much different. A hippo can do okay in a 30 for a small amount of time, whereas a powder blue really cannot. I would still set-up a 10 gallon QT and treat all fish with hypo.
If you take into consideration all the money you watse in meds, you will have a fully set-up QT already paid for.
Medications - $20-$30
QT tank, fully set-up - $30-$40
If you take into consideration all the money you watse in meds, you will have a fully set-up QT already paid for.
Medications - $20-$30
QT tank, fully set-up - $30-$40
lion_crazz
Active Member
Here is a little explanation for you:
Hyposalinity
Please know: You cannot do hyposalinity in a tank with live rock, snails, hermits, stars, shrimp, live sand, corals, etc. Hypo will kill these organisms, and thus must be done in a quarantine tank. If you have none of these things in your tank, you may perform hyposalinity in your main tank.
When treating your fish for ich, all fish must be treated with hyposalinity, including the ones that do not currently have ich. As long as there is a fish in the tank, ich will be alive because it has a host. Even if you do not see it, it is going to be there. You will only rid your tank of ich when you remove the fish, put them in hyposalinity, and leave the display tank fishless for 6 weeks.
When you do hypo, you will need a refractometer so that you can ensure specific gravity accuracy. You will also need a pH and alkalinity test kit, and a buffer in case either of these levels begin to decline. I prefer Kent's Super dkH buffer.
Hyposalinity (hypo meaning lower) is when you lower the specific gravity of your tank to 1.009 over the course of 48 hours. I would always recommend that you do it slowly, as to not shock your fish. One way of bringing the salt level down is to do a series of small water changes, replacing the water in the tank with RO/DI water (without salt). When you begin to lower your specific gravity, you need to pay very close attention to pH and kH. These things may begin to drop, and you need to be ready to buffer them if they do indeed fall. Keep the fish in hyposalinity for 3 weeks. Begin counting the 3 weeks once you see no ich on the fish. While the fish are in QT, pay close attention to nitrates as well. If this level begins to rise, a water change will definitely be needed. When doing a water change, always be sure that the pH, kH, salinity, and temp is the EXACT same in your water change water as in your hyposalinity QT. After the fish have been in QT for 3 weeks, SLOWLY begin to bring the specific gravity back up. Do this over the course of a week. Make sure to do it very slowly, only bringing it up a few points each day. If you do it too fast, your fish will begin to stress out, as they do not tolerate fast increases of salinity.
After the salinity is brought upto the salinity in your display tank, leave the fish in the QT for 2 more weeks to ensure all the ich in the display tank is dead. This will total 6 weeks that the display tank has been fishless. Without fish in the display tank, ich will slowly begin to die because they have nothing to keep them alive. Ich needs fish to keep their life cycle going. Inverts cannot be a host to ich.
After 6 weeks, all ich should be gone in your display tank and your tank will be safe to add the fish back in.
Hyposalinity
Please know: You cannot do hyposalinity in a tank with live rock, snails, hermits, stars, shrimp, live sand, corals, etc. Hypo will kill these organisms, and thus must be done in a quarantine tank. If you have none of these things in your tank, you may perform hyposalinity in your main tank.
When treating your fish for ich, all fish must be treated with hyposalinity, including the ones that do not currently have ich. As long as there is a fish in the tank, ich will be alive because it has a host. Even if you do not see it, it is going to be there. You will only rid your tank of ich when you remove the fish, put them in hyposalinity, and leave the display tank fishless for 6 weeks.
When you do hypo, you will need a refractometer so that you can ensure specific gravity accuracy. You will also need a pH and alkalinity test kit, and a buffer in case either of these levels begin to decline. I prefer Kent's Super dkH buffer.
Hyposalinity (hypo meaning lower) is when you lower the specific gravity of your tank to 1.009 over the course of 48 hours. I would always recommend that you do it slowly, as to not shock your fish. One way of bringing the salt level down is to do a series of small water changes, replacing the water in the tank with RO/DI water (without salt). When you begin to lower your specific gravity, you need to pay very close attention to pH and kH. These things may begin to drop, and you need to be ready to buffer them if they do indeed fall. Keep the fish in hyposalinity for 3 weeks. Begin counting the 3 weeks once you see no ich on the fish. While the fish are in QT, pay close attention to nitrates as well. If this level begins to rise, a water change will definitely be needed. When doing a water change, always be sure that the pH, kH, salinity, and temp is the EXACT same in your water change water as in your hyposalinity QT. After the fish have been in QT for 3 weeks, SLOWLY begin to bring the specific gravity back up. Do this over the course of a week. Make sure to do it very slowly, only bringing it up a few points each day. If you do it too fast, your fish will begin to stress out, as they do not tolerate fast increases of salinity.
After the salinity is brought upto the salinity in your display tank, leave the fish in the QT for 2 more weeks to ensure all the ich in the display tank is dead. This will total 6 weeks that the display tank has been fishless. Without fish in the display tank, ich will slowly begin to die because they have nothing to keep them alive. Ich needs fish to keep their life cycle going. Inverts cannot be a host to ich.
After 6 weeks, all ich should be gone in your display tank and your tank will be safe to add the fish back in.
lion_crazz
Active Member
You will need to buy a sponge that you would put into a filter. Put this into your display tank, and allow it to pick up as much bioligical bateria as possible. Then, move this into the QT so that you can help prevent a cycle in the quarantine tank.
lion_crazz
Active Member
I would leave it in there as long as possible so that it has as much bacteria as it can hold. If the tang looks bad, you may want to transfer them tomorrow, and then do daily water changes until you get the sponge in there. If you do not have the sponge in there for a few days, the ammonia will try to spike, as the tank will try to cycle. By doing daily water changes, you will be bringing out the the ammonia and putting in fresh RO water.
You do not need to use display tank water. Although, you can if you have to.
You do not need to use display tank water. Although, you can if you have to.
lion_crazz
Active Member
I would rather you know what you are doing, so ask all the questions you need to.
I would probably leave him in the display for a few days if he is not too bad. Have you been testing your water levels? What is your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, kH, salinity, and temp? Are you using garlic in the fish's food?
You do not want sand or rock in the QT. You will just need some fake decorations.
I would probably leave him in the display for a few days if he is not too bad. Have you been testing your water levels? What is your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, kH, salinity, and temp? Are you using garlic in the fish's food?
You do not want sand or rock in the QT. You will just need some fake decorations.
