Purple Tang with Bumps - Can't Catch

[squiddly]

Purple tang added to a 120 gallon tank on 8/23. Within one day, he had clearly defined white spots on the base of his tail which the LFS said was ich. Started treating the whole tank with "Kick Ich" the next day. LFS suggested a fresh water bath for 15 minutes. Upon trying to catch the fish, he got so stressed out that se quickly gave up. I would have to dismantle my rock to get this fish out. If necessary, will do so, but it would be a royal pain.
Did the second and third treatments of Kick Ich, but he has developed bumps all over the rest of his body. He eats normally, acts normally, but rubs himself on the rocks as if he is itching.
Other inhabitants of the tank are ok. I have hermits, a gorgonia, 3 curly Q anemonies, one yellow watchman, 1 flame angel, 2 wrasses, and 4 clowns. Live rock, no corals. Water parameters are selinity of 1.025, PH 8.3, ammonia 0, nitrates 0, nitrites 0, phosphate .03.
The pics aren't great, but hubby said "looksl ike he has the measles"
Please help.

 

[lpuzon]

hmmm... it doesn't sound and look good.... wait for the experts.. they'll help you. hope he'll be fine.

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by Squiddly
Purple tang added to a 120 gallon tank on 8/23. Within one day, he had clearly defined white spots on the base of his tail which the LFS said was ich. Started treating the whole tank with "Kick Ich" the next day. LFS suggested a fresh water bath for 15 minutes. Upon trying to catch the fish, he got so stressed out that se quickly gave up. I would have to dismantle my rock to get this fish out. If necessary, will do so, but it would be a royal pain.
Did the second and third treatments of Kick Ich, but he has developed bumps all over the rest of his body. He eats normally, acts normally, but rubs himself on the rocks as if he is itching.
Other inhabitants of the tank are ok. I have hermits, a gorgonia, 3 curly Q anemonies, one yellow watchman, 1 flame angel, 2 wrasses, and 4 clowns. Live rock, no corals. Water parameters are selinity of 1.025, PH 8.3, ammonia 0, nitrates 0, nitrites 0, phosphate .03.
The pics aren't great, but hubby said "looksl ike he has the measles"
Please help.
Will he eat hung food like seaweed? If so, can you snag him there in a net? Hopefully Beth will chime in and give a diagnosis. Good LucK!

 

[squiddly]

I really hope so. I read where it could be all kinds of things. I'm too inexperienced to know. I'm going to look for a quarantine tank tomorrow.

 

[squiddly]

He is a "drive by" sheet algae eater. He swims across the tank, snatches the algae, and takes off again. If I have to treat the whole tank, taking him out would be silly anyway, but if I do have to take him out, it's going to be a long and difficult dissasembly of live rock, but like I said, I'll do it if I have to. I'll even try the "wait til he falls asleep" thing but he usually sleeps in the rocks. Silly fish. He also stresses VERY easily.

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by Squiddly
I really hope so. I read where it could be all kinds of things. I'm too inexperienced to know. I'm going to look for a quarantine tank tomorrow.

If you have a good LFS, they might have a copper tank already if it is ick. Call them and ask?
Mc

 

[squiddly]

While they might have one, there's the problem of catching him. It totally stresses him out, and I'm hoping to avoid it if possible. The reason why I want the quarantine tank is to prevent something like this happening in the future.

 

[beth]

All of your fish have been exposed to ich now, and all must be treated to rid your tank of ich.
No simple answer here, unfortunately.

 

[squiddly]

Hi Beth! So this is ich? Kick Ich isn't working. Would you recommend anything else? I truly appreciate the information. The spots do kinda look like whiteheads.

 

[beth]

Squiddy, kick ick won't work. Some people here think Stop Parasite is worth a shot. Myself, I don't really support "maybe" meds. Hyposalinity is my choice for treating ich.
If you can find a temporary home for the few corals you have, etc., you could move most of the inverts and the LR into a large rubbermaid with some PHs going. Then do hypo in-tank for all fish. Take a look at the hyposalinity and ich info in the FAQ Thread, if you are interested in going this route. You need a high-grade glass hydrometer or a refractometer for this procedure.

 

[squiddly]

Thank you very much, Beth. I will pick up a tank tomorrow and set it up for the inverts, and catch as many as I can and put them in there. Then I will get a refractor and bring down the salinity as laid out in your wonderfully useful FAQs. Thanks again! I'm hoping for the best.

 

[beth]

Squiddy, you can buy a tank if you want, but a cheap square rubbermaid will work very well. Inverts AND LIVE ROCK must vacate the display tank that you are going to run hypo in. Live rock will not survive hypo.
Once the inverts and rock is out, you may want to leave a little bit of rubble rock in the display to keep the biofilter going. Add some fake rock or pvc pieces to the hypo display so that your fish will have some comfort zones.
And of course, you have to think in terms of establish a QT for the future, so that this will never happen again.

 

[squiddly]

Thanks again, Beth. I was planning on setting up a QT tank, just hadn't gotten around to it. Got the tang from the LFS that has a great repuatation and I've never had problems with before. Unfortunately, there's always a first time it seems. We're going away in a week so things are going to be a bit dodgy unless I can find a good fish sitter who knows what s/he is doing re: salt readings, etc. Of course this stuff happens at the "best" times, eh?

 

[beth]

You may want to see if you can get a professional service for a week. I know...the price of keeping tanks. Hey, I have a sitter for my pet pythons. LOL

 

[squiddly]

*grin* I have a sitter for the 10 dogs, 2 cats, 3 birds and one teenager. I will definitely look into a service. One of the LFS managers lives near me... perhaps I can beg, plead and pay him enough to show up and play with the fishies .
Thanks, Beth. Your information has been very thorough and useful. I truly appreciate it. Ah, the life with tanks..... And to think, we're going to Bonaire to play in the biggest tank around. I wonder how they get along without a UV sterilizer

 

[beth]

Most aquairums do QT their fish. They'd be nuts not too!
Glad to have helped. Have fun!