tiny white spots on my sail fin tang??

[mike388]

Hello I have a Sailfin Tang with little white spots on his tail fin and couple on his body and some on his front fins .. my first guess was ich but they seem smaller and there not spreading awhole lot (knock on wood ) ... Im a beginner at this but i know ich looks like salt but its smaller and the little white bumps dont stick up very far so I dont know... This is going on for a week and half now. my tank size is a 26 and i have cow fish and a shrimp with live rock ... my salinty is between 1.021 and 1.022 . Thanks

 

[lefty]

Please return your tang to the store as soon as possible, unless you plan on getting a much bigger tank. They require a tank much, much larger than a 26 gallon. No wonder he/she isn't doing so well...I bet the fish is feeling a bit claustrophobic at the moment.
The cowfish should be returned as well. Both of these fish need at least a 125 gallon tank. Did the person who sold these fish to you tell you they would be okay in a 26g?
To answer your question, it certainly sounds like your tang has ich. Ich can be cured by placing the fish in a quarantine tank for three to four weeks after slowly lowering the salinity to exactly 1.009 SG. Also, invertebrates are sensitive to salinity and pH. I would recommend raising your salinity to 1.026 over the next few days.
In the future, please thoroughly research all fish you are interested in. This will save you (and has saved me) a lot of problems and frustrations.
-lefty

 

[masala4080]

As well as money!

 

[thetrex]

Well I have seen and read about people keeping tangs in small tanks and they do just fine. I will agree wthat 26 is small and you should have a bigger tank. I know people that heep hippos and powder blues in 50 gallon tanks and they look great and they are realy active. Lefty If I was you I would go to a 50 or a 55 gallon tank or even a 75 if you can.

 

[lefty]

A 50 gallon tank would not be big enough for the fish for very long. Sailfin tangs can get up to 15 inches in size. Unlike many other fish, they require a bigger tank because of their behavior. They need the extra space to swim, otherwise they will stress out. If they become stressed they will not live nearly as long and will not be happy. You could keep a tang the size of a nickel in a 26 gallon tank. Unless you want to continue buying larger tanks to accomodate the fish's growth, then I would still highly recommend giving him back to the store.
Also, there is a difference between a tang surviving and a tang thriving. We all want our fish to thrive and be happy...this is why we try to put them in a tank of proper size.
-lefty

 

[psychoskater]

I know someone with a kole tang in a 55 gallon reef. It is thriving. It seems that if you have a tank that is 48 inches long and is very stable with few other fish there are some tangs that do fine. I dunno

 

[lefty]

Kole tangs are the one exception (thanks for bringing it up ). Unlike all the other tangs, they are reef dwellers and will do fine in a 55 gallon tank (minimum).
-lefty