White Bumps Blue Hippo Tang

sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
I Noticed Today That My Blue Hippo Tang Was Scratching On A Rock. I Looked At Him, And He Had White Bumps Protruding Out Of His Skin. It Does Not Look Like Ich. None Of My Other Fish Have It. I Did Recently Had Two Damsels. What Could It Be?
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
With any tang I would suspect Ich until proven otherwise. You may want to have a look at Beth's archived threads in the disease section and see if it 'looks' like Ich or Lymphocytosis. One of the mods may give you some advice in this fish section. If not, you may wish to move this thread to the 'disease' section.
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
Originally Posted by Al Mc
With any tang I would suspect Ich until proven otherwise. You may want to have a look at Beth's archived threads in the disease section and see if it 'looks' like Ich or Lymphocytosis. One of the mods may give you some advice in this fish section. If not, you may wish to move this thread to the 'disease' section.

Well, After watching him a couple more days...and looking at that post you recommended. It was definitely marine ich. I quickly set up a hospital tank, and slowly lowered my salinity...and he's looking better than ever. I still have him in the tank till the ich cycle runs through. I have been watching my other fish and they look great...So Thanks for your advice. The store was out of copper meds. So I also did a freshwater dip and a meth blue dip...
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
Do you have all of your fish in the QT? Even though they don’t show signs of it, they’ll be infected as well. You will have to remove them from your main tank and leave it “fish free” until the ick in that tank die out.
Tangs have the least amount of defense against ick and so they are the first to show signs of it. Your tank is now full of it and your other fish will start to succumb to it. It just takes a bit longer.
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
well unfortunately, I don't have my other fish in the qt tank...I don't have enough room for them all...It's only a ten gallon...I was told just to watch the other fish for signs of the ich...that maybe the cycle will play out without them getting infected...That introducing them all to the qt would have more ill effect on them since i have 2 angels 2 damsels...now i don't know what to do.
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
What else do you have in your display tank? If you have inverts and live rock, could you remove them and put them in your QT? If so, then you could do a hypo on your display tank and kill ALL of the ick.
If you have live sand, it would be good to remove that as well. It might be the best option for you?????
The Ick will not just die out by itself unless there are no fish in the tank. Even if you don’t see them, they can be there. Plus, all it takes is one little ick to be attached to the gills of one of your fish and you’ll never know it’s there. But the minute you put that tang back in, he’ll be covered in it.
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
I have too many corals. It all wouldn't fit in the qt. I would say that I have 2 five gallon buckets of live sand or more...I don't know...I really can't afford to go buy a bigger tank...I have rubbermade containers, but I have 3 kids under four who would get into them. I could put the damsels in with the tang, but not the coral beauty and flaming angels...
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Get another 10. You CB and flaame angel deserve it. The blue hippo was in the tank with them for several days. The tank is MOST likely infected, please help the angels out and give them a QT too!
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
okay, the cb and flame angel don't fight now, but do you think they will get territorial in a 10. How long will it take for the ich to run it's course...i don't want them too die...i guess i can split them up between the two.
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
I understand completely. So let’s address what we can for now. Your tang is the priority simply because he is so susceptible to ick. He’ll need to go into the QT as soon as it cycles. And then you can keep an eye on your other fish.
But at some point you’ll need to get your other fish out of your tank so that the ich will die off. It dies if there are no fish present because it lives off of them.
Would it be possible to purchase another QT? Maybe just another 10 gallon? Anything that can fit on a counter top for a while? I know money is tight with kids and being this close to the holidays, so I’m not being flip when I ask. If you can’t then you can’t. But you don’t need a light or even a hood. Just a tank, a small bio wheel filter and a heater. If so, then you can divide up your fish between your two QT’s and treat them all at the same time. Just something to consider.
But for now, I suggest you stick with your original plans and treat your tang.
Perhaps there is someone else out there that has a better suggestion to help you?
Anyone??????????????
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
Well, I have the 10 gallon qt for the tang already...i though about putting one damsel and one angel in there for now...I have an old biowheel that I could use...I could set up something for the other...Can I put existing cycled water from my main tank...and put them in there immediately or do i have to wait for it to cycle...
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
Using existing water is a good idea because your fish are already acclimated to it. And it will transfer “some” bacteria, but not enough to cycle it. You can purchase bacteria cultures in your fish stores and add them directly to your tank to speed up the process. Don’t buy the stuff in the plastic bottle. Buy that which is stores in the refrigerator. I have used it a number of times and it works very well. It will make a big difference.
If you can’t find it, then you’ll need to be prepared to make a lot of water changes until your tank cycles. Ammonia is the thing that will cause you the greatest problems, so purchase a bottle of Amquel. This is a chemical that will turn Ammonia into a harmless compound. It won’t hurt your fish and it works great. I keep a bottle of it for emergencies.
Do you plan on using copper to treat your fish, or the hypo method? I have used both and will be glad to help you with whatever one you choose.
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
The hypo will work just fine. And the good news is that once you get the SG down to .09, it takes a LOT less salt to mix up future batches of replacement water. So it won't cost you an arm and a leg to make a lot of water changes.
Just make sure you follow all of Beths posts on the Disease thread. If you have any questions let us know. Better safe than sorry.
Don’t let this stuff stress you. You’ll get it fixed.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
You definetly can use the water, but it will do absolutly nothing for the cycle. Pull any sponges you might have and put those on the Qt's. Dont rinse 'em or anything, the nastier the better. This WILL help. Also you can use the bottled stuff as well as the amquel. Id put the CB in with the hippo myself. Also you could get tank dividers and divide the tanks up, just a thought. I would recomend the hypo method over the copper with the hippo. Tangs generally dont fare well with long term copper exposure. Your going to have to run the DT fallow for 4 weeks.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Originally Posted by sly65sally200
Silly me, just realized I have an old 55 gallon in storage...my husband just reminded me
I guess he's worth something after all!
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
I guess he's worth something after all!

oh he's worth alot, i couldn't keep my head on straight if it weren't for him...i'm kinda embarassed i didn't think of it.
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
I guess he's worth something after all!


I laugh so hard at your Avatar I nearly cry.
 
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