Why do my tangs look like they have sand all over them

[elitephoto]

I have a large blonde naso, a powder brown and a blue hippo that all have what looks like sand or something all over the sides of their bodies. I also have a yellow tang but he looks normal. what could this be all over the tangs? sand stuck to them or could it be something worse?

 

[travis89]

Sounds like ich. If so you have to treat them in a quarentine tank.

 

[martinc909]

can you post a pic

 

[elitephoto]

pics would be impossible to take, its such a small thing to see on them. i have to stare up close to see it.

 

[teresaq]

sounds like ich to me. What size tank are they in??

 

[jam1e]

yeah .. ich .. put garlic into their diet and it'll boost their immune system to help them fight it off .. or there are other products out there ... but left untreated . ich is fatal

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by ElitePhoto
I have a large blonde naso, a powder brown and a blue hippo that all have what looks like sand or something all over the sides of their bodies. I also have a yellow tang but he looks normal. what could this be all over the tangs? sand stuck to them or could it be something worse?
What are your tang's parameters, size of your tank? Powder Brown and Hippo tangs are ich magnets. Best to start with garlic treated food. How long has this tank been setup? How long have you had these fish? Are all these tangs in the same tank? :happyfish

 

[elitephoto]

tangs are in the same tank. tanks been with fish for 2 months now and cycled for about 6 weeks prior to that...so a little over 3 months now. what I use to test water is a dip strip... nitrate 20, nitrite 0, kh above 300,ph 8. water is fluxiates between 79-80 degrees. my powder brown has the most of this sand looking stuff on him i would say like 50% of his body, my yellow tang has NONE the blue tang has very very little as does my blonde naso, he also has very little, maybe 10 % of his body. ive had the blue and yellow as my first fish in the tank, the powder brown i put in about 3 weeks ago and the blonde naso abotu a week ago. All my tangs came from the same LFS

 

[debbie]

Is this a 72 gal tank?
I don't think I have ever see any tang in our LFS that does not have ich all over it. I don't have a tang and don't know a whole lot about them except they are notorious for ich. I think you might find that your tank is going to be a bit small for them, but let other comment.
Get a quarantine tank so you can treat them as soon as you can. Tangs are such lovley fish.
Good Luck....

 

[eyebedam]

I hope you have a really large tank cause if not you got 2 many large tangs that really need alot of swimming room. Tangs are really active fish. They may be getting stressed from lack of room. Ich is fatal I hope you get it cured because I know you got some money invested in some very pretty fish.

 

[debbie]

eyebedam, if you look at their profile is shows a 72 gal tank. I asked if this is the tank but no reply yet.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by ElitePhoto
tangs are in the same tank. tanks been with fish for 2 months now and cycled for about 6 weeks prior to that...so a little over 3 months now. what I use to test water is a dip strip... nitrate 20, nitrite 0, kh above 300,ph 8. water is fluxiates between 79-80 degrees. my powder brown has the most of this sand looking stuff on him i would say like 50% of his body, my yellow tang has NONE the blue tang has very very little as does my blonde naso, he also has very little, maybe 10 % of his body. ive had the blue and yellow as my first fish in the tank, the powder brown i put in about 3 weeks ago and the blonde naso abotu a week ago. All my tangs came from the same LFS
There's numerous factors to your problem. First of all, your tank is wayyy too young yet still to put all those tangs in there!!! Second, you need to ditch that test strip stuff, it's not very accurate! Third, if the tank they're in is a 72 gallon tank, you'll have a big problem sometime soon. You really need to do some major research before advancing any further. I would suggest in feeding garlic treated foods right now to boost their immune system. Try to take back at least 2 of your tangs and be willing to upgrade your tank down the road. Good Luck! :happyfish

 

[elitephoto]

Yeah it is a 72 gallon bowfront with 70 lbs cured live rock. I have been feeding them greens, mison and brime shrimp and fomula one pellets. and yeah i think the lfs is taking back my powder brown. they sold me all my fish and told me it would all be ok in there, which they seem to be doing great. my blonde naso and blue even let me pet them and they feed from my hand so i dont wanna ditch those guys for sure.

 

[promisetbg]

Originally Posted by ElitePhoto
my blonde naso and blue even let me pet them and they feed from my hand so i dont wanna ditch those guys for sure.
You are going to kill them by keeping them in this tank.

 

[bacia]

I am pretty new at this also but would it help if a cleaner shrimp was added to the tank? I have heard that they will clean ick off the fish. My cleaner shrimp seems to be really good at cleaning off all kinds of fish not just tangs.

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by Bacia
I am pretty new at this also but would it help if a cleaner shrimp was added to the tank? I have heard that they will clean ick off the fish. My cleaner shrimp seems to be really good at cleaning off all kinds of fish not just tangs.
It will help some, but the most important message here is get the tangs out and into a much larger tank. They will die from stress because of their size. There are a couple people that have similar fish in similar tank sizes but the experience level is much greater.

 

[iluvreefs]

I haven't look at your specs, but one question I would have is what kind of substrate do you have? If it's LS, have you tried a turkey baster to see if it's sand on the fish. Highly doubtful, but just a suggestion. I'm having ich probs right now with the hippo tang that I have and so have opted to dismantel my LR to get to all my fish, quarentine them all in the QT and treat them and let the main display tank sit for awhile so the ich will die. Hopefully it will all turn out fine.

 

[jam1e]

The maximum number of tangs I would have in your size tank would be about just your Blue Hippo Tang .. but if you had Yellow Tangs .. I would say you could have three .. but if you ask me .. and apparently everyone else on this post .. you need to take all those tangs out .. but you might get away with leaving the Blue Hippo .. but only if it's a juvenile .. how big are these tangs? .. and like Hott883 said ... it still might not be a good idea to keep the blue hippo in that tank just because of experience level .. it would be fine if you had a bigger tank but you might not be able to read the fish's signs .. good luck

 

[elitephoto]

substrate is fine live sand. experience level, this is my 3rd tank, the last tank being a 240 gallon. this is my first tank ive had in 3 years and my first time having tangs. the tangs are all about 3-4 inches except the naso who is about 5". my LFS told me to bring the powder brown in and he will take a look at him and see whats up. I do have a large fire shimp in my tank and I do see him cleaning the tangs daily.

 

[debbie]

Originally Posted by ElitePhoto
substrate is fine live sand. experience level, this is my 3rd tank, the last tank being a 240 gallon. this is my first tank ive had in 3 years and my first time having tangs. the tangs are all about 3-4 inches except the naso who is about 5". my LFS told me to bring the powder brown in and he will take a look at him and see whats up. I do have a large fire shimp in my tank and I do see him cleaning the tangs daily.

So is this tank a 240 gal? I was just going by your profile and there it says a 72 gal.