White specks on a powder brown tang.

Yep. Just learned that from your thread. I am using the product the LFS gave me. Hopefully that works well.

 

Listen, go to your LFS, and get a cleaner wrasse. I would never own a Tang without owning one. Just make sure they feed him before you buy him. Make sure he eats the food you'll be feeding him. They have a short lifespan if they don't eat food. They can't live off the ich.
The cleaner shrimp are great, but nothing compares to a cleaner wrasse.

 

I have been trying to get a neon goby or cleaner wrasse for about a week. The local fish store has been sold out of them. I am going to give world wide corals a call and see if they have one.


Also the seaweed I am feeding has garlic added in already.

Do UV filters kill ich? I have been debating about getting on for the algae blooms anyway.


EDIT: just called WWC they said they had a cleaner wrasse that is accepting frozen food. :-D

 

cryptocaryon irritans-Marine Ick
"Crpyt" is a single cell protozoan. Very likely the powder brown that you have experienced a stressful event, and the crypt that was "invisible" is now rapidly reproducing. The crypt probably came in with the tang in its' gills, and lived there until an opportunity (stress) arose for it to attempt to "overcome" the fishes immune system. Once crypt is visible in your system, it will ALWAYS be there to some degree. The only way to totally eradicate crypt from a system is to leave the system fallow (without ANY fish) for at least 4-6 weeks. In this time, the crypt will die in the tank without a host fish. The lifecycle of crypt is simple. It lives on your fish, sucking away at the fish, until it falls off (this happens almost every day). When it falls off, it encysts in your substrate until it hatches, and releases 100's-1000's more "little crypts". These little fella's will seek out your fish like stink on poo, and then you will see the little spots again, and then it will complete its' life cycle all over again. The complete lifecycle of crypt is about 30 days (depending on tank temp, and some other factors). I recommend that you empty the tank of all fish, and treat them ALL in quarantine via chelated copper or malachite green. These remedies are sure-fire ways of defeating crypt. However, it is possible for a system to live in equilibrium with crypt. What I mean is that, a fish can fight off the infection, and the cryt will eternally continue its' lifecycle in your aquarium without affecting your livestock. That is until another stressful event, or even a new fish that is introduced; then you are back to dealing with it all over again... To treat a tang, MUCH care must be taken with dosing any meds. If you need specific help, please PM me, and I will get back with you as soon as I can. I HAVE defeated crypt by using copper with a hepatus, and I'm sure you can too, but it requires much patience and diligence... Hopefully I didn't leave any important info out...

I really don't support putting a cleaner wrasse into an infected system because it is causing them unnecessary stress, and they could contract illnessess too from the experience. Inverts do not get crypt, and if you must add a cleaner, a shrimp would be best. IMO

 

So I would need four quarantine tanks, one for each tang and then I am assuming I could put all the chromis together? That is a little bit outside my ability to do. Also since I don't have four filters already running in my sump, I would have to start a nitrogen cycle in each one of the QTs?

I already stuck the cleaner wrasse in before I saw your post. I also picked up some "Garlic Power" and added it to the food. All the fish ate it up and seemed to love it more with the garlic added than before.

The wrasse is already picking stuff off the tangs. He is a cool fish to watch.

 

I wouldn't generally recommend a cleaner wrasse. They don't usually do well in captivity. A UV won't completely eliminate Cryptocaryon, as it can only kill what is sucked through it. However, while the Crypt is floating through the tank looking for a host, much of it will be killed. A UV will bring the level of Ich and other microscopic life like bacteria way down. I like this idea as in a tank without UV the bacteria population density is WAY higher than the ocean. With a UV it comes down a lot and will reduce fish stress.

 

My cleaner wrasse accepts frozen food, or at least he did at the LFS. He should be ok right?

Where did you hook up your UV? How much flow does it need? I am guessing it would have decreased results for ich if its hooked up in the sump correct? I don't really have anything I can connect it to in the display. Would it be ok connected in line with my chiller in my sump?

 

Congrats on the wrasse getting right to work on that.
I wouldn't QT your fish - that will just stress them out more.
If they are eagerly eating, they should be ok.
They'll rub up against rocks and stuff for a while. That's normal behavior with ick.
Slowly raise the temp to 81 and let them ride it out.
Those reef safe ick medications don't help much, they just stink like hot pepper bbq sauce and make your skimmer go nuts.

 

I haven't even really noticed the powder brown (only fish i have seen with ick on him) rubbing on the rocks very much. My chiller is broken so water temp already is around 80 degrees.

 

I had a problem with Ich, when i first started adding fish. I lost a yellow Tang, and 4 Royal Grammas, as a result.
I tried all the so called "remidies", and found that it was best to add the shrimps, gobies, and the wrasse, and just let it work itself out.
The wrasse, IMO, is a requirement, if you want a Tang.

Also, make sure you DO NOT add anymore fish to your system, as the stress of doing this will result in the Ich getting worse. STRESS IS A HUGE CAUSE OF ICH.
Make sure you shut off all the lights, and let the fish settle in for the night, anytime you add more fish.

Good Luck.