HELP Purple tang ich outbreak

[httorihanzo]

Long drawn out explanation but quest I pose at the end is “If he isn’t eating, will the cupramine treatment make him feel good enough to begin eating again? “

Before I start, know I have read for hours about ich and about the QT process and seemed to find nothing but Inconclusiveness to if you can ever completely eradicate Ich. I respect everyone’s opinion of the QT process and to let you know upfront I did not QT in this case. I’ve transferred over to a new tank in the past month and sold a sailfin and naso that were ich free before adding any fish to my new setup.

I’ve recently picked up a beautiful purple tang. He was eating both Mysis and Nori, as much as you’d put in the tank. He did phenomenally for the first few days. After only a few hours he was king and loved swimming in around all the rockwork and in the flow of the tank. Up until yesterday I provided a full clip of red, green, brown seaweed (Rods) around the clock. I went to work without filing it yesterday and ended up working late. When I got home he was covered and I immediately fed both seaweed and a Mysis/brine/spirulina cube. He barely nibbled at the cube and would swim up to my clip, stare, and swim away.

To my main question, I have a 55g QT setup that has been cycling for a few months now. I am prepared to move him and treat with cupramine but it is my experience (not robust) that when a fish with ich stops eating there’s not much you can do. I know as long as he is eating he can fight it off temporarily.

If he isn’t eating, will the cupramine treatment make him feel good enough to begin eating again so he can fight it off?

 

[bjohanson1234]

Y
Have you tried soaking the food in garlic? It can stimulate the fish's appitite.

 

[httorihanzo]

yes, I use garlic, vitamin C and a Multivitamin

 

[FishyReef]

What are your water parameters? I'm surprised he's covered with ich that fast unless something is stressing him out. And many of us here don't QT our fish, we just strive to provide low stress healthy environments and they usually manage to fight it off themselves. Your tank is certainly large enough and you are feeding high quality foods, so I'm wondering what other factors could be contributing to stress.... How many days/weeks have you had him?

 

[httorihanzo]

Tested as soon as I got home last night. 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 10 ppm nitrate. Temp was around 77 as usual.

For some reason the lights were off a couple hours early which i can assume would only help. Maybe the light cycle being off did it?

I am kicking myself for not making sure Nori was ALWAYS available as he was really eating well.

 

[FishyReef]

What other fish do you have in the tank?

 

[httorihanzo]

two clowns, watchman goby and a yellow wrasse that rarely makes an appearance.

 

[bjohanson1234]

More than likely, he had ich when you bought him. He just wasn't showing signs. Then the move from where you got him into your tank stressed him out. Allowing the ich to get a foothold and show up. I wouldn't panic yet. Wait a few days to see if he is eating. The move to a QT could stress him even more.

 

[noy]

When i bought my Kole Tang i had him in qt and he very quickly got ich and stopped eating. He was a little guy - less than 2" He was hiding in a corner mostly. I did a freshwater dip and started with Cupramine. He started eating again and was very active again. I think fw dips provide quick relieve (you will literally see the white spots fall off) and the Cupramine ensures all the ich is killed off. I think 3 weeks in Cupramine will eradicate ich. I left him in qt for another 3 weeks (minus copper) to make sure there was no sign of ich. Now he is my display tank (since 3 months) happy as ever (and big and fat).

I really do think copper treatments can eradicate ich on a fish. The tricky part is if you infect your display tank and eradicating it from the tank (vs. the fish).

I have used hypo in the past successfully but i have to say i feel much more confident with cupramine.

Don't wait too long if the ich gets established it may infect the other fish. This is the best article i know for ich.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

 

[httorihanzo]

Last night I moved to QT with Cupramine. He was super stressed from the move and I didnt expect him to make it an hour let alone through the night. To my surprise he was still upright this morning altough as soon as the light in the room came on he slipped to the bottom of the tank. I'm certain a freshwater dip now would kill him so I will let the copper do its thing and hop for the best. As for the rest of my tank.....I have a yellow wrasse and goby that would be impossible to catch and if I decided to do a total fish QT i'd be looking at a major project. I have two black ice clowns that I really would rather not lose so I'm felling like a project is coming this weekend.

 

[little_fish]

When i bought my Kole Tang i had him in qt and he very quickly got ich and stopped eating. He was a little guy - less than 2" He was hiding in a corner mostly. I did a freshwater dip and started with Cupramine. He started eating again and was very active again. I think fw dips provide quick relieve (you will literally see the white spots fall off) and the Cupramine ensures all the ich is killed off. I think 3 weeks in Cupramine will eradicate ich. I left him in qt for another 3 weeks (minus copper) to make sure there was no sign of ich. Now he is my display tank (since 3 months) happy as ever (and big and fat).

I really do think copper treatments can eradicate ich on a fish. The tricky part is if you infect your display tank and eradicating it from the tank (vs. the fish).

I have used hypo in the past successfully but i have to say i feel much more confident with cupramine.

Don't wait too long if the ich gets established it may infect the other fish. This is the best article i know for ich.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

For the most part that is a good article, but #14 isn't true. Once ich is in your tank, it will always be there.

 

[d2mini]

Yeah, the best thing is to make sure your fish are fat and healthy. Then they will be able to fight off the ich themselves and keep it from showing up in the first place. I think of ich as a result of something else that's either stressing the fish or the fish having a lowered immune system. I also like to keep my salinity at 1.023-25 (no higher) because the fish can breathe easier, so their cardiovascular system works better (more oxygen) and they obtain a stronger immune system. Fish only tanks are kept at 1.019 - 1.022. You're doing well with the garlic and other stuff when feeding.

 

[FishyReef]

Maybe keep the lights off over the QT tank to reduce his stress. Poor guy, I hope he pulls through for you!

And LF totally has you covered for ich treatment. If you do decide to QT and treat everyone, you will need to leave your tank fallow for 12 weeks to fully irradicate the ich life cycle from your tank, and will need to prophyllactically treat every future addition before adding to your tank.

I'm pulling for you and your fishies!