I have a 45 gal Reef with approx. 12 corals (soft & hard) no SPS corals. All water param's are great. Water temp is 78 deg F. I have a Rio 1700 connected to spray bar in back bottom of tank and a Maxi Jet 1200 and Rio 600 power heads for circulation. I noticed today that my Kole Tang has spots on fins and some on body. Don't see anything in the gills and he is eating swimming quite well. I don't want to treat the tank if I don't have to and I don't have a QT tank. I have Melafix, will this hurt my corals (Pagoda, Sacrophyton, Open Brain, Palythoa, Zoanthids, Toad Stools, Hammer, Candy Cane, etc.).
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Kole Tang with possible Ich
- Thread starter 45gal_Reefman
- Start date
Hi. Sorry, but if you suspect parasitic infection Melafix won't be the fix. While the animal remains in the tank, there's really nothing you can do (in regards to available treatment options). Hyposalinity will definitely kill your inverts, as would copper and Formalin. Consider getting a reasonably sized water-tight container and setting that up for q/t, and then I would suggest first going hyposalinity.
Hopefully he is a very small Kole tang. They do get freaked until they feel comfortable. What are his tankmates?
I would do some searches on feeding garlic and keep the water quality up. Make sure he has spirulina tabs if he doesn't have diatomous algae on the glass and rock to eat.
I would do some searches on feeding garlic and keep the water quality up. Make sure he has spirulina tabs if he doesn't have diatomous algae on the glass and rock to eat.
EmilyB":2k7pr8o9 said:Hopefully he is a very small Kole tang. They do get freaked until they feel comfortable. What are his tankmates?
I would do some searches on feeding garlic and keep the water quality up. Make sure he has spirulina tabs if he doesn't have diatomous algae on the glass and rock to eat.
Sounds like a mild infection. Emily is right on.
I cured my hippo tang of a nasty bought of ich with garlic feedings and anti-parasite food. The food is made by Tetra and has been discontinued but you may find it at a Big lots. It works amazingly. You can also try Pepso food, which is for parasites as well, I havent used it so am not sure of the effectiveness. Whatever you do, dont dump any meds in your tank. Keep your ph up, it improves the fishes immune system.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
Seamaiden is giving you sound advice, the method most likely to save all of your fish and the best way to prevent repeating this experience. Garlic does seem to work fairly often with light infections but its not a sure cure like hyposalinity. Quarantine, quarantine, quarantine.
Terry B
Terry B
The Kole Tank is quite small and his tank mates are a Christmas Wrasse and Maroon Clown. I keep my salinity @ .025. I retested my PH using the Hagen Test kit and I cannot get a reading. I know I did the test correctly but purple is not on the test chart. Going to do a water change tonight.
How about this so I don't have to use chemicals ... raise water temp and put a cleaner shrimp in the tank. I don't see any infection on my other two fish. Reason I ask about the shrimp is that I have a coral banded shrimp and my tang stops in front of the shrimp and wants the shrimp to clean him ... shimp is grabbing his mouth and wants him for lunch. :?
I'm not sure the coral-banded will appreciate the cleaner shrimp. The cleaner shrimp will help though. Greenex in a reef tank = poison! It has wiped out many systems. If you are to raise the temp, I would do it slowly and not above 82.
Is QT an option for you at all? Just because other fish do not have spots yet, doesnt mean they wont. Good Luck!
Is QT an option for you at all? Just because other fish do not have spots yet, doesnt mean they wont. Good Luck!
Quarantine not being an option will likely lead to the loss of the Kole tang. He'll be lots easier to net up that way.
The efficacy of garlic as an antiparasitic (possibly excepting internals) is completely unproven. It does have antibacterial qualities, to be sure, but it usually won't affect the Cryptocaryons irritans parasite much. The cleaner shrimp, in my opinion, will be too little too late, especially if the tang is as small as I think he is.
I believe you will unduly stress your corals by raising the tank temperature. The only thing you will accomplish by doing this is speeding up the life cycle of C. irritans. That means more stress to your fish, for sure, and very well could lead to coral bleaching. We raise tank temps in a fallow tank (tank sans all vertebrate life) so we don't have to leave it fallow for as long otherwise. Raising the temp in a tank with fish is completely backwards.
At this point, because you insist on no quarantine, the ONLY hope for your fish is if you give him THE best water quality you can, which can only be accomplished if you're using good quality test kits. I doubt the quality of the Hagen test kit--get SeaChem, Salifert, or better yet, LaMotte (one of THE best the hobbyist can buy). Only then can you be positive that your test results are good. The next best thing you can do is give him the best nutrition you possibly can. This is where garlic might come in, but fishes in the oceans lead quite healthy lives without it, I believe in sticking to what they would find in their natural settings--seaweeds, small shrimps, algaes, and so on.
The efficacy of garlic as an antiparasitic (possibly excepting internals) is completely unproven. It does have antibacterial qualities, to be sure, but it usually won't affect the Cryptocaryons irritans parasite much. The cleaner shrimp, in my opinion, will be too little too late, especially if the tang is as small as I think he is.
I believe you will unduly stress your corals by raising the tank temperature. The only thing you will accomplish by doing this is speeding up the life cycle of C. irritans. That means more stress to your fish, for sure, and very well could lead to coral bleaching. We raise tank temps in a fallow tank (tank sans all vertebrate life) so we don't have to leave it fallow for as long otherwise. Raising the temp in a tank with fish is completely backwards.
At this point, because you insist on no quarantine, the ONLY hope for your fish is if you give him THE best water quality you can, which can only be accomplished if you're using good quality test kits. I doubt the quality of the Hagen test kit--get SeaChem, Salifert, or better yet, LaMotte (one of THE best the hobbyist can buy). Only then can you be positive that your test results are good. The next best thing you can do is give him the best nutrition you possibly can. This is where garlic might come in, but fishes in the oceans lead quite healthy lives without it, I believe in sticking to what they would find in their natural settings--seaweeds, small shrimps, algaes, and so on.
Quarantine is not optional in this hobby unless you don't mind killing animals needlessly. You can set up a quarantine tank inexpensively. However, if you insist on not quarantining then your best chance is to feed the fish garlic soaked foods and use a very powerful UV. Cleaner wrasse and cleaner shrimp are actually of little value for battling ich. Yes, they will exhibit their natural cleaning behavior, but this does not mean that they eat all types of parasites or will cure ich.
Terry B
Terry B
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