Powder Brown Tang w/ White spots

[dadstank]

and now down to business....

yesterday i picked up a smallish/mediumish powder brown tang (the sailfin is totally accepting fwiw) and it has begun to develop little white spots. not there in at the store, nor when it was dropped into the tank.

it spent the whole of the day hiding out yesterday and much of this morning. this afternoon it's been all over the tank and mostly out front. to be honest i didn't notice the spots, m'lady did at first. i've been watching it over the last few hours and it seems to be getting worse....

not so clear photo attached. sorry for all the bad photos, i can not find the charger for the real camera......

thoughts?

 

[dadstank]

strange - i just looked in on him. the spots are gone? could it be they are brought out by the lights?

 

[Mike612]

First of all, that's a Gold Rim Tang (Acanthurus nigricans), not a Powder Brown Tang (Acanthurus japonicus).

Second, is he eating anything yet? What are you offering him? What are your water parameters? Give us more details please...

 

[dadstank]

ah, is there much of a difference in care?

sunday, the day he went in was a cleaning day. it spent the whole of the day picking at the large chunks that were floating by...

i generally only feed the tank nori sheets, and once the sailfin swam away last night the new tang tucked in. this morning i could see it picking off the rocks as well.

 

[dadstank]

and i couldn't tell you water parameters. it has been so long since i tested for anything other than salinity i don't even have a test kit that isn't expired...
:roll:

i know.... i know.....

 

[Mike612]

The tang you have is known to be harder to keep than a Powder Brown Tang. The biggest issues with Gold Rim Tangs are that it doesn't usually accept food and it's an ich magnet. If your tang is eating, it must be healthy enough to fight off the parasites. It's probably just the stress of the move.

Keep us posted on its health.

 

[dadstank]

oh yea. it's ich. and it's icky.

is it infectious? the little guy is munching away and appears happy, but it's not worth the 12 bucks i paid for the guy to screw up my happy little world.
i know that the only thing that happens quickly in a reef tank is disaster....
thoughts?

 

[Ben1]

Have you looked into the lifecycle of ich? They will fall off making it look clear but will comeback. I still like garlic to help, and scientific or not it has worked for me in the past.

 

[dadstank]

explain the "garlic"...
this is just my luck. i go from total hands off and everything hunky-dory, to a situation.......

damn you frivolous purchases...
:evil:

 

[Ben1]

There is nothing scientific about it, but I use a few drops of garlic oil on some dry flake or pellet food to help the ich from reattaching, like vampires they stay away lol. It also seems to help some fish eat IME. You can buy it as a commercial product as well like this, http://premiumaquatics.com/store/mercha ... gory_Code= but there are a ton of different ones out there marketed for fish food soaks.

 

[dadstank]

thanks - i did my homework on it... and to my pleasure, when i just arrived home there are only 2 little specs left on 1 fin.
word up monkey.


since everything i read said that ich parasites live in just about every tank, i may just leave well enough alone for the moment.
thoughts?

 

[Ben1]

They could just be in the tomite stage, you'll know if the fish is infected heavily again in a few days. Just keep a close eye, and make sure he is eatting plenty of food to give him the best chance.

 

[dadstank]

7 days watching now, he is clean as a whistle and fends for itself during feeding time.
guess all is well!

 

[dadstank]

i spoke to soon... just popped home and he is covered again....

 

[dadstank]

and as well my sailfin is covered. going to do as close to a 100% water change as I can this weekend, and start some "natural" ich treatments....

fml. all this for a stupid impulse buy.

 

[dadstank]

Ich 0, Benjieland 2.

will keep y'all posted.

 

[dadstank]

and he's gone.......
no sign nor trace.

 

[Mike612]

Sorry to hear that...