Ich & Clowns

W

Web2000

Member
I have three tangs that have suddenly come down with a case of Ich. I turned my UV back on and have been dosing the food in Garlic. I also got 2 Cleaner Shrimp and 2 Cleaner Wrasse's because now it seems that one of my Percula's and one of my Fairy Wrasse's is now getting it. What I was wondering was if my Percula will be cleaned by the Rose Anenome that he sleeps in. Anytime one of the cleaner fish or shrimp tries to get near him he runs into the anenome like I would expect. In fact I put two cleaner wrasse's into the tank and one hour later I couldn't find one of them anywhere. I'm thinking that he followed the Percula into the anenome and to his death!!:confused:

Bill
 
wooddood

wooddood

the wood dude
i would think the anenome would help in this probem with ick for the clown but i really dont know for sure.im sure someone will chime in with the answer soon.good luck anyway.dave.
 
W

Web2000

Member
My parameters are all very good, but I just did a major overhaul on my water flow intake, my rock, and my sand. I had a real bad hair algae outbreak so we took all the rock out and cleaned it. We installed a larger external pump and chiller to increase the water flow inside the tank using pvc pipe and an external pump to get rid of the powerheads in the tank. We did it all this past weekend including a 25 gallon water change. The tank is 120 gallons with a 60 gallon refuge/sump below. My parameters one day after all the changes were:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Ph - 8.2
Alk - 7 (I'm running a Kalk drip and trying to raise Alk a bit)
Salinity - 1.021-1.022 (running low because of the ich)
Phosphate - 0
Calcium - 430

Params all look good!! One of the cleaner shrimp was really giving my mustard tang a good once over. while the cleaner wrasse's were taking nicely to both of my blue tangs. My problem will be my Percula's becasue they never leave the anenome except to eat. I am putting garlic in their food, but I do not know of that clearing up ich, only that it helps to stop it from coming.

Bill
 
Craig Manoukian

Craig Manoukian

Well-Known Member
Web2000, welcome to Reef Sanctuary. I'm going to blast you with a water hose of information so buckle up and understand I'm trying to help and not attacking you.

The cleaner shrimp will definitely help long-term. The immediate problem is there is some level of stress due to over crowding, poor water quality, or lack of nutrition that is causing stress in your tangs, thus weakening their immuno system and making them susceptible to ich.

You did not indicate how big your tank is, but in general, tangs require 48" of lateral swim room as a minmum. Michael Paletta recommends at least 180 gallons for three tangs.

The Cleaner Wrasses have dietetic requirements very similar to Mandarin fish and need a larger and more mature tank that will supply the amphipod and copepods needed for it to survive. Cleaner Wrasses have traditionally very low survival rates in home aquaria because of this.

Can you please provide a description of your tank including how it is set-up and the number and types of fish, corals, and invertebrates you have. How long has the tank been established and what are your water parameters? Please indicate what your tests show your levels of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and Ph, as well as specific gravity and temperature.

Again welcome to RS and we'll look forward to diagnosing what could be causing this. Hope you didn't lose your Cleaner Wrasse to the anenome!

:) :D ;) :p :cool: :smirk:
 
Craig Manoukian

Craig Manoukian

Well-Known Member
Bill,

Thanks for posting your tank set-up and parameters. The jury is still out on whether the allicin, the main active ingredient in ich, has any curative or medicinal value. Some people swear they have had those results. I can't say whether it was the garlic or the possible lowering of stress in the environment that lead to the fish being able to repel an attack of ich.

The recent tearing down of your tank may have stressed the fish enough to induce this outbreak.

:) :D ;) :p :cool: :smirk:
 
W

Web2000

Member
Thanks for the help Craig. I'll let you know what happens. To answer the other questions about my tank it is 48x24x24. I have the overflow running through a large protein skimmer, and then dumping into a refuge with live rock and caluerpa. Then pumping back into the tank at about 400 gph. The rest of the setup has an external pump taking water out of the tank where it is t'd off at about 600 gph through a 1/3 chiller and then routed back into the main line where it is t'd off again at between 100 gph though a UV sterilizer and then back to the main line pumping about 700 gph each through two intakes in different corners of the tank. Overall there is about 1800 gph in the tank. I have 2 - 250 watt MH 20,000K and 2 - 96 watt PC's about 1 foot above the tank. It's a very nice set up now that I have gotten rid of the powerheads!!!

Bill
 
W

Web2000

Member
Sorry, temp kept at about 76-78. Heater is set for 76 and the chiller is kept at 77. I have a 2 differential on the chiller and a 1 differential on the heater.
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
this is a quote from the link I gave ya WEB2000:
Myth and misconception
It is a common misconception among hobbyists that fish must be in a weakened state before they are susceptible to infection with Cryptocaryon irritans. Stress is a factor as it does reduce immune function in fish. This makes it less likely that fish will develop some level of acquired immunity after becoming infected. However, stress (or weakened condition) is not a prerequisite to infection with Cryptocaryon irritans. Healthy fish that are not unduly stressed are susceptible to infection upon exposure to this pathogen. It is noteworthy that stress has not been mentioned as a factor when infecting fish in clinical trails with Cryptocaryon irritans.
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
Mode of transmission
Cryptocaryon irritans is most frequently introduced into an aquarium when adding new, infected fish into the system (Dickerson & Dawe, 1995). These fish may have the typical white spots or lesions, or they may not exhibit any outwards signs of infection while still harboring trophonts in the gill tissues.

It is possible, but much less likely, to import Cryptocaryon irritans into a system by means other than on infected fish. (Colorni & Burgess, 1997).
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
My clown is also always hovering around the BTA and when the cleaner gets near him he dives into the anemone:rolleyes: . You could take him out and treat him with copper or hyposalinity, I don't know if you have a quarantine setup or not or you can wait it out like I did and feed them food soaked in garlic. That's what I did and it worked but I didn't have full-blown Ick on every fish.JMHO
 
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