Acanthurus japonicus

[darkdrako]

Well, my Powder Brown Tang passed away today after being in QT for over a week and in my DT for 3 days. It had no visual signs of visual disease or distress and seemed to adapt to the DT very well with little stress. Ate like a pig in the QT and the DT (flakes and green marine algae). Starting showing spots of ich yesterday. Skimmer started on the fritz yesterday and has been running in vinegar and water since then. The only recent tank changes were a 15% water change and replaced the carbon last weekend .

Tank mates include:
2 black and white clowns
lawnmower blenny

Parameters as of yesterday
Temp: 80
SG: 1.025
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: Just above 0
Alk: 9
Cal: 450

Any ideas?

 

[KathyC]

Although he was showing few spots of ich outwardly, it is possible that his gills (where it does it's killing) were heavily infested enough to kill him.
The issue with the skimmer might have slightly contributed to his death as there was that much less oxygen in the tank with it's removal.

Do you plan to remove your other fish and QT them for 6-8 weeks to be sure it is out of your DT?

Sorry for your loss.

 

[darkdrako]

I am undecided what I want to do. He was only in the DT for about 50 hours total. My wife saw it dead this morning around 10ish and it was definitely alive at 8:30 this morning and was swimming around with no issues that I could see with the morning sun. Would ich leave the "easy target" that it already infested to go after the healthy fish during its brief stay?

 

[Awibrandy]

darkdrako aka Dulce's friend, I am sorry to read of your loss!

For starters Powder Browns are in the same family as the Powder Blue, both are difficult fish to keep. Not saying impossible as I've seen others keep them with no fuss or muss. I've tried both, and have not been successfull long term.

As to treating or not the rest of your fish all I can say is; that removing them for your DT for at least 8 weeks (preferrably 10)is the only way to be relatively certain that you'll rid your DT of all ICH. By the way, I got hit with ich in my fowlr 2 years ago - I treated the fowlr w/cooper meds, killed everything. And yet 2 years later out of the blue with NO new additions the same tank got hit again.;(

 

[KathyC]

I am undecided what I want to do. He was only in the DT for about 50 hours total. My wife saw it dead this morning around 10ish and it was definitely alive at 8:30 this morning and was swimming around with no issues that I could see with the morning sun. Would ich leave the "easy target" that it already infested to go after the healthy fish during its brief stay?

Yes it is possible.
Not necessarily due to any thought process of the ich parasite itself, just simply a function of its life cycle of dropping trophonts (the cysts you do see, that are loaded with new ich parasites) onto your sandbed.
If it was time to drop trophonts, you would have any way to know...

A difficult choice on your part as 8 weeks is a long time to go without having fish in your tank, but it is the ONLY way to guarantee that anything else you put in there doesn't come down with a home grown case of ich

 

[darkdrako]

Well, I have to do what is necessary to keep my tank healthy and if that means going fallow for 6-8 weeks then so be it. It'll give me a chance to either save money for the next big purchase or start building up my coral collection again. The only catch is that there is a little green clown goby that I fogot about that will be very difficult to get out of the tank.

Well, I have a 29 gallon that was the QT to use. I'll empty that water, clean the tank and put the remaining fish in it with an airstone, hob filter and powerhead but what should I do as far as water source? Should I take a little of the DT water and the rest as fresh mixed?

I would prefer not to use any medication so I will go the hyposalinity route. Hopefully everything else will be ok. I do not have a light for the 29 though. Would that be an issue? I do get daylight in the tank and it is close enough to receive light that splashes over from the DT.

 

[2slo4me]

sorry for your loss.

I agree with awi.... I had mine for over 7 months... Then one day bam came the ichh and 2 days later found the fishy dead... I couldnt determine the reason why as for there were no changes to the tank and parameters were all on point....

 

[Awibrandy]

drako, there is no issue with not having a light over the QT. The only issue is your not been able to see the fish as clearly as you would like.
Just remember that it is more like 8 to 10 weeks of going fallow. And again, that is still no guarantee.;( Also, do try to get the goby out as well.
My very best wishes for a healthy fish and reef!

 

[darkdrako]

Getting out the goby won't be a problem now. He, my algae blenny and one of my clowns all passed from ich. Only the small clown has survived so far in the QT. (the blenny and goby died before I could get them out)