Battling ich on a Purple Tang with FWD, garlic and neon gobie without luck so guess will need to setup a Q tank. What's the minimum requirements for size etc. Is lighting needed?
Size of the Q-tank depends on the size of the fish. I kept a 2.5" Orange Shoulder tang in a 20 gal. tank for 2 months. He did well enough to overcome his disease. But I'd hesitate to keep, say, a 5" tang in a 20g for that length of time. It'd probably go crazy due to lack of swimming room. As for using lights in a Q-tank, I'd say yes. Fish are used to a day/night cycle and you'd want to maintain that. Imagine how you'd feel being kept in a dark closet for a month!
But, as the ick is already in your main tank, moving just the tang won't do anything. You'd have to take all fish out and let the tank sit without 'ich-hosts' for at least a month. HTH
Idisagree w/ the opinion of lighting you don't want to have lights on the q tank dim lighting keeps a fish calm less stress and less heavy breathing in which ich attaches to the gills making it harder to breathe
The best chemical to use in a QT for tangs with ich iME is greenex.
Add about 1% more than recommended, turn off the lights for 10 your after each medication .
My fish seem to be a lot more nervous when only the room lights are on, vs. having tank lights on and the room dark. Maybe they can see me better under the first scenario. This additional stress would be detremental to curing ich. I use a 20W NO florescent on my Q-Tank. You don't need reef quality lighting. Also make sure the fish has a place to hide. This could be a cave made out of live rock from the main tank, a piece of PVC pipe, or some other salt-water safe material. They'll be less stressed with a place to retreat.
