I have had my sailfin tang for a few months now and hes been fine. I looked at him tonight and he has white spots and grey flake looking spots all over him. very hard to describe. Its on everyp part of his body and the ones on his tail are all little white spots. I think it may be ick but all of my other fish look fine. My tang is behaving normally though. What do I do? What could it be? very odd ive never seen it before
sailfin tang help! quick
- Thread starter extremepb319
- Start date
I agree. It sounds like marine velvet. It’s probably time to remove the sick fish if the infestation is that severe and put it in a quarantine/ medication tank. There you can treat it with one of the copper based medications. At least that is what I use. I believe formalin and malachite green may also be used. All of these may be purchased at your LFS.
Tangs are more susceptible to marine ick and velvet. It’s a good idea to quarantine new fish in general but especially tangs for 21 to 28 days. Such parasites can wipe out all of your fish starting with the one under the most stress. Caution! Copper cannot be used in your main tank because it is toxic to all of your invertebrates.
Tangs are more susceptible to marine ick and velvet. It’s a good idea to quarantine new fish in general but especially tangs for 21 to 28 days. Such parasites can wipe out all of your fish starting with the one under the most stress. Caution! Copper cannot be used in your main tank because it is toxic to all of your invertebrates.
30 days in quarantine should be a minimum, not a maximum. There is MUCH that has been written on identification and treatment of velvet and Brooklynellosis, start searching here on RDO and then try http://www.wetwebmedia/ I seem to recollect a link long, long ago to a fish disease ID/treatment site, but it's literally been years.
I'm surprised that there aren't more responses here for this guy. If it's velvet or Brooklynellosis, you haven't got much time at all to act.
Try here and here.
I'm surprised that there aren't more responses here for this guy. If it's velvet or Brooklynellosis, you haven't got much time at all to act.
Try here and here.
Yea i figured thered be more help too but I think i have enough. It looks a little better today but I am setting up a QT tank right now. I think I might also have some copper based medicine on hand for fish so ill go find that. Ill post back later on its condition if I have time thanks for the help.
Well i just found out I cant set up a quarantine tank... 
The only extra tank I have is a 10 gallon which would probably be even more stressful and plus I don't have any extra filters or anything and the tank has freshwater fish in it. O and i didn't have any copper medicine anyways... So is there any other way to try treating it like raising the temperature? hypo salinity or something like that? Water change?...anything to even try to help.... I also have a clownfish in my tank so i'm afraid he the next one most susceptible but he looks perfectly fine still and my tang is still behaving normal and looks a tad better than yesterday...
The only extra tank I have is a 10 gallon which would probably be even more stressful and plus I don't have any extra filters or anything and the tank has freshwater fish in it. O and i didn't have any copper medicine anyways... So is there any other way to try treating it like raising the temperature? hypo salinity or something like that? Water change?...anything to even try to help.... I also have a clownfish in my tank so i'm afraid he the next one most susceptible but he looks perfectly fine still and my tang is still behaving normal and looks a tad better than yesterday...That is a VERY good sign. If the tang is still alive with no treatment after this long, then I'm going to revise my guess and go with marine ich. Go read, then you'll learn that this has not gone away, you need to learn the life cycle of this parasite. I don't know how you'll treat the tang without any kind of QT. Your whole tank is now infected (of course, it probably always has been).
A tip, you are not married to putting fish into an aquarium. ANY chemically inert container will work, even a trash tub.
Is there a reason why no mods or anyone else has stepped up to help this guy?
At this point I STRONGLY recommend you go to wetwebmedia and search here on marine ich (WWM is much more easily searchable, in my opinion) for articles, etc. on treatment. If the fish were already in QT, then I'd say go with hyposalinity treatments first, then if the bug is strong, graduated carefully (especially in regards to Cu treatments with tangs) to a chemical solution.
If there is just no way you can QT the fish (at this point you're also looking at dismantling the whole tank OR putting the whole tank through hypo), then hit it with the BEST nutrition you can. If you don't have predators, maybe try a couple of Lysmata cleaner shrimp, although I've only really seen them go to work on larger fish than what most folks keep in their home aquaria, and your hands, they do a great job of trimming cuticles and dead skin.
A tip, you are not married to putting fish into an aquarium. ANY chemically inert container will work, even a trash tub.
Is there a reason why no mods or anyone else has stepped up to help this guy?
At this point I STRONGLY recommend you go to wetwebmedia and search here on marine ich (WWM is much more easily searchable, in my opinion) for articles, etc. on treatment. If the fish were already in QT, then I'd say go with hyposalinity treatments first, then if the bug is strong, graduated carefully (especially in regards to Cu treatments with tangs) to a chemical solution.
If there is just no way you can QT the fish (at this point you're also looking at dismantling the whole tank OR putting the whole tank through hypo), then hit it with the BEST nutrition you can. If you don't have predators, maybe try a couple of Lysmata cleaner shrimp, although I've only really seen them go to work on larger fish than what most folks keep in their home aquaria, and your hands, they do a great job of trimming cuticles and dead skin.
Gret treatment for Marine Ick: ich-attack by Kordon: Can be put into main tank without effect on corals, bacterai, shrimps, etc... - I used it and it works - the only pain is that you can't run a skimeer while treating so need to watch chemistry very tightly
Can I try hyposalinity in my main tank? I do not have any delicate species(no corals or anything) just some crabs snails and a sand sifting star and damsels, clown, and a firefish. And the reason I cannot set up a GT tank is because I have a pretty limited budget right now and have no extra heaters, filters, powerheads, etc...
I will continue to keep close watch on all of my fish and read up on hyposalinity. Thanks for the help guys and girls
I will continue to keep close watch on all of my fish and read up on hyposalinity. Thanks for the help guys and girls
There is far more to know about using hypo than what I am going to get into right now, I've already written quite a bit. DO NOT use it with inverts, EVER. DO NOT use any chemical treatments in the main tank, I don't care if they come with a blessing from the Virgin saying that they won't harm inverts -- parasites ARE inverts, and it's just too dicey. Yeah, some people use these things with success, and just as many kill their entire system.
I understand completely about limited budget, that's why I try to find workarounds. You won't need filtration when treating the fish so much as aged seawater for daily water changes.
I understand completely about limited budget, that's why I try to find workarounds. You won't need filtration when treating the fish so much as aged seawater for daily water changes.
Alright ill try the garlic thing. And I'm hoping to get a 55 gallon tank this week from a friend and i will make it a QT if i do get it and put my tang in there whether hes doing better or not. I also am going to try and find some ich medication that has no copper in it.
The only store that sells saltwater stuff by me is about 45 minutes away...and cleaner shrimp are about 50$ there. But my tang is still alive and have been feeding them food with garlic to help boost there immune system supposedly. I have also done a few water changes but not sure if that even helped. So i think its a good sign if all my fish are still alive and none of my others are showing symptoms. But I will post back tomorrow on there condition. thanks for the help
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