Palani Tang Looks Bruised

[futurecanadian]

My Palani tang looks like he has a brown/grey rash or bruise along his side and on his face. All of the fish seem to be getting along rather well. However, the yellow tang and the palani do slowly glide into one another frequently. I am not sure if that behavior is a negative interaction, but it doesnt seem to be an aggressive act.

I will post pics as soon as my camera batteries are charged. I also will be searching for different images online. If anyone has any imput I would greatly appreciate it.

[futurecanadian]

I also have noticed all of the fish dipping thier bodies into the sand... I am now certain I have a parasite... Great my fish have all caught and STD...Panic mode has offcially started. What would you all do to indetify the parasite and then treatment options?

[archer772]

I know I would start adding fresh garlic to there food and make sure there is nori, seaweed in the tank every day for the tangs, make sure you feed a good frozen food. Thats what I would start doing untill you can identify the problem but sounds like it could be ich. How long has the tank been setup and what was the last fish added and when and did you quarentine them before adding into your tank

[futurecanadian]

I am feeding them seaweed every other day and feeding them New Life Spectrum Marine Formula twice daily as per the directions. How much garlic do I feed them and how do I prepair it?

I recently added the coral beauty from petco... the yellow and palani were bought from the same tank and had been treated with copper at the LFS. As of Saturday, I have started to set up a QT. I am a newbie and hadnt seen the value of doing so until now. The current tank they are in has been set up for 7 weeks. the H20 quality is great and I have added cycling bacterias to it.

Can I treat ich in the main tank?

[archer772]

NO you cant treat ich in the main tank IMO if you do it cant be cooper because that will affect any inverts you would put into the tank.You would have to quaretine all of you fish and then leave the tank run fish less for at least 6 weeks to make sure the ich is dead IMO. You can get fresh garlic at the grocery store and crush about a half of a small clove into there food maybe even less but that will help. This suggestion is if it is ICH, with out pics it is difficult to say for sure. I would like to add that I think you added too many fish into a tank as young as yours is and the Palani will get to big for a 75 sorry to say all that but thats JMO

[futurecanadian]

I agree that he will get too large, but considering that all fish come from a body of water much greater than any of our tanks, I would assume that fish-to-tank sizing is all subjective. I am planning on getting a larger tank soon, and actually had planned to return the Palani to my LFS, but due to his new found illness, I didnt think it would be proper.

My QT is only a 12G. That is far too small for my fish, so I am going to need to remove my inverts, and treat my main tank. I will have my LFS come out and diagnose the fish tomorrow. Perhaps, there is a way to treat ich in the main tank without hurting the inverts?

Let me know and thanks for posting.

[archer772]

I wasnt trying to jump on you about your tank just thought I would give you my opinion. Like I said IF it is ich most meds would be bad for you display tank but there are some out there that seem to work and dont harm inverts, the one that comes to mind is Rally (I think)

[mandy21]

I'd always go with hyposalinity for ich before any medications would ever be considered. So, if you are going that route then you could use your main tank as the qt tank, per se. You would have to remove inverts/corals, pretty much leave the fish unless you know what can handle the hyposalinity levels for the length of time it would take. Any medications should not be done in the main tank. I have a tank that I deliberately put marks to remind myself that it is only to be used for QT in case i ever have to use medications. Marking it up will keep me from converting it into an actual tank.

Go out and get a 20 long tank. Pet Supplies Plus had one for $23 on sale from $29. Depending what you have for the 12, it may suffice for the 20. It should be large enough for the tang. Not spacious, but large enough.

[saltydunc]

don't panic .... just cause the fish occasionaly brush against the sand doesn't mean they have ich.....keep an eye on the fishes body to see if any black or white spots appear.....try some cleaner shrimps in your tank they help keep the fishes bodies clean.

[futurecanadian]

OK here is my plan. I am going to take the newly set up 12G and add the salt. I will also add a cycle additive. I will keep the salt within safe paramters, but a tad low (what should I put it at?) I am going to take a piece of the current tanks filter and add it to the water to bring in more bacteria. I will then add a copper additive.
After all of this has been done I will add the Palani. He is the onlky one with any visible signs of a skin disorder. I will monitor him closely and update the group regularly.

Does this seem like a fair plan of action?

[futurecanadian]

I wasnt trying to jump on you about your tank just thought I would give you my opinion. Like I said IF it is ich most meds would be bad for you display tank but there are some out there that seem to work and dont harm inverts, the one that comes to mind is Rally (I think)


IT's all GOOD. I nver thought you were jumping me. I appreciate your advice.

Shawn

[futurecanadian]

This is so complicated. OY. I have read 30 different answers to my above questions. I need a professional fish keeper on the books.

[futurecanadian]

Okay the Salinity is @ 1.022 and I have added a piece of my exhisting tanks filter sponge thing to the water and also added bacteria supplements. At this point I can either try the hyposalinity or stay at my current salt level and hit up the copper route. Any suggestions before I pick the route?

[archer772]

You need to know what you are treating before you do anything, all I said was it sounds like it COULD BE ICH and IF IT IS ICH so I would just feed with the garlic and good quality frozen foods and the seaweed for the tangs untill you can identify the problem and yes it may be nothing so if you can get someone over to look at the fish with a little more expierence to help identify the problem before you treat or you see signs of ich then treat

[saltydunc]

my orange shoulder tang has always rubbed itself on the sand and rocks sometimes....but he doesn't have ich....i have two other tangs in the tank.including a powder blue who dont have any problems.....it not to say you don't have ich but just make sure before you start treating.....if you want to make sure you could give it a FW dip....that will get rid of any parrasite that might be on its skin......hope things work out :)

[Grins]

Archer is correct, before you treat you need to know what it is.

[futurecanadian]

Excellent Imput! I have went to the LFS and bought a few new things...
1) Garlic Xtreme by Kent
2) Rx-P Expert Series by Kent (it is also invert safe and for vast array of parasites)
3) Spirlina Enriched Brine Shrimp (frozen)

I feel that with all of these items I should be able to whip this tank into good health. I am going to remove my urchin, brittle star, and scallop and place them in the 12G tank I have recently set up.

This is such an adventure... I just fed the fish thier first 2 drops of Garlic on thier pellet food and they seem to like it.

[futurecanadian]

I also added filter material and 4 Gallons of the water from the existing tank to te new one.

[Grins]

If you're treating your display tank please realize that the inverts in the live rock and sand will also not fare well with meds not safe for inverts. Personally I don't trust the meds for ich that claim to be invert safe. Not at this point.