whitespot

[Elliott Wright]

Hi,My 4 inch Regal tang has recently survived the worst case of
whitespot i have ever seen a fish survive its eyes were clouded
and it wasnt eating and i thought it was finished for sure, i have kept it at a low salinity for about 2 months and now all seems well it is feeding again and it looks in good health ,will the tang have a strong resistance to ich now it has survived the disease?.i am going to put the tang back in my 4 and a half foot reef tank
tommorow but i am worried about putting him in with my purple tang because i know 2 tangs dont get on.Another thing my fish seem
to get ich every day about the same time, usually late evening spots are on the fish and within about an hour the spots vanish.whitespot is really ruining my hobby.


any help with these questions would be much appreaciated

[OrionGirl]

The spots that appear and disappear don't sound like the parasite ich. This organism will remain attached to the host for 1-3 days--not a matter of hours. I would look for another cause of stress that's causing color changes, or the fish are spending time rolling in the sand, etc.

As for re-introductin--mixing tangs is hit or miss. Species that have similar body color and shape seldom mix, and the stress of fighting for territory will cause compromised immune systems for both fish. Simple put--bad idea. If the tank has a sub-clinical infestation of the ich parasite, this is a surefire way to get both fish to develop full blown cases. While the regal may have a resistance, it may not. I wouldn't risk it.

Both fish would do much better in larger systems--a minimum 6 foot length tank is recommended.

[kreblak]

I have read that cases of Ich which the fish survives do confer immunity to the parasite from then on. However, in a captive marine system, the laws of nature become skewed.

In the wild, fish catch Ich all the time, and recover quickly, because very few of the protozoans are able to infest a single fish. In the ocean, a fish can simply outswim the parasite. Because of this, the majority of fish get a minor case of Ich, recover, and develop immunity to it.

In an aquarium, the fish cannot swim away from Ich, and you end up with scenarios where there are literally thousands of protozoans swimming around in the same 55 gallons of water as the fish, and the fish cannot escape. In this situation, the fish is screwed, to be blunt. That many parasites attacking at once can be (and often is) fatal.

However, OG is right in that Ich cysts remain attached to the fish for several days, not hours. Your tang should not be showing symptoms in the afternoon and then be fine by morning. Often times Ich cysts are not visible in ordinary light. When my fish were sick, I was only able to see the cysts at night when the tank lights were on and the room lights off. They are very small, like a pinhead.

[Elliott Wright]

I am now really unsure about mixing the regal and the purple tangs after your advice, i could be tempting trouble as the purple is really aggression even to a 1 inch coral beauty! .Also a bigger
tank is out of the question,so i really dont know what to do, but one thing for certain is one
of the 2 fish will have to go but i dont know which one
can you help me?

By the way my tank is 4 and a half foot long and is 55 gallons

[kreblak]

I'd keep the regal tang. Just my humble opinion. I like 'em. Purple tangs are just too agressive for my tastes.... I like a nice harmonious tank.

[Elliott Wright]

I will go on your advice kreblak as my regal tang is a lovely fish.
I will take the purple tang to the LFS tommorow

thanks again