hippo tang got ich

[jimbob21123]

i have a blue hippo tang and its got ich! water quality is great and only thing thats been added lately is 2 firefish gobies. im wondering if stray voltage could cause this? and if so how do i go about making a grounding probe?

[Amphiprion]

Ich is caused by the introduction of a parasite. Most of the time, stress has to get the better of a fish for it to get it. This isn't always the case, however, as sometimes even perfectly healthy fish can be affected. I doubt stray voltage is to blame in this case. Adding a grounding probe, on the other hand, could create more of a problem than it fixes, since it gives a means for the charge (and subsequent voltage) to flow, creating a current, which you don't want. The voltage is static until you give it a ground. In other words, your fish are safer without a grounding probe than with one, contrary to what you may often hear. I think the idea of stray voltage is blamed more for more things than what it may cause. FWIW, seawater, regardless of the presence of equipment, will emit an electric field and register a voltage. The movement of ions will cause this, so it is perfectly normal to have some, anyway.

If your fish have ich, you have a couple of options. One is to wait, observe and feed well. This has pros and cons, in that it can allow the fish to pull through a more acute infection on their own. However, if the infection gets worse, you run the risk of them dying from it. You also won't actually be treating the infection and the parasite will still be present in the system. The second option is to treat the fish in a quarantine tank. Treating the main tank isn't really an option. The pros of this are you are treating the infection and getting it out of your tank. You should do this with subsequent additions. The cons involve the hassle in doing it, stress potentially killing the fish. Some fish, especially those that need lots of growing algae and/or copepods and the like (mandarins, some angels, like potter's angels, et al.) don't take to quarantine tanks well, since they won't have their natural food source during the treatment time, which can be especially long.

[jimbob21123]

so do you think the best thing to do right now is just wait and see what happens? ive read that raising the temp between 82 and 85 and do 50% water changes every other day could help alot so i have already raised the temp and did my first water change today but dont have enough salt to do another one and not a chance to get more til the weekend probably.

[jimbob21123]

my tank is a 55 gal with no sump 60 lbs of live sand, about 90 lbs live rock, hang on protien skimmer, canister filter, 2 koralia 2 powerheads, 2 150 hqi metal halides that just clamp on back of aquarium. 2 54 watt attinic power compacts (i dont know but hope this is enough light for most available coral). livestock is false percula, hippo tang, bicolor blenny, yellow tang, hippo tang and 2 firefish gobies (only hippo tang showing signs of ich). feather duster, coco worm, sally lightfoot crab, 2 peppermint shrimp, snails and hermit crabs. torch coral, leather mushroom, pulsing xenia, sun coral frag, various zoas and mushrooms and a white lightning sponge frag and i think thats everything

[Amphiprion]

The warmer it is, the faster the life cycle occurs. As a rule of thumb, poikilotherms' (cold-blooded animals and/or organisms) metabolisms double for every degree Celsius the temperature is raised. As for whether or not this helps, it isn't terribly effective, short of maximizing the amount of time the tomites are in the water. This is because average reef temps hover right around 82 degrees to begin with and should be part of the usual range you keep your tank within. Water changes can thin the population in the water column, but you'd need more than 50% to eliminate them AND you can't have any decor for them to adhere to. Not terribly practical in your situation. However, if you want to observe rather than treat the fish separately, it wouldn't hurt, either. As I said, it will at least thin it a bit. Just remember that treating it is probably the best way, but can be tricky at times. If you don't feel comfortable treating it, then just use the observation method combined with what you've already said. It won't get rid of the parasite 100%, but it will at least not be readily visible (if not visible at all) and will be in a concentration the fish can deal with itself.

[Babyreef]

Maybe try soaking some of his food with a garlic product such as.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=5016

[Brian]

I bought some stuff from research after EXTENSIVE research and used it in my reef tank. I had a blue tang with ich and my clownfish has some white haze on him. I used the product as instructed and the fish recovered and there was no damamge to my corals or invertabrates. I can not remember the name of it cause its been awhile but I am sure they still have it. It is kinds expensive just to warn you but it saved my fish and didn't hurt my reef and the main thing, I didn't have to tear down a 210 gallon tank to catch the fish and quarantine them. It had to be one of two products. Just call and ask Progressive which one of these two they carry in the store and that is the one I used. Kordon Ich Attack or Chem Marin Stop Parasites.