Juvenile Regal Tang - Ich on-and-off

[Dangerous Darla]

I bought a juvenile regal tang 9 days ago along with 2 percula clowns and their bubble tip anemone (all in the same tank at the lfs). After a 2-hour drive from the pet store, I acclimated them to my 55g. Within a couple of hours, the regal tang had a couple of white spots. I ran to the pet store at lunch time the next day and bought a 10g tank and some copper-based med. Then I went home and found that she looked perfectly fine. I chalked it up to mistaking air bubbles for ich. I did a water change this weekend, and moved the live rock around (stressing her, no doubt). Plus I've been cleaning brown diatom algae daily (with a turkey baster and sponge). Thursday morning, she shows a couple of spots again. No change by last night. This morning she had 5 spots, but by lunch time they were all gone--but now it looks like she has teeny-tiny, hardly even visible, white spots on her. So, here's my question--is her immune system capable of healing her without intervention? My clowns are mature (the lfs guy said they were a trade-in) and haven't shown any signs of ich. My water quality is great and I've been doing 10 gal water changes every other week with RO water. I've been adding trace elements. (I think the diatom bloom is because I bought the tank over a month ago from a guy who had it for 6 months. I left a couple inches of water in the bottom during the move, and wrapped the live rock in plastic bags. The aquarium never cycled (it came with 2 damsels and a cleaning crew), but I did have to replace almost all of the water in the tank with RO water. I understand the diatom algae bloom is not unusual for newly set-up tanks.

The regal tang is eating well, and shows no signs of sickness other than these occasional bouts with white spots. I hate to stress her more by moving her into isolation. Does anyone have experience with tangs getting ich on and off? Should I just leave her alone and see what happens? I hate to think of how the clowns would react if they get ich and I have to isolate them from their anemone, but my gut instinct is to leave the tang where she is unless she gets worse. The kicker is that I am going to be out of town for 7 days over the Thanksgiving holiday, so I'm worried about what will happen in my absence. The teenager who is house sitting only knows enough to empty the skimmer and feed the fish.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice will be appreciated.

[RazerCorals]

See below

[RazerCorals]

Could I convince you not to treat with copper. Just get a cleaner shrimp if you can get your hands on one. It will help out a lot. Also the on and off thing is cause the fish is naturally fighting it off. Just make sure it doesn't get out of control.

19/28

[Dangerous Darla]

Good to know, thank you. Won't the coral banded shrimp help, or do I need a cleaner shrimp, too--and will they get along OK? I bought some special food from my lfs--he said it is a combination of 5 different things--garlic, brine, a couple of flake meds, I think. I'm going to try that. Copper med and isolation is my last resort. You've confirmed that she is probably best off left alone for now, unless she gets worse, of course. Thanks again.

[RazerCorals]

Don't even waste on the other methods, they don't really help that much from what I've tried. You should check out www.reefkeeping.com as they have a 2 part article on ich I believe. The banded won't help as they won't eat the parasites. They should get along ok as long as there is enough space between them, and the cleaner is bigger.

28/28 Whoot, that's enough for today. Probably wondering why 28? See if anyone can figure it out.

[steve1s]

You should check out www.reefkeeping.com as they have a 2 part article on ich I believe.
I whole heartedly agree!!

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion
of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I
by Steven Pro (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.htm)

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion
of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II
by Steven Pro (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.htm)

Once your done reading I hope you will quarantine the fish and begin a proper treatment... :wink:

Cheers
Steve

[Dangerous Darla]

I started feeding the medicated food Friday night and by Saturday morning, all signs of ich disappeared and she has been fine since then. I read the ich article, and am familiar with the ich cycle (I used to have a 125g freshwater planted tank and a school of 6 clown fish. I treated them successfully for ich with Formalin twice). I am a novice reef keeper, though. I didn't quarrantine when I got the tang because the tang and the two clowns were the only fish I was going to have in the tank (I traded in 2 damsels), and they had been in the same tank at the lfs. The guy at the lfs assured me that the tang had been healthy for over a month. The clowns had only been with the tang for a day.

Anyway, the Marine Ich article by Steven Pro does state, "The medicated foods are a good option for use as a preventative, for mild infestations, or when used in conjunction with one of the other less effective treatments, such as biological controls, UV, ozone, and garlic." Since it is a mild infestation and i'm having "success" with the medicated food and garlic, I am going to take the chance of leaving well enough alone for now (other than continuing to feed them the medicated food once a day). I hate the thought of having to catch her and the clowns to isolate them (or dip them), and really think it will stress the clowns to separate them from their anemone. They are all eating very well and seem very healthy. My diatom algae is subsiding and I will try not to disturb the tank much when I do my water changes (no more moving rocks around). I will be watching the fish closely, though, and will quarantine all of them immediately if the ich comes back. However, I think her immune system is taking care of it, because the spots never lasted more than 24 hours. The clowns have never shown any signs of ich. So, if all is fine after 30 days, I'll figure it's pretty much gone...Thanks for your replies.

[Reefman1]

I can not find a better treatment for Ick than Garlic. You need to get some Kyolic Garlic extract. I add it to my Food, which i Use Mysis Shrimp.
I usually place the shrimp in a cup and add the garlic too it, it is best to
make up more than needed and keep in the Refrigerator. You need to
let the mixture soak overnight, if you make up more than needed you
will always have some to feed. I have had great luck using this treatment.
The fish will go crazy for the Garlic, It is like catnip to Fish. Try it you
will be surprised.

[Terry B]

Its pretty typical for the ich spots to come and go, especially in the early stages. Its just part of the natural life cycle of the parasite to fall off so it can reproduce. It really is a huge mistake not to quarantine all fish before adding them to a reef. You can try feeding them garlic and running a UV, but that doesn't work consistently enough for me. The best proven method is hyposalinity.
Terry B