[Debz87]

Hello, i noticed today that my regal tang has tiny bits on one side of him, they are like clear or white specs and the fish tries to rub itself on rocks and get cleaned by the cleaner wrasse.
I presume this is Ich?
My cleaner wrasse is a bugger and wont clean the fish anymore, he is really greedy and eats loads so i guess has no need to clean the fish anymore!
This is the first time i have noticed any of the fish have anything wrong with them.
I am new to the hobby, i have been doing alot of research recently, was taking advice from our local marine shop and they didn't recommend that we quarantine any of the fish we bought from them plus we only have one tank which is only about 60 gallons at the moment, we have some fish in our tank that are juvenile and will get big such as an emperor and the tang and we want to get a bigger tank in the next few months, i realise the tank we have is not an ideal long term home.
My question is what should i do with the tang assuming it has ich?
I have treated the tank with Oodinex which is safe for crabs etc, it said to put in 25 drops per 100 litres for the first day then decrease this to 10 per 100 litres for the next 2 days.
Will the ich then disappear completely or should we buy a small tank and keep the tang separately for a while to treat on its own?
We have a fair bit of live rock and some coral, i obviously don't want anything to die and would like to know what would be the best thing to do next?
I understand tangs are prone to getting ich, is there a way i can prevent this in future?
Also should we do a water change after the 3 day treatment, if so how much?
Any help would be much appreciated!

[BLKBRDTA]

Hey Debbie, unfortunately it does sound like your Tang has surfaced the Ich parasite. Yes, they are quite prone to contracting it as well. I am curious as to why your LFS told you not to QT the fish purchased from them..? Did they recommend anything else to you? Additives never permanently work, even if they claim to do so. On rare occasions, some have had success with a few big name products. But the majority of users report no beneficial long-term success.

There are only 3 proven ways to kill the parasite, and all three require a separate holding tank.. Copper, Formalin, a mix of both, or Hypo-Salinity along with daily water changes for all three options. I would not recommend using Copper or Formalin if the caretaker is not in an advanced stage of experience in this hobby. Both Copper and Formalin are toxic to fish, and on top of that, there are no Formalin test kits commercially available.. Overdose and you may find out you did the hard way..

Usually, every fish should come out of the display to be treated. In some rare cases, the fish may be partially resistant to contracting the parasite or is unable to survive in a bare bottom QT, therefore not needing to come out of the display as much as the others. However, this is not recommended as the parasite needs a fish to host in order to survive. Even the smallest cyst can multiply rapidly once the other livestock is reintroduced. The DT must be run fish-less for at least 6 weeks to completely starve off the Ich parasite. During this period, the fish are being treated for at least 2 months, with the first month for treatment and the second month for recovery/observation.

Cleaner Wrasse, Goby, Shrimp etc. cannot remove the parasite from fish. Invertebrates are not affected by Ich, nor can the host the parasite. But any of the three treatment options would certainly kill off any invert within the treatment tank as well as LR, LS and most of the bacteria living on the surfaces. This is why a Quarantine Tank is required. Again, additive "medicine" is not proven to kill Cryptocaryon Irritans and it usually will surface once again, after treatment has stopped. Dosing into a display is never a good option, especially with coral in it, even if it says it is "Reef/Invert Safe." Many products contain Bicarbonate, which can affect Mushroom color and growth. Marine pH Buffers can do the same as well.

Yes, do bi-daily water changes to your system. Since your tank is approximately 60g, I would recommend at least 10 to 15 gallons (38 - 57 liters) every other day. The parasite sometimes will free-float in its cyst stage and this is when they can be siphoned out. Although, water changes are more for keeping the fish at ease during treatment rather than trying to siphon out the "bug." Ich rarely will free-float, and even then they cannot be siphoned out in high enough quantities to impact the overall population. They prefer to adhere to surfaces, much like ticks do, waiting for a passing host (ticks on tall grass, Ich on Live Rock.)

I am currently going through a Hypo-Salinity treatment right now after purchasing a Blue Hippo Tang (BHT, go figure.. Tangs..) and Ich surfaced on its body. He soon was scraping against the rocks and going crazy, then my Coral Beauty contracted it, then Blenny, then even my Clowns and Wrasses.. So out they went into a QT for 3 months.. They are currently in week 3 of treatment, and the Specific Gravity (SG) has dropped from 1.024 to 1.014 or 32 ppt to 20 ppt. Very slowly to not stress the fish as their kidneys can fail from the drop in salinity in correspondence with their immune system.

HTH