Freckle Size and Color Brown Spots on Tang

[windyridge]

Since 5/8 I have had a yellow tang in a 10 gal quarantine tank along with a young Maroon Clown. The clown was fine and is still fine but all fish were removed from reef tank when ich was spotted on the tang and angel (angel subsequently got bloat and died). Q tank set up at 1.009 SG, 80 degrees, all levels fine. Ich seemed to go away on tang and then came back. Around the same time I noticed the clown beating up on the tang. I never actually saw it but you can see the evidence on the tangs fins. I added a screen tank divider yesterday so now his space is even smaller. Since the clown tends to stay in the same part, he has a 1/4 of the tank, the tang has the rest. I keep the lights out most of the time. The ich has much improved and today and I don't see any evidence of it now but I have noticed for the past several days a few brown specks. The photo clearly shows a few. It hasn't gotten worse or better. He eats but is very finicky, he will eat Mysis shrimp then stop, and peck at flakes including Spirrulina. The Spirullina is old and new is coming tomorrow. He used to love the algae strips but only pecks a few times now and is done. His respiration is over 100 breaths per minute and has been since I started noticing it a week ago but I don't know if he has always done that. Otherwise apart from an occasional twitch he acts ok, swims around slowly, looks for food avidly when I put something in the tank but then doesn't really eat it and often spits it out. What do I do and do I have to wait again for a 6 week countdown to put the fish back in the main tank. What is this brown speckle stuff. Look above the mid-line, you can see at least 3 brown speckles:
[IMG]
DSC_0001 by onaridge2000, on Flickr[/IMG]

[helpinsmepls]

Sorry to see that,

If possible I would set up a second QT. If you don't have the equipment available go to walmart and get a aquarium kit and heater.

I would switch the clown over to the new qt as I would not want to move the tang in it's condition. (If you decide to move the clown you can get the walmart stuff for $30)

I know paraguard would probably help your fish but you would need to raise the salinity back to normal.

One thing to defiantly check is to make sure your salinity is definitely at the level you believe it to be at. Even refractometers need to be calibrated every once and awhile.

Sorry I don't have an answer to what that is on your fish.

[windyridge]

Sounds like a good idea but if I raise the SG now I won't get rid of all the ich. It's something to consider later perhaps? Hopefully someone else in this forum may be able to ID the specks.

[helpinsmepls]

Originally Posted by windyridge

Sounds like a good idea but if I raise the SG now I won't get rid of all the ich. It's something to consider later perhaps? Hopefully someone else in this forum may be able to ID the specks.

On seachems forums the manufacture sates that the paraguard will get rid of the ich parasite if used exactly as directed.

Personally I do use this product and prefer it to cuppramine, and also prefer it to using hypo.

It has cleared up ich for me anyway on new arrivals that do have ich.

The only thing is that seachem wont give exact studies of this product being used specifically against ich, but only say it does work to cure it.

Is it possible my tank still has ich? sure. I only say that because I would imagine I would have to pull a fish out and check it's gills under a microscope, but I can tell you I have never seen any signs of it, I qt each fish i receive with prazipro and paraguard and have never seen a problem in my display.

[windyridge]

Ok. But can anyone at all ID the brown specks. It's hard to come up with a treatment plan for this if I have no idea what it is. I've got to believe that for a fish as popular as the yellow tang, someone in this forum knows something about these brown dots.... or am lucky to be the first ever tang owner with brown specks?

[windyridge]

Ok folks I need to start treating this fish with something other than what I am doing as the brown spots while not getting worse aren't getting any better. The fast respiration hasn't changed either. I don't want to treat with drugs or chemicals while the clown is in the same Q tank. The clown has shown no signs of illness, ich or otherwise and has already been through the previous tetracycline (when treating the now dead angel) treatment. He is one tough fish. Can I put him back into the main tank after I bring up the salinity in the Q tank? I can't treat with any other chemicals anyway until I bring up the salinity. Is it possible that he would carry ich even though he shows absolutely no signs of it? We can't set up yet a third QT as we can't cycle it. I think paraguard sounds like the way to go given that no one can ID the brown spots.

[helpinsmepls]

I tried to help someone else and it turned into a rather large thread.

Please just read this: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1985626

You will have your questions answered if you read it.
I would treat both your clown and tang with paraguard and prazipro. Read about each product from the manufacture and you will see why I recommend using them.

Then copper or hypo if you feel it's needed. (Testing supplies are needed for both of these methods,"copper or hypo" read about both and see which one you feel comfortable doing.)

Let your display run fishless for 8 weeks.

[windyridge]

The directions on the prazipro say not to combine with any other meds....but it looks like a good combo. I just don't want to kill the one healthy fish I have.

[helpinsmepls]

Originally Posted by windyridge

The directions on the prazipro say not to combine with any other meds....but it looks like a good combo. I just don't want to kill the one healthy fish I have.

There are allot of threads on here of people combining them, but you are defiantly right. You don't have to combine them if you feel comfortable doing it. That's what's nice about prazipro it is only a 5-7 day treatment then repeated again after a short break. It is such a short timeframe for the treatment that you can start with the immediate problem and treat with paraguard, then add prazipro at the end or durring the middle of your paraguard treatment.

Or you can do half the recommended dose of any medication just to see how your fish will do with it.

Paraguard is dosed daily so the first day can just be a half dose. Then if the fish are ok with paraguard do the recommended dosing every day, I would do it for 3 weeks if your fish are healthy looking and eating during the treatment.

Prazipro you could try half dose as well. If they seem fine I would run carbon and do a water change then do a full dose, Just make sure you run it at full strength for 7 days, 5 day break with carbon running(if you are dosing paraguard just do the water change and run carbon for half a day, then treat with paraguard for the day), then dose prazipro after the 5 day wait and let it run for 7 days.

If that don't cure your tang then you will have to work on another treatment option, but to be honest I see no reason why it should not get better, Make sure it eats, keep its water clean, and move the clown, treat the clown as well or your asking for more problems down the road.

Remember to not use anything that will cross contaminate your tanks. (anything that gets wet) Like syphoning out of your display with a syphon then dipping that into your QT or visa versa.

I hope your fish gets better.

[windyridge]

Ok sounds like a plan. One point confused me tho', you said: "Make sure it eats, keep its water clean, and move the clown, treat the clown as well or your asking for more problems down the road."

What do you mean by "move the clown".

The clown has been in the Q tank since the start. There is a screen separator between it and the tang because it was bullying the tang.

[helpinsmepls]

Originally Posted by windyridge

Ok sounds like a plan. One point confused me tho', you said: "Make sure it eats, keep its water clean, and move the clown, treat the clown as well or your asking for more problems down the road."

What do you mean by "move the clown".

The clown has been in the Q tank since the start. There is a screen separator between it and the tang because it was bullying the tang.

You don't have to move the clown to a second QT. It only an option, I think there would be less stress on the tang if the tang had the whole tank to swim in. You don't have to get a second QT, but if you do and can afford the setup I would get a 20 long and QT the tang in it.

[windyridge]

Ah ok I gotcha, we have a 15 gallon tank no light but we have extra pumps and heaters but how do you instantly cycle a tank?

[helpinsmepls]

Originally Posted by windyridge

Ah ok I gotcha, we have a 15 gallon tank no light but we have extra pumps and heaters but how do you instantly cycle a tank?

You will won't be able to. There are a few things you can do.

One And Only Nitrifying Bacteria by Dr Tim's Aquatics / foster and smith carries this, or you can try seachems stability product. (tims one and only seems to be the more surefire product)

You will need a sponge to give the Bactria somewhere to colonize, I would use a sponge in a hang on the back filter.

I'm not sure on the sizes of your other setups, but if you can use water from an existing display to just get the QT's started that would help allot. Just don't use display water to do any further water changes to your QT after you initially fill it up.

If you have a seeded sponge anywhere in your display or sump that you can sacrifice to the QT's that would work also.

[windyridge]

Thanks. I ordered the chemicals will begin treatment when they arrive and when salinty gets back to normal.

[windyridge]

Decided to go with another Q tank, and put a sponge from the reef tank into it. We also have ammonia crystals just in case. The clown will go in here, on a bare bottom tank with a few mugs for shelter. It's a 15g long tank. We don't have a light or cover but that's no problem as the room it will be in for 6 weeks gets sun most of the day. We can come up with a cover of some kind. Since he's been in hypo we will keep him in hypo for 6 weeks to assure us as best we can that no ich ends up in the reef tank. He still looks perfectly healthy. Meanwhile we will treat the tang with Kick ich since we have it and the other chemicals don't arrive until next week. The tang is fading fast so I don't want to wait. I feel a lot better about getting the clown out of there. What a tough little guy he is. He loves to pick up the crushed coral we have and "excavate" his little bed. I hope it doesn't stress him that there will be no coral in this tank.