BABY HIPPO TANG WITH ICH TREATED WITH HYPO BUT NOW WONT EAT. WHAT DO I DO?

[Oklahoma reef]

I got a baby blue hippo tang that is about an inch long from an LFS 3 days ago. The guy said he had been there for 4 weeks and has always had ICH but he always eats just fine, I even watched him in store. I got home and he was fine in my tank for one day. Then I set up a quarantine for hypo salinity ( heater and HOB with a pump inside to mix water and a plastic container for him to hide in. This is the 24 hour mark after a 1 hour acclimation and it seems like he has gotten rid of 30% of the ich that was on him but there are a few new white spots. Only problem is now he won't really eat frozen mixed food with garlic added. he will eat but only a few small pieces. He use to eat a lot and how he only ate 2 or 3 pieces that floated right around his mouth. I just started adding 1 ML of paragaurd slowly until I read the 5 ML recommended. Should I remove him tomorrow if he won't eat? In my mind hypo will only work if he still eats. Maybe seeing other fish eats gets him onto it? Maybe its the competition? what should I do?

 

 

all of the following are juvenile except the harlequin.

1snowflake clown

1sail fin tang

1red fire fish

1tailspot blenny

1blue spotted yellow watchman

1peppermint shrimp

1cleaner shrimp

 

 

regular tank is a 25 lagoon with 4 t5 lights

salinity 1.025

low nitrates

low phosphates

don't know PH

little to no ammonia

5-7 gallon water change every week.

 

I have metro+ by hikari

and seachem paragaurd

 

TL;DR Treated ich hippo tang with hypo salinity but won't eat now.

[Clown79]

The fish may be stressed and its affecting its appetite. 

Tangs are prone to ich and stress usually helps reduce their immunity.

 

Putting it in the other tank will only infect the other fish and then they will all need removal and treatment while the tank goes fallow for 8 weeks.

 

 

Not sure if you are aware but tangs grow pretty quickly and a 25g tank is too small for tangs.

 

The sailfin grows to 1' 3"- they need 180g tank.

 

The blue hippo grows to 1' 

- needs 180g too

 

 

 

That's a lot of fish for a 25g.

 

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

How do you expect to keep stress levels down with two tangs that grow fast/huge in a 25g? 

 

Also sounds like you already put him in the DT for a day so you might as well just drop him back in there if your not going to pull all the fish out. Everything has been exposed anyways so as soon as you put him back he may very well get ich again. 

 

 

 

[Astlavista007]

Sorry to hear about the situation. Did the LFS guy who sold you the tang ask you how big your tank was before selling you the fish? If so, he should have advised you not to buy the tang given that this fish can grow over a foot in a relatively short period of time and will be extremely stressed in such a small tank. If he knew you had a 25 gallon and still sold you this fish without cautioning you then I would take the fish back and try to get a refund because it sounds like they were out to make a quick buck instead of doing what’s right for their customer... If you decide to keep the fish then I think you will simply be prolonging the inevitable. You could try feeding garlic enriched nori but I doubt that will do much given the circumstances. Going forward, please do your homework before buying fish. These are beautiful animals that can live 40+ years and it’s sad to see them set up for failure or certain death when we don’t practice proper husbandry and do not provide them with a suitable living environment. 

[WV Reefer]

10 hours ago, Oklahoma reef said:

I got a baby blue hippo tang that is about an inch long from an LFS 3 days ago. The guy said he had been there for 4 weeks and has always had ICH but he always eats just fine, I even watched him in store. I got home and he was fine in my tank for one day. Then I set up a quarantine for hypo salinity ( heater and HOB with a pump inside to mix water and a plastic container for him to hide in. This is the 24 hour mark after a 1 hour acclimation and it seems like he has gotten rid of 30% of the ich that was on him but there are a few new white spots. Only problem is now he won't really eat frozen mixed food with garlic added. he will eat but only a few small pieces. He use to eat a lot and how he only ate 2 or 3 pieces that floated right around his mouth. I just started adding 1 ML of paragaurd slowly until I read the 5 ML recommended. Should I remove him tomorrow if he won't eat? In my mind hypo will only work if he still eats. Maybe seeing other fish eats gets him onto it? Maybe its the competition? what should I do?

 

 

all of the following are juvenile except the harlequin.

1snowflake clown

1sail fin tang

1red fire fish

1tailspot blenny

1blue spotted yellow watchman

1peppermint shrimp

1cleaner shrimp

 

 

regular tank is a 25 lagoon with 4 t5 lights

salinity 1.025

low nitrates

low phosphates

don't know PH

little to no ammonia

5-7 gallon water change every week.

 

I have metro+ by hikari

and seachem paragaurd

 

TL;DR Treated ich hippo tang with hypo salinity but won't eat now.

 

You need to read up on Ich and how to properly treat it. The fish was already placed in your display so now the display has Ich. Any fish already in the display will now need to be removed and treated. A fallow period is a must to be sure the Ich is gone from the display before reintroducing the fish.  

 

Not to pile on but as others have stated, that tank is too small for ANY Tang let alone two Tangs.  

 

And never trust a LFS that would purposely sell you a sick fish.  

[Oklahoma reef]

8 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

 

You need to read up on Ich and how to properly treat it. The fish was already placed in your display so now the display has Ich. Any fish already in the display will now need to be removed and treated. A fallow period is a must to be sure the Ich is gone from the display before reintroducing the fish.  

 

Not to pile on but as others have stated, that tank is too small for ANY Tang let alone two Tangs.  

 

And never trust a LFS that would purposely sell you a sick fish.  

 

9 hours ago, Astlavista007 said:

Sorry to hear about the situation. Did the LFS guy who sold you the tang ask you how big your tank was before selling you the fish? If so, he should have advised you not to buy the tang given that this fish can grow over a foot in a relatively short period of time and will be extremely stressed in such a small tank. If he knew you had a 25 gallon and still sold you this fish without cautioning you then I would take the fish back and try to get a refund because it sounds like they were out to make a quick buck instead of doing what’s right for their customer... If you decide to keep the fish then I think you will simply be prolonging the inevitable. You could try feeding garlic enriched nori but I doubt that will do much given the circumstances. Going forward, please do your homework before buying fish. These are beautiful animals that can live 40+ years and it’s sad to see them set up for failure or certain death when we don’t practice proper husbandry and do not provide them with a suitable living environment. 

 

14 hours ago, Tamberav said:

How do you expect to keep stress levels down with two tangs that grow fast/huge in a 25g? 

 

Also sounds like you already put him in the DT for a day so you might as well just drop him back in there if your not going to pull all the fish out. Everything has been exposed anyways so as soon as you put him back he may very well get ich again. 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Clown79 said:

The fish may be stressed and its affecting its appetite. 

Tangs are prone to ich and stress usually helps reduce their immunity.

 

Putting it in the other tank will only infect the other fish and then they will all need removal and treatment while the tank goes fallow for 8 weeks.

 

 

Not sure if you are aware but tangs grow pretty quickly and a 25g tank is too small for tangs.

 

The sailfin grows to 1' 3"- they need 180g tank.

 

The blue hippo grows to 1' 

- needs 180g too

 

 

 

That's a lot of fish for a 25g.

 

 

 

 

 The sailfin tang had ich when it was added over 4 months ago but he no longer shows signs of ich. so yes the tank already has ich.  As for the size of the tank needed many famous reefers have tanks of similar size with hippos in them that are even larger than mine. People such as drew, know for his tank " Drews lagoon" has a hippo much larger than mine in the exact same tank. i dont plan on keeping the hippo for more than a year, Same with the sailfin.  Only reason i put him in hypo was to try and take away/ reduce the ich he has. I know he  will get ich again once put in the DT. I also just picked up a 20x20x18 acrylic tank for free so i may go ahead and move all the fish to there and let the DT go fallow. Any suggestions on copper vs hypo for treating all the fish once they go into Quarintine? All the fish in the tank are juvinile and very small. 

 

I have done a fair ammount of reaserch on ich, the lifecycle, and treatment options. 

 

[Tamberav]

I like TTM for ich. Takes like 14 days.

 

Drew also has a starfish who's life will be shortened. 

 

Famous just means ya corals go pop. We are talking about fish. Anyone can buy a sailfin for their 20g.  

 

[Oklahoma reef]

19 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I like TTM for ich. Takes like 14 days.

 

Drew also has a starfish who's life will be shortened. 

 

Famous just means ya corals go pop. We are talking about fish. Anyone can buy a sailfin for their 20g.  

Not only do his corals pop but he has had a hippo tang for over a year and a half without ever seeming to have ich.....

[Andreww]

Some people just don’t like to be helped....

2 tangs in a 25 gallon...and still trying to come up with reasons why it’s a good idea.

A person growing some colorful corals does NOT qualify him/her as a pro. A hippo and a starfish in a nano says it all....

 

[Oklahoma reef]

4 minutes ago, Andreww said:

Some people just don’t like to be helped....

2 tangs in a 25 gallon...and still trying to come up with reasons why it’s a good idea.

A person growing some colorful corals does NOT qualify him/her as a pro. A hippo and a starfish in a nano says it all....

 

Drew is one person, there are many others. I knew when i posted this that the tang police where comming, however im looking for ich solutions, not input on wether the fish should be in the tank or not. There are plenty of people who have sucsessfully kept hippos in 20 and 25 gallon tanks. hippo is less than an inch and the sailfin is about an inch. 

 

who said anything about a starfish?

[Andreww]

11 minutes ago, Oklahoma reef said:

 There are plenty of people who have sucsessfully kept hippos in 20 and 25 gallon tanks.

Links ?

Cuz I’m dying to add a vlamingi tang to my 17 gallon.

 

[Andreww]

My advice is to see if the LFS wants to take the tangs back and give you some store credit and you can buy a couple small fish or dry goods with that money.

Trust me no one wants you to fail, after all that’s why you’re asking and some are answering.

Its better to get rid of them now than wait and have them both die in a matter of weeks or months. 

They will be more stressed as they grow and perhaps come down with another parasite. 

Not worth it in such a small tank.

Hope you will make the right decision...

[Tamberav]

31 minutes ago, Oklahoma reef said:

Drew is one person, there are many others. I knew when i posted this that the tang police where comming, however im looking for ich solutions, not input on wether the fish should be in the tank or not. There are plenty of people who have sucsessfully kept hippos in 20 and 25 gallon tanks. hippo is less than an inch and the sailfin is about an inch. 

 

who said anything about a starfish?

Copper

Hypo

TTM

 

A properly sized tank with live foods..UV...and diatom filter is another method.

 

Fish probably stopped eating as it is stressed and sick. 

 

Offer it live foods and nori. Live clams..live black worms...ect

 

 

 

 

[Oklahoma reef]

2 minutes ago, Andreww said:

My advice is to see if the LFS wants to take the tangs back and give you some store credit and you can buy a couple small fish or dry goods with that money.

Trust me no one wants you to fail, after all that’s why you’re asking and some are answering.

Its better to get rid of them now than wait and have them both die in a matter of weeks or months. 

They will be more stressed as they grow and perhaps come down with another parasite. 

Not worth it in such a small tank.

Hope you will make the right decision...

ill contact the LFS tomorrow and see if he will work with me. What should i do if he tries to give me a hard time and tell me i bought it knowing my tank size ? try to sell him on the local reef facebook page? got him for 50$

 

 

Drews reef

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25540737

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/whots-this-tang-and-fish-less-prone-to-ich.519555/#post-5445608 if you look into the comments there a guy with a hippo tang in a 25 gallon

 

 

 I dont disagree that they need more room, however i do believe it is feasable to keep a hippo in a 25 until it gets an inch and a half or more. this was not a long term plan.

[Andreww]

13 minutes ago, Oklahoma reef said:

ill contact the LFS tomorrow and see if he will work with me. What should i do if he tries to give me a hard time and tell me i bought it knowing my tank size ? try to sell him on the local reef facebook page? got him for 50$

I would tell them you had no idea they grow that big and would hate to keep it in a small tank. But that’s a bit shady if you already knew what you’re getting yourself into.

Being honest about it is always the best way of dealing with people...

Theyre making  a sale either way so I do not see why they wouldn’t take it back unless they’re just simply don’t care about their customers.

Small fish can be very rewarding, just do your research before buying them to make sure they’ll play along with the existing livestock.

But make sure you’re not buying from the same ich infected tank/system.

[Tamberav]

Catching and moving fish is stressful so buying little tangs to only to trade them away or return to LFS is not exactly very nice for the fish. 

 

Now I am not perfect but I do try to avoid fish that grow to the size of dinner plates.

 

Many more unique interesting fish anywho that actually catch reefers attention. Nemo fans may like Dory though. For a blue fish, I keep a starkii damsel, beautiful and uncommon/rare. They fetch a high price for a damsel and sell out on divers den in minutes. Better yet... is it can live comfortably in a nano. 

 

This is a random shot from the wild, tangs are schooling fish that travel long distances. We can not even begin to replicate anything even remotely natural for them in a 25g no matter what so-and-so does. I have a 25g lagoon, that tank is small as hell with a tiny length. 

 

 

 

 

[WV Reefer]

Maybe some famous reefers will chime in. 🤭

 

 

[Clown79]

Remember when they taught kids would you jump off a bridge if your friends did....same thing applies to reef keeping.

 

Just because a few ppl do something that is completely WRONG for the fishes needs, doesn't mean everyone should.

 

 

[FISHnChix]

2 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

Maybe some famous reefers will chime in. 🤭

 

 

Wait what do I need to chime in on ...🤔  lol jk😋 happy Thursdays peeps.. 

[Oklahoma reef]

All visible ich is gone and blue tang is back in the DT. Selling the sailfin tomorrow.. 

 

 

yeah ear I guess transferring tanks was so stressful it killed the ich...

[patback]

24 minutes ago, Oklahoma reef said:

All visible ich is gone and blue tang is back in the DT. Selling the sailfin tomorrow.. 

 

 

yeah ear I guess transferring tanks was so stressful it killed the ich...

Thats it.  Pretty sure you accidentally figured out a safe way on how to kill ich successfully after actual scientists couldnt find a way. 

I suggest patenting the method that you transferred so you can get a royalty anytime someone does it.

[jdmcbuilt]

39 minutes ago, Oklahoma reef said:

All visible ich is gone and blue tang is back in the DT. Selling the sailfin tomorrow.. 

 

 

yeah ear I guess transferring tanks was so stressful it killed the ich...

Interesting.............

[WV Reefer]

1 minute ago, jdmcbuilt said:

Interesting.............

Don’t even bother. 😄

[Andreww]

49 minutes ago, Oklahoma reef said:

I guess transferring tanks was so stressful it killed the ich...

Shocking!

[mcarroll]

On 1/10/2019 at 5:49 AM, Tamberav said:

Catching and moving fish is stressful

I dunno why I didn't save the article, but one I read a while back about fish stress actually measured actual stress hormone levels and other indicators in fish after numerous stressful events.

 

Net catching of salmon was one of them. 

 

The fish was still measurably stressed, as indicated by these measures, even two weeks after the catch. 

 

Just a plain netting of a fish....not that he was dropped, or smashed with the net, or kept out of the water or anything else strange.

 

Stress is to easy to underestimate....so much so that stress almost gets dismissed as a myth by some folks.  Even some folks who ought to know better often only consider it as an afterthought or even not at all.

 

Stress is the main reason I say corals are A LOT easier to keep than fish.  (And why someone named "Drew", who I do not know, has nice looking corals in his nano, but keeps Tangs too. )