Tangs Dying with White Spot

Joined
12 Nov 2009
Posts
828
Reaction score
9
Location
Boksburg
Hey guys,

Hope someone can help!
Iv had a Powder brown, Naso and Gold eye tang die of white spot. :(

Is there anyway i can get rid of this parasite in my DT and prevent it from coming back?

I am thinking of getting a Hailea ozone reactor connected straight into my TS2 Skimmer, will this help?
 
Drop your salinity, if u dont have corals that is, quickest fix. If you have coral, then best you set up a hospital tank with lower salinity.
 
Last edited:
Some info to get you started...
Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans)
Symptoms: Salt-like specks on the body/fins. Rubbing or scratching against decor or substrate, Excessive slime. Problems breathing (ich invades the gills), Frayed fins, Loss of appetite, Cloudy eyes, Abnormal swimming.
Marine ich or white spot disease is one of the most common maladies experienced in the marine aquarium, with the other being Marine Velvet. This protozoa has four phases to its life, lasting up to 38 days depending on the temperature of the environment. This parasite affects marine and brackish fish.
Aquarists are most familiar with the stage where the protozoa is infesting the host, the small white spots similar to a sprinkling of salt on the fish's body and fins. Unfortunately this visual clue is also the reason for difficulty in eradicating marine ich. Once the parasite has left the host's body many aquarists believe their fish is cured and the problem is solved and so they cease treatment, only to have another larger reoccurrence.
For eradication treatment must be carried through to completion, so understanding the parasite's life cycle will greatly increase your chances of success. The life cycle is outlined here:
  • Trophont phase - when the parasite is growing in the skin or gills of the fish it appears as small white nodules, and the fish begins showing signs of irritation. It will spend 5 to 7 days (depending on the temperature) feeding on the fish. Once it reaches maturity it leaves the fish, reportedly after the lights go out. It is now called a protomont.
  • Protomont phase - the protomont will free swim or will crawl about the substrate for several hours (2 to 18 hours) producing a sticky wall around itself with which it is able to adhere to a surface. Once it adheres it begins to turn into a cyst and is now called a tomont.
  • Tomont phase - at this stage there is rapid cell divisions occurring, resulting in hundreds of daughter parasites that are called tomites. This stage can last anywhere from 3 to 28 days. Eventually the tomites hatch and begin swimming about looking for a host and are now called theronts.
  • Theront phase - newly hatched, they are swimming about looking for a host which they must find within 24 hours or they will die. Once a host is found they turn into trophonts and the whole cycle begins anew.
The life cycle of this parasite can vary dramatically and is dependent on temperature, they cycle faster in a warmer environment. Ideally the parasite would be eliminated while on the host or shortly after leaving the host. However, those that are buried in the gills are immune to treatment until they leave the fish. This along with the variability of the cycle makes it difficult to treat in a timely manner.
So to rid the aquarium of this protozoa, it is recommended that you use a combination of water changes and chemical treatment, a multiple number of times.
  • Chemical: Chemical treatments for this disease include using copper, formalin, or a combination of copper and formalin. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.
  • Natural: Natural methods include either a quarantine tank with a low salinity (hyposalinity) or large frequent water changes. For low salinity keep the specific gravity of the water at approximately 1.009-1.010 with temperatures of 78 - 80{deg} F (25 - 27{deg} C) for 14 days.
    A danger with with using low salinity is in re-acclimating the fish to a higher salinity. You must be able to accurately measure the salinity and must increase it very slowly. For the water change method, replace 50% of the aquarium water daily for 14 days. This is perfectly safe method as long as temperature and salinity are the same, and this will remove the parasites while in a free swimming stage.
Reportably some healthy fish can develop a limited immunity. This immunity is short-lived lasting only about six months and may not be a total immunity, being a small amount of infestation rather than extensive infestation.
Fish Disease and Treatment
Marine Ich


Some natural treatments to choose from...
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
 
my tangs also have ich dame shit it is but i have been useding hebtana for 5 days now and seams to be working well the only down side is ur skimmer need to be off fro 10 day but its working so atm it worth a try

whats hebtana? is it reef safe as i have shrimp, hermits and soft/hard corals ?
 
where can i get some?
 
Cool i will try it out..
What about an ozone reactor.. doesn't that kill parasites?
 
oh no u serious.. so whats the point of the reactor then.. waist of money..
 
To kill WS, well my good old enemy, there are so many different theory's. Killing in a DT (and I am mean KILLING IT not TREATING IT) is close to impossible. The only really way is to have a sterile DT and never let fish with WS come into the DT.

But I have similar tang's to what you have and they had WS and there are ways to treat the WS:

You need to find out the reason for the WS, is it just from being introduced from a fish (if so then prob your powder blue ;)) - but then it's in your tank. :(

If its aggression in your tank then you have this equation: Aggression = Stress = Weaking of immune system = Possible Death.

WS can be in a tank for AGES and only pop up when the fish are stressed.


Here are some tips that have been helping my little buggers. They looking so much better.

1. Feed them like they come from somalia, mine get so much norry that they are about to pop. The norry is soaked in Garlic and I put some SeaChem Metrozole and SeaChem Focus on the norry. At night they get a mixture that I made with the above medicine mixed into the food. Make sure that you have LOADS of Garlic (Debates if this helps), Vitamins (always helps).


2. Make sure you try and reduce the stress in the tank. If you have aggression (depending on the level):

2.1 Low = Give them time to chill
2.2 Low to Medium = Move the rock work around to force them to find new territory
2.3 Medium to High = Use Egg crate to separate the tank
2.4 High = Remove some of the tangs. - Sump different tank etc

3. Keep the tanks Params well - ESP TEMP!

REMEMBER:

When adding the tangs it's usually a good idea to do the following:

1. Plan if you can add ALL the tangs AT THE SAME time, helps with them to get use to each other
2. If you can't make sure the tanks is BLACK no light and add the new TANG

Tangs like (in order):

1. Souhl (*spelling) Tang
2. Clown Tang
3. Purple Tang
4. Powder Blue\Brown\ xxx tang


I can only give you my experience. I now have tangs that are FAT and look like they recovering pretty well.

Also chat to or hope @Achilles chips in here, he helped me tons!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dude sorry to hear about your issues.
IMPO and experience in order to beat white spot you need to treat with copper or the bucket method and leave your tank fishless for 2 months.
NOTHING else will work all the others are immune boosters and snake oil. It may seem that you have beaten it but its still there waiting for an opportunity to come back.

Read the article:
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
 
Dude sorry to hear about your issues.
IMPO and experience in order to beat white spot you need to treat with copper or the bucket method and leave your tank fishless for 2 months.
NOTHING else will work all the others are immune boosters and snake oil. It may seem that you have beaten it but its still there waiting for an opportunity to come back.

Read the article:
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com


@ziyaadb if u can catch my fish with out distrying the rest of the tank i will gladly use ur method
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dude sorry to hear about your issues.
IMPO and experience in order to beat white spot you need to treat with copper or the bucket method and leave your tank fishless for 2 months.
NOTHING else will work all the others are immune boosters and snake oil. It may seem that you have beaten it but its still there waiting for an opportunity to come back.

Read the article:
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com


@ziyaadb I agree with you - BUT I don't think it's always possible. WS comes in (could even been with fresh LR..) its almost impossible to avoid it (NOTE: ALMOST).

Here is the thought process for ME...

The fish are already in, the fish are already stressed. Get them back to health if I can before copper etc..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ok, lets understand a couple of things here. you say that a whole lot of tangs died but dont say what conditions water parameters etc they are in, White spot very rarely ever kills fish in the wild as it remains a low infection it becomes a problem in captivity because the parasites overwhelm the fish's ( which are already stressed )immune system

IF you provide the best possible size tank, little over crowding and minimize stress coupled with very good non fluctuating water parameters then the fish will often be able to overcome whitespot with their own immune system( some fish have little chance of getting immunity and will always show a small or latent infection most often Acanthurus Tangs)

There are 2 things you can do- try to obliterate whitespot from your tank ( this seldom works but is possible and is very hard it kinda makes the hobby very difficult/not fun as you have to work in almost lab conditions treat everything with harmful chemicals and often the fish will die from these not whitespot)
Quarantine helps alot but more for preventing lethal diseases, to try obliterate whitespot you can Hypo the tank, treat fish with medicines and quarantine EVERYTHING WET (hands/tools used in fish quarantine tank included) from the main display for at least 12 weeks.Fallow display for 12 weeks and make sure that any fish reintroduced have been treated for 12 weeks at right dosages/ or salinity for hypo (1.009)

Please note that even if you succeed if you make one little mistake in the process like not the right dose ,not the right hypo level, adding a piece of caulerpa(that wasnt Quarantined) You will be back to square one.

The second thing you can do is get your fish to a point where they can fight the whitespot themselves, boost their immunity, reduce stress, dont overcrowd fish( maybe give some aggressive fish away) , give them lots of territory and feed them immune boosters.Fish can become immune with full or partial immunity for up to 6 months that is how long their immune cells last before they make new ones which dont have the protection from whitespot yet.

Also you can fight the parasite using Ozone in a reactor( protein skimmer- ozone resistant ones only) Ozone helps not so much with whitespot but any secondary infection that whitespot may cause;if used with a redox meter and reactor it wont harm good bacteria in the main display - redox should never go over 400mv

Ultraviolet sterilization- here to beat whitespot you need the proper flow rate and a proper uv sterilizer designed for marine use not ponds - flow and dwell time are crucial to killing whitespot it is large and needs tons of radiation to kill it, again uv will minimize secondary infections look at kill charts on sites of good UV makers like TMC UV and Aqua uv they give radiation doses for killing whitespot- this will not cure whitespot but reduce its numbers. Also try to micron filter water before UV it increases its effectiveness

Water changes and Wet skimming can also help greatly by removing numbers of parasites improving water parameters but make sure the water is properly mixed and not differing in Ph . kh and Temp from main display when you change it.Temp fluctuations are a huge Stress factor to fish anything more than 1-2 degrees from normal is not good

IF you go the second route your fish will still live healthy long lives but any new addition will be subjected to the latent white spot hence the need for quarantine and minimizing aggression in main display, if these fail you will have an outbreak again and have to work hard again to reduce parasites and stress- abit like cold/flu in your life , you will have alot before you die but if you let them become pneumonia they could kill you! Also it takes time to fix this problem dont expect any overnight success Whitespot goes through cycles

hope this helps ;)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom