[Pszemol]

My blue tang is showing multiple, very small white spots looking like micro-cotton balls. He is eating everything I give to him very readily. Frozen algae, frozen shrimp, live brine shrimp, dried macroalgae. He is swimming normally, no iching or scratching on rocks. The only thing that bothers me are that white spots. Could it be ich? How to id the disease? No other fish (clowns or royal gramma) is showing any signs of disease. The other thing I noticed is my brown mushrooms were not expanding very well today.

The tank was left for a week and half almost unattended (a friend came over once or twice to feed fish) so I worry this vege-eating fish normally grazing for food constantly was left hungry for too long and now it is stressed out and weak.
Last Friday, when I came back I noticed very little white spots, today it was more visible so unfortunately the disease is developing quickly. No chiller, so water temperature is to ther roof - 80-82F whole day, 84-86 momentarily but other parameters are normal. Salnity is at the level of 1.025.

Planning partial water change tomorrow (did not have any water prepared today yet) but no other idea at how can I help my fish to survive... Is there a way to cure this fish without stressing it even more with catching it out to a Q-tank? This is very fast swimmer - I do not know if catching it will be possible anyway...

Is it possible for fish anyway to get "ich" out of nowhere? Without introducing it to the tank with new fish? What with its big appetite? Are fish sick of ick loosing their desire to eat or they eat normally? What other than ich diseases look like ich on the fish skin?

[Reefland]

This topic has been talked about many times. Here is a recent thread discussing tangs and ICH and parasites.
New Blue Hippo Tang with ICH??

Perform a search for white spots for plenty of reading.

Has there been any improvements?

Scott Z.

[Pszemol]

Perform a search for white spots for plenty of reading.

Yes, there is plenty of informatin about new fish introduction, but I have this fish in my tank for a couple of months with no problems. No white spots for months, and suddenly white spots. My questions were regards getting ich WITHOUT new fish introduction. This worries me, because I always knew (from reading threads dedicated to ich) that this parasite has a life cycle of a couple of weeks, so I was assuming, I do not see ich for months - I should not get ich without new fish introduction.

Has there been any improvements?

I was using "No-Ich" liquid for about two weeks with no radical improvements. Fish continued to have white spots covered with muccus. One day it developed a popped eye and that day I said: enough of "No-Ich"... I put the fish into freshwater dip for a 20 minutes, than to hospital tank and cure it with a copper medication. I see rapid improvements. Popped eye is helthy now and fish is little bit stressed from a condition change but otherwise good.

Now, I am reasoning to put all other fishes to this hospital tank and perform a whole quarantine with 5 weeks of fishless reef. But what is disturbing to me, I had no ich before for a months and it did not prevent developing ich on tang without any of new fish introducing, so why bother with this reef quarantine and stressing rest of fishes?

[Reinhold]

Fish can develop Ich during any time of stress, not just when new fish are introduced.

I had success treating Ich with food flakes soaked in the juice of minced garlic. The white spots fell off in just days.