keeping a blue tang healthy

[zen_9]

I'm pretty sure my blue tang has ich. I was doing some research online and I found a couple of possible treatments - either putting him in a quarantine tank and adding copper slowly or doing a freshwater bath. Thing is, I'm not too comfortable with either of those options, so I was hoping someone with experience could offer some advice. Would really appreciate it, thanks in advance. (And yeah, I know it's kinda lame to join a forum just to ask a question, but I was on another forum I'm active on and didn't get any responses, so I figured I'd try here.)

[rileyon]

I think you should get your blue tang into a QT tank ASAP to prevent the ich from spreading to other fish. I'd personally recommend going with the copper treatment route, it seems like the most effective way to deal with ich.

[brunobear]

Lost my last post, so I'll keep it brief. Agree with Ben, get the blue tang into QT ASAP to prevent the spread.

FW dips aren't that effective, but hypersalinity treatment can be a good alternative to copper. Gradually lowering the salinity to a very low level for a while can help.

For blue tangs, I'd highly recommend a good UV unit - they're notorious for ich and a UV unit can help prevent the spread. Welcome to the forums, by the way.

[rustyfox9]

I think I've got a correction here - lowering the SG is actually hyposalinity, not hypersalinity. Hypersalinity is when you're increasing the SG, whereas hyposalinity is what you're aiming for by gradually decreasing it.

[brunobear]

Yeah, my bad, got it the wrong way round, thanks for correcting me - posting from work's not exactly ideal, huh

[zen_9]

I'm gonna do a water change tonight once I get more RO water, then I'll start lowering the salt levels a bit. Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it - I've only had this tank up for 3 months and it's been a big learning curve coming from freshwater.