i have a yellow tang with white dots?

Question

the yellow tang seems to go to our peppermint shimp and the shrimp will jump on it and clean it,my question is, is it cleaning the fish and will it make it better? We just bought a Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp to fix the problem but the tang does not go near the Scarlet skunk shrimp. Do they both do the same job?

Answer 1

Tangs do seem to be susceptible to many of the marine parasites. And peppermint shrimp aren't picky about what they eat - I buy them to control Aiptaisia anemones on new live rock, so it's possible he is removing parasites if the fish is going to him and he appears to be picking at the tang's skin then eating.

The white dots most likely are marine ich, but there are a number of conditions that cause white spots. The bad news is, if this is a parasite like ich, there's a potential for all the fish to get it, because only one stage is on the fish, the rest are in the water, and anything you use to try to treat the disease in the tank will only kill your inverts. The shrimp may lower the number, but I don't know if it/they will remove enough to keep new parasites from reinfecting the fish. You migh be better off to set up a hospital tank (and this can be a simple rubbermaid tub with a filter and heater) and lowering the salinity or using medication, and keeping the fish out of the tank for at least 8 weeks - that's how long you'll need to be sure the parasites die from lack of a host fish.

See this link for info and photos of marine ich and other saltwater diseases: http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/disease.html If you click on any of the disease names in red, you go to a link with even more info about the biology of the disease/parasite plus treatment info.

Answer 2

Saltwater Ich, is a Parasite and ALL Current treaments using Medications, Copper being one of the most common are only suitable for "FISH ONLY" tanks. These are more dangerous than useful. The absolute Best Way" is to remove the parasites are while they are on the fish, before they drop off and mutiply. You can do this by carefully dipping the infected fish in "Freshwater" for about 30 to 60 Sec. at a time 3 times a day. The freshwater will make the parasites drop off in the fresh water..

A little info for you. http://www.apoon.com/cleanershrimp.htm

No they do not do the same job.
http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_wurdemanni.php

Try buying a couple of Cleaner Wrasse too.http://www.grizzlyrun.com/Pets/Fish/Saltwater_Fish/Cleaner_Wrasse/Default.htm

Answer 3

Occasionally, peppermint shrimp will "clean" eels. I've never heard of them doing it to fish, though.
What are the white dots on your tang? If it looks like salt, it's ich, and in the cyst stages.
Sometimes cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp kill each other btw.

Answer 4

ICH and it is treatable but most of the time the medicine is really expensive and you should let the fish die or put it out of its misery and treat the water and buy a new fish and you should know that more than likely if one fish has ich in your tank there will be more to come that has ich also

Answer 5

If it has white dots on it's fins it could be a bacteria. Try to raise the water temp a degree or two and watch it for a few days. If that does not work ask your pet store about a cure for ick.