Battling with ich

[AlexT25]

Hello reef2reef,

I’ve been battling with what I believe to be ich for 5 months. I posted a thread in August for a diagnosis of a regal tang. I was told that it was most probably Ich, I finished my treatment using polyplab medic and then followed Jays advice on doing hypo salinity in the DT. During this I also had to treat the fish for internal parasites as the usual symptoms appeared: loss of weight, white stringy poo.

I then completed the hypo salinity process and about a week ago I finally finished bringing up the salinity over the course of a week.

About 4 days ago, I noticed what looked to be ich or something similar on a chromis but nothing else on any other fish, I used what treatment I had on hand which was NTlabs antibacterial, which states it can treat ich, but it obviously was not an ideal treatment but it was the only ich treatment I had on hand. The next day signs of ich showed up on a yellow tang, a sailfin tang and a fox face. I ordered a Milwaukee MA887 Salinity Digital Refractometer online with next day delivery with the hopes of doing hypo salinity again with the idea that my previous refractometer wasn’t accurate enough to do it. It gets delivered and they sent the wrong one out, which cannot be used to measure salinity and with it just being Christmas I have not yet got the correct one.

Today I noticed that all the fish were showing signs of ich, however they were still all eating with a strong appetite, until this evening where my vagabond butterflyfish has taken a turn for the worst. He is layed on the sand, hyperventilating and ignoring all interactions from me.

I am expecting to lose the butterflyfish, but I’m just asking for some general advice on what is the best thing to do, to either eradicate it or manage it.

The day previous to spotting the ich, so five days ago, I removed my Jebao uv steriliser as the plastic casing had began to break down and leach into the rest of the system, I just thought it was relevant because as soon as I removed the uv the ich has gone out of control.

Also, could this be something other than ich? I have attached some photos of the vagabond butterflyfish and the sailfin tang. The white specs are smaller than salt grains.

Tank stock:
1 Vagabond butterflyfish
1 Fox face rabbitfish
1 Regal tang
1 Yellow tang
1 Sailfin tang
2 orange spot gobies
1 Black clownfish
1 chromis
1 cleaner wrasse

I thank you for your help, Alex.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Sorry for your troubles. How long did you hold the aquarium at hypo salinity and where did you hold it at?

It does look like ich in the photos. Do you have a separate QT tank?

How are your water parameters?

 

[vetteguy53081]

this could be ich but may also be flukes.

Do any of these symptoms show on any of the fish? :
- becoming lethargic
- swimming near the water surface
- developing clamped fins
- hiding in the corner of the tank or behind rocks
- losing their appetite
- shaking their head, flash, or scratching
- expressing what looks like yawning

If not, how about :
- rapid breathing
- listless
- refuse to eat
- loss of color occurs in patches or blotches

 

[AlexT25]

Sorry for your troubles. How long did you hold the aquarium at hypo salinity and where did you hold it at?

It does look like ich in the photos. Do you have a separate QT tank?

How are your water parameters?

I held the tank at 1.009 SG for around 40 days, I have an auto top off so it should of not inched up past this. I calibrated my refractometer using ro water and I buffered the ph during hypo.

I do not currently have a QT tank.

I do a 20% water change every 2 weeks, I do not have the greatest test equipment, but I can test when I get back home.

Thanks, Alex.

 

[AlexT25]

this could be ich but may also be flukes.

Do any of these symptoms show on any of the fish? :
- becoming lethargic
- swimming near the water surface
- developing clamped fins
- hiding in the corner of the tank or behind rocks
- losing their appetite
- shaking their head, flash, or scratching
- expressing what looks like yawning

If not, how about :
- rapid breathing
- listless
- refuse to eat
- loss of color occurs in patches or blotches

The vagabond butterflyfish became very lethargic but around an hour after creating this thread the vagabond passed. No fish are swimming at the surface more than they usually would. No fish have clamped fins and none of the fish are hiding more than normal, all the fish are active and eating well. A few of the fish are scratching against the rocks and sand. I have noticed the fox face ‘yawning’ but nothing that would seem excessive to me.

The vagabond was rapidly breathing, and some of the other fish are breathing quicker than usual. None of the fish are refusing to eat and are all eating well. As far as I can see there is no loss of colour in any of the fish.

Many thanks, Alex.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The vagabond butterflyfish became very lethargic but around an hour after creating this thread the vagabond passed. No fish are swimming at the surface more than they usually would. No fish have clamped fins and none of the fish are hiding more than normal, all the fish are active and eating well. A few of the fish are scratching against the rocks and sand. I have noticed the fox face ‘yawning’ but nothing that would seem excessive to me.

The vagabond was rapidly breathing, and some of the other fish are breathing quicker than usual. None of the fish are refusing to eat and are all eating well. As far as I can see there is no loss of colour in any of the fish.

Many thanks, Alex.

This all points to flukes in most part
Performing a freshwater dip will confirm and knock many off of the fish. You can also treat with PraziPro which will address issues with flukes. Just be sure to increase oxygen as prazi will lower oxygen and curb appetite.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I held the tank at 1.009 SG for around 40 days, I have an auto top off so it should of not inched up past this. I calibrated my refractometer using ro water and I buffered the ph during hypo.

I do not currently have a QT tank.

I do a 20% water change every 2 weeks, I do not have the greatest test equipment, but I can test when I get back home.

Thanks, Alex.

You definitely need a reliable and perfectly calibrated refractometer or Hanna instruments salinity probe is my recommendation. The salinity can’t creep past 1.009 or the clock starts over.

Hyposalinity should be done in QT for 30 days while your display runs fishless for 76 days to eradicate the parasite. So technically, if you were going to run hypo in your display tank you would need to run it for 76 days not 40 days as you mentioned you did. That is why the parasite came back with a vengeance.

There is research stating that if you increase the temperature of the aquarium to 81 degrees it can reduce the fallow period down to 6 weeks. Hyposality also screws with ph levels and bio filter and that is why it’s not advised to be done in display tanks.