Blue tang white spots

[olaywolay]

Hiya guys, noticed these spots about 3 weeks ago, only started with a couple of small ones, all other fish in tank are fine absolutely no spots on any, i believe it is ich so i started to dose polyp lab medic for 10 days 3 scoops twice a day (morning and night) and it seemed to clear up for a few days, went to look at the tank today and loads of spots again.

i dont have a quarantine (i know its bad) what can i do? hes eating and swimming fine still.

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hiya guys, noticed these spots about 3 weeks ago, only started with a couple of small ones, all other fish in tank are fine absolutely no spots on any, i believe it is ich so i started to dose polyp lab medic for 10 days 3 scoops twice a day (morning and night) and it seemed to clear up for a few days, went to look at the tank today and loads of spots again.

i dont have a quarantine (i know its bad) what can i do? hes eating and swimming fine still.

Hi, can you repost a longer video, one taken under white lights only?

Your description does sound like ich, and the glimpse I saw in the first video does look like it. The trouble is; this species also gets something called mucus plugs - those are less serious and related to stress. Many times though, these fish have both ich and mucus plugs, and that requires treatment.

Look for white spots on the fins - mucus plugs don’t really form on the fins, so if you see those, it’s ich.

Polyp Lab Medic has a dismal record for treating active cases of ich. It is a peroxide salt, that should work, but they keep the dose too low do that it will be “reef safe”. There are no effective reef safe ich medications.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pics very dark but I see mucus cones mixed with ich which they are susceptible to and recommended is treatment in a separate tank . Often you will notice other occupants show no signs but recommended is to remove all fish and treat them as well using coppersafe or copper power for a full 30 days at 2.25ppm which they respond to well and add an air stone and monitor copper level with a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.

 

[olaywolay]

Hiya guys, noticed these spots about 3 weeks ago, only started with a couple of small ones, all other fish in tank are fine absolutely no spots on any, i believe it is ich so i started to dose polyp lab medic for 10 days 3 scoops twice a day (morning and night) and it seemed to clear up for a few days, went to look at the tank today and loads of spots again.

i dont have a quarantine (i know its bad) what can i do? hes eating and swimming fine still.

Hi, can you repost a longer video, one taken under white lights only?

Your description does sound like ich, and the glimpse I saw in the first video does look like it. The trouble is; this species also gets something called mucus plugs - those are less serious and related to stress. Many times though, these fish have both ich and mucus plugs, and that requires treatment.

Look for white spots on the fins - mucus plugs don’t really form on the fins, so if you see those, it’s ich.

Polyp Lab Medic has a dismal record for treating active cases of ich. It is a peroxide salt, that should work, but they keep the dose too low do that it will be “reef safe”. There are no effective reef safe ich medications.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

From this video - I can't see any spots on the fins, so this *could* just be mucus plugs. What I suggest is that you watch this fish very closely for the next few days - if the number of spots increases, and you start to see spots on the soft fins, that would confirm that it is ich, and you'll need to treat all exposed fish in a hospital tank with either coppersafe (or copper power) OR hyposalinity. In either case, you won't be able to treat this in a tank with any corals or invertebrates present.

 

[olaywolay]

From this video - I can't see any spots on the fins, so this *could* just be mucus plugs. What I suggest is that you watch this fish very closely for the next few days - if the number of spots increases, and you start to see spots on the soft fins, that would confirm that it is ich, and you'll need to treat all exposed fish in a hospital tank with either coppersafe (or copper power) OR hyposalinity. In either case, you won't be able to treat this in a tank with any corals or invertebrates present.

okay appreciate the reply, i currently have no inverts, the tank is pristine with just tangs and a foxface haha always nibbling at the sandbed and rocks, so removing coral wouldnt be a problem i can move to the nano i have, ill keep a close watch, in the meantime ive bought a uv steriliser which will arrive in the week