Could this be ich?

[cartoladota]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the hobby, I got my first aquarium last month, along with these two clownfish. The first days they had no spots (no rocks/corals on the aquarium at the time). After the first week maybe, I started to see these little white spots on them. They are eating and swimming normally.

Parameters as of 05/09/26:

• Temperature: 26,2 °C
• pH: 7,60
• Salinity: 1,027 SG ¹
• Ammonia: 0,25 ppm²
• Nitrate: 12 ppm
• Alkalinity: 6,2 dKH
• Calcium: 390 mg/L
• Magnesium: 1220 mg/L
• Phosphate: 0 ppm

¹Note: I'm using a buoy level system to replace water due to heat but im strugling a lot to keep 1,025 SG. When i arrive from work its on 1,028 SG and i manually reduce to 1,025 SG.
²Note: I'm doing a constant contact with my local fishstore and they gave 2x ciprofloxacin (500 mg) in a 48h interval. After the cipro the amminia raised to 0,25 ppm.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the hobby, I got my first aquarium last month, along with these two clownfish. The first days they had no spots (no rocks/corals on the aquarium at the time). After the first week maybe, I started to see these little white spots on them. They are eating and swimming normally.

Parameters as of 05/09/26:

• Temperature: 26,2 °C
• pH: 7,60
• Salinity: 1,027 SG ¹
• Ammonia: 0,25 ppm²
• Nitrate: 12 ppm
• Alkalinity: 6,2 dKH
• Calcium: 390 mg/L
• Magnesium: 1220 mg/L
• Phosphate: 0 ppm

¹Note: I'm using a buoy level system to replace water due to heat but im strugling a lot to keep 1,025 SG. When i arrive from work its on 1,028 SG and i manually reduce to 1,025 SG.
²Note: I'm doing a constant contact with my local fishstore and they gave 2x ciprofloxacin (500 mg) in a 48h interval. After the cipro the amminia raised to 0,25 ppm.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The spots that I can see (the larger ones) are Lymphocystis - a viral disease that will go away on its own in 4 to 6 weeks.

The fish may have ich that I just can’t see in the video. Do you see pinhead white spots on the fish’s body and fins?

I noticed your pH is a bit low. Does the tank have good aeration, not just circulation?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the hobby, I got my first aquarium last month, along with these two clownfish. The first days they had no spots (no rocks/corals on the aquarium at the time). After the first week maybe, I started to see these little white spots on them. They are eating and swimming normally.

Parameters as of 05/09/26:

• Temperature: 26,2 °C
• pH: 7,60
• Salinity: 1,027 SG ¹
• Ammonia: 0,25 ppm²
• Nitrate: 12 ppm
• Alkalinity: 6,2 dKH
• Calcium: 390 mg/L
• Magnesium: 1220 mg/L
• Phosphate: 0 ppm

¹Note: I'm using a buoy level system to replace water due to heat but im strugling a lot to keep 1,025 SG. When i arrive from work its on 1,028 SG and i manually reduce to 1,025 SG.
²Note: I'm doing a constant contact with my local fishstore and they gave 2x ciprofloxacin (500 mg) in a 48h interval. After the cipro the amminia raised to 0,25 ppm.

I agree on lympho and tank looks to be very new. How are you testing the water?

 

[cartoladota]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The spots that I can see (the larger ones) are Lymphocystis - a viral disease that will go away on its own in 4 to 6 weeks.

The fish may have ich that I just can’t see in the video. Do you see pinhead white spots on the fish’s body and fins?

I noticed your pH is a bit low. Does the tank have good aeration, not just circulation?

Hi, thanks for the reply and for the welcome!

regardind white spots, each have like 3-4 like those ones. I didnt notice any new ones in a week range :

Regarding the pH and aeration, i started to measure pH yesterday(my LFS told me thats not critical to measure and i didnt get a test before). Here a quick video of my system, i think that can give a good idea about my aeration status.

 

[cartoladota]

I agree on lympho and tank looks to be very new. How are you testing the water?

Hi, thanks for the reply!

Yes, my tank is very new, i started cycling the water 30 days ago and the layout was introduced 5 days ago.

Regarding the tests:

pH -Oceantech pH for marines and cyclids
Nyos Phosphate and Nyos Nitrate
Aquaforest Test Pro for KH, Mg and Ca
For Ammonia im using a brazilian brand for Marine Aquariuns
For Salinity im using a calibrated ATC salinity refractometer
For the Temperature im using a DYI ESP32 system with a temperature sensor on it.
i started testing the waters a day before the clownfishes arival

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi, thanks for the reply and for the welcome!

regardind white spots, each have like 3-4 like those ones. I didnt notice any new ones in a week range :

Regarding the pH and aeration, i started to measure pH yesterday(my LFS told me thats not critical to measure and i didnt get a test before). Here a quick video of my system, i think that can give a good idea about my aeration status.

I like to see more bubbles breaking the surface - does the tank have a protein skimmer in the back? If so, that provides good aeration. Otherwise, you might want to invest in a small air pump and an air stone. That said, pH is sometimes difficult to measure accurately - maybe your pH is actually fine, but your test equipment is giving low results? I line to see a pH of about 8.1 with a range of 7.9 to 8.3

 

[cartoladota]

I like to see more bubbles breaking the surface - does the tank have a protein skimmer in the back? If so, that provides good aeration. Otherwise, you might want to invest in a small air pump and an air stone. That said, pH is sometimes difficult to measure accurately - maybe your pH is actually fine, but your test equipment is giving low results? I line to see a pH of about 8.1 with a range of 7.9 to 8.3

I have a protein skimmer on the sump and I just adjusted the water inlet of the tank a bit higher to better aeration.