Help! My Achilles has Ich and now my other fish are showing symptoms.

[kylebr0die]

My Achilles tang was showing signs of ich about 3 days ago. I’ve had him for about a month now. I wouldn’t say it’s gotten worse over the past 3 days but it hasn’t gotten better either. In the meantime, I’ve noticed that a few of my other fish are also showing signs.

As far as his behavior is concerned, he is acting normal and eating normally. Both his frozen and nori. He’s racing around the tank like a madman per usual and picking at algae on the rocks. Other fish aren’t showing signs of distress other than forming line at the cleaner shrimp station.

What should I do here? Pull him and treat him? Pull all the fish and treat them? Do nothing?

If you recommend that I need to pull all of the fish, please keep in mind I have a large system with 30+ fish. Some are big tangs. So I would have to do tank transfer with brute bins.

If you recommend I leave him, please let me know what would be a sign to pull him and treat him above and beyond what is happening now.

I included a picture of him. He’s fast af so this was the best I can do. He’s my favorite fish!

 

[vetteguy53081]

My Achilles tang was showing signs of ich about 3 days ago. I’ve had him for about a month now. I wouldn’t say it’s gotten worse over the past 3 days but it hasn’t gotten better either. In the meantime, I’ve noticed that a few of my other fish are also showing signs.

As far as his behavior is concerned, he is acting normal and eating normally. Both his frozen and nori. He’s racing around the tank like a madman per usual and picking at algae on the rocks. Other fish aren’t showing signs of distress other than forming line at the cleaner shrimp station.

What should I do here? Pull him and treat him? Pull all the fish and treat them? Do nothing?

If you recommend that I need to pull all of the fish, please keep in mind I have a large system with 30+ fish. Some are big tangs. So I would have to do tank transfer with brute bins.

If you recommend I leave him, please let me know what would be a sign to pull him and treat him above and beyond what is happening now.

I included a picture of him. He’s fast af so this was the best I can do. He’s my favorite fish!

The pic is a little blurry but appears on size of dots to be velvet which they are susceptible to. Some signs you will see are fish will scratch body against hard objects, lethargic behavior, Loss of appetite and weight loss, Rapid, labored breathing, Fins clamped against the body, and typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium.
Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, what sets velvet apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet-like film, thus the name Velvet Disease.
Remove fish from main tank and quarantine using coppersafe or copper power at 2.25-2.5 therapuetic level at 80 degrees for a FULL 30 days monitored by a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna Brand (no api brand). Also add an airstone for increased oxygen

 

[threebuoys]

Welcome to R2R!

More photos and even a video would help confirm the diagnosis. The fact other fish are showing symptoms indicates ich is likely.

I assume you have live rock and coral in your tank. Your delimma is that unless all fish are treated and the tank is kept fallow for 6 to 8 weeks, you will not be able to eliminate ich and when you reintroduce a treated fish, a relapse is highly probable.

Follow the quarantine protocol provided in the stickies.

 

[kylebr0die]

Here’s another photo. He’s really hard to get photos of because he moves so fast.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here’s another photo. He’s really hard to get photos of because he moves so fast.

Also fuzzy but treatment mentioned will address this

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here’s another photo. He’s really hard to get photos of because he moves so fast.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Yes, getting clear photos is tough. However, these are just not clear enough for a positive diagnosis. You might be in a better position than us to diagnose this....

With ich, in the early stages, you will see tiny white spots (the size of a grain of sand) on the body and fins that tend to come and go and change location, but overall, tending to increase in numbers. You won't see any other symptoms until it gets worse.

With velvet, you often will only see rapid breathing at first, no spots.

With flukes, you may see diffuse spots, or no spots, but the fish will flash/scratch a lot.

Jay