Help! Something is going on with my Blenny!

[Brittany Boorman]

Hey guys! I am new here... I have noticed that my blenny is starting to bite at his tail, swim near the top of the tank in a vertical position, swims erratically and is getting these little white spots. (At first I thought the white spots were just little air bubbles sticking to him, because my clown and chromis don't have any.) I am assuming it is ICH? But I have never dealt with this before and could really use some help! Picture attached! Thanks!

 

[HotRocks]

Looks like the fish has ich.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/

Do you have other fish that share the same tank?

Welcome to R2R! :)

 

[Brittany Boorman]

I have a clown and a green chromis, a serpent sea star, tons of inverts and some star polyps and zoas. The other fish aren't showing any symptoms yet! I don't have a quarantine tank. Any suggestions???

 

[SammieT]

I have a clown and a green chromis, a serpent sea star, tons of inverts and some star polyps and zoas. The other fish aren't showing any symptoms yet! I don't have a quarantine tank. Any suggestions???

Buy a small tank and QT
depending on where you live, Petco has the $1 gallon sale
you don't need a big tank either
or if you get lucky, find one for free local

be careful when dose with copper, can kill them if too high



https://blog.aquariuminfo.org/curing-ich-best-3-ways-remove-aquarium-ich/

 

[Brittany Boorman]

Buy a small tank and QT
depending on where you live, Petco has the $1 gallon sale
you don't need a big tank either
or if you get lucky, find one for free local

be careful when dose with copper, can kill them if too high

Should I Treat only him in the QT tank? or do I need to treat my whole tank? If so... will the medications kill my coral?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I would recommend getting on Craigslist and finding someone’s old freshwater setup with HOB filter, heater, air pump, and canopy (usually pretty cheap). I would shoot for a 20G
Once you have that get a small bottle of copper power, sea chem ammonia alert badge, some pvc fittings, and a filter sponge with a bottle of biospira or fritz9000 (bacteria in the bottle)
Setup the tank and get it up to temp put the sponge in the HOB with the biospira.

Get the fish netted and into the QT and start dosing copper, having 20G 4ml of Copper Power should get you right around .52ppm. I would dose 4ml immediately and then tonight another 2ml and 2ml 12 hours later and keep doing this until reach therapeutic levels (1.50ppm). You want to test your copper levels with a test kit and since this is ich and a Benny is shoot for 1.75ppm (this gives you some wiggle room above therapeutic levels). You’ll need to maintain 1.75ppm for 30 days straight to cure the fish. You will need to leave your main tank fallow for 76 days to eradicate ich from the tank.

If it’s in your budget I’d strongly recommend the Hanna high range copper checker and an extra box of reagents from BRS.

 

[SammieT]

Should I Treat only him in the QT tank? or do I need to treat my whole tank? If so... will the medications kill my coral?

Yes, treat in a QT tank, do not dose your main display


My experience with medications didn't work as well or quick so I don't personally use those anymore
copper seems to work the best IMO


another trick is to raise the temp (which i haven't used), but hear it can stop the cycle of ich
wait on a few more responses and see what other members have used if your unsure still

 

[SammieT]

I would recommend getting on Craigslist and finding someone’s old freshwater setup with HOB filter, heater, air pump, and canopy (usually pretty cheap). I would shoot for a 20G
Once you have that get a small bottle of copper power, sea chem ammonia alert badge, some pvc fittings, and a filter sponge with a bottle of biospira or fritz9000 (bacteria in the bottle)
Setup the tank and get it up to temp put the sponge in the HOB with the biospira.

Get the fish netted and into the QT and start dosing copper, having 20G 4ml of Copper Power should get you right around .52ppm. I would dose 4ml immediately and then tonight another 2ml and 2ml 12 hours later. You want to test your copper levels with a test kit and since this is ich and a Benny is shoot for 1.75ppm. You’ll need to maintain 1.75ppm for 30 days straight to cure the fish. You will need to leave your main tank fallow for 76 days to eradicate ich from the tank.

If it’s in your budget I’d strongly recommend the Hanna high range copper checker and an extra box of reagents from BRS.

perfect timing

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

The new standard for copper is 2.0ppm but that is for possible copper resistant velvet. You are dealing with ich and having a blenny (can be sensitive to copper) you want to keep it lower.

 

[Brittany Boorman]

I would recommend getting on Craigslist and finding someone’s old freshwater setup with HOB filter, heater, air pump, and canopy (usually pretty cheap). I would shoot for a 20G
Once you have that get a small bottle of copper power, sea chem ammonia alert badge, some pvc fittings, and a filter sponge with a bottle of biospira or fritz9000 (bacteria in the bottle)
Setup the tank and get it up to temp put the sponge in the HOB with the biospira.

Get the fish netted and into the QT and start dosing copper, having 20G 4ml of Copper Power should get you right around .52ppm. I would dose 4ml immediately and then tonight another 2ml and 2ml 12 hours later and keep doing this until reach therapeutic levels (1.50ppm). You want to test your copper levels with a test kit and since this is ich and a Benny is shoot for 1.75ppm (this gives you some wiggle room above therapeutic levels). You’ll need to maintain 1.75ppm for 30 days straight to cure the fish. You will need to leave your main tank fallow for 76 days to eradicate ich from the tank.

If it’s in your budget I’d strongly recommend the Hanna high range copper checker and an extra box of reagents from BRS.

Should I put all three fish into QT?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Should I put all three fish into QT?

Yes, your main tank will need to be fishless for 76 days

 

[SammieT]

As stated before, be careful with copper dosage
if you have a LFS, they sell the copper test kits... take your time on dosing... do not rush
most LFS offer free testing, even Petco (depending on location)

i made the mistake and killed most of my fish first time i got ICH by dosing too much

 

[Brittany Boorman]

I called my LFS and they told me that as long as my fish are all still eating that I can try to get a few cleaner shrimp to pick the ich off and not even have to QT them?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I called my LFS and they told me that as long as my fish are all still eating that I can try to get a few cleaner shrimp to pick the ich off and not even have to QT them?

Ich is in the fishes skin, in the sand, the rock, throughout the entire tank, plus the white spots are mucous over the Insertion point not the actual parasite. shrimp may help but will not get them all.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

there are steps you can take to manage ich like feeding very healthy, continuous water changes(keeps parasitic load down), UV light, etc but it will always be in your tank.
The method I spoke about in the previous post with QT is to completely eradicate it from your system so you won’t need to worry about your fish getting reinfected.