Ich?

[liongolfer]

Ok thank you in advance…. I got some pics of two fish that seem to have a few spots then it goes away then it comes back etc….

Do you guys think it’s ich or could it be something else? Maybe just stuff sticking to them?

They seem fine and are eating.

 

[mmorrison55]

Think you need some clearer pics under white light for the experts to weigh in.

To get them, tag your post with:

#fishmedics

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok thank you in advance…. I got some pics of two fish that seem to have a few spots then it goes away then it comes back etc….

Do you guys think it’s ich or could it be something else? Maybe just stuff sticking to them?

They seem fine and are eating.

Looks to be sand grains which stick to their mucus coating. Ich will multiply every 24 hours in both number and location. Check again tomorrow and see if this is the case

 

[liongolfer]

Ok thank you in advance…. I got some pics of two fish that seem to have a few spots then it goes away then it comes back etc….

Do you guys think it’s ich or could it be something else? Maybe just stuff sticking to them?

They seem fine and are eating.

Looks to be sand grains which stick to their mucus coating. Ich will multiply every 24 hours in both number and location. Check again tomorrow and see if this is the case

Thank you! Fingers crossed that’s it! I’ll post again tom

 

[liongolfer]

Ok thank you in advance…. I got some pics of two fish that seem to have a few spots then it goes away then it comes back etc….

Do you guys think it’s ich or could it be something else? Maybe just stuff sticking to them?

They seem fine and are eating.

Looks to be sand grains which stick to their mucus coating. Ich will multiply every 24 hours in both number and location. Check again tomorrow and see if this is the case

Thank you! Fingers crossed that’s it! I’ll post again tom

I tried to get some better pics…

 

[vetteguy53081]

I tried to get some better pics…

Same applies here. If ich, will increase in numbers tomorrow. If you dont already, have coppersafe and Hanna Brand copper test kit on hand in the event of outbreak, now or later as well as a hospital tank

 

[liongolfer]

I tried to get some better pics…

Same applies here. If ich, will increase in numbers tomorrow. If you dont already, have coppersafe and Hanna Brand copper test kit on hand in the event of outbreak, now or later as well as a hospital tank

Thank you so much! I have copper power, a Hannah checker, and a qt tank up and ready but i have no idea how i would catch all the fish in the tank

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you so much! I have copper power, a Hannah checker, and a qt tank up and ready but i have no idea how i would catch all the fish in the tank

The first images DO look like ich. Other than the spots, you won't notice any symptoms at first. The spots may even all go away for a day or two, but then return. That has to do with the life cycle of this parasite, and when it starts, they are all on the same schedule, so they drop off the fish to reproduce, all at the same time.

It could also be sand grains, but seeing that on multiple fish is suspect.

 

[liongolfer]

Thank you everyone…. I took all my rock and corals out today… caught all my fish…. Setup 2 qt tanks to divide the fish evenly….. and reset my rock work which had all fallen apart….

It was a lonnnnng day but I’m going to run fallow with the exception of my inverts and corals for 77 days and treat the fish

Fingers crossed they all make it…. One jumped out of the tank and i didn’t see it and unfortunately he didn’t make it

 

[mmorrison55]

Sorry hear you lost a fish. This is the sucky part of the hobby.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you everyone…. I took all my rock and corals out today… caught all my fish…. Setup 2 qt tanks to divide the fish evenly….. and reset my rock work which had all fallen apart….

It was a lonnnnng day but I’m going to run fallow with the exception of my inverts and corals for 77 days and treat the fish

Fingers crossed they all make it…. One jumped out of the tank and i didn’t see it and unfortunately he didn’t make it

How are you treating the ich in the two QT tanks?

 

[liongolfer]

Thank you everyone…. I took all my rock and corals out today… caught all my fish…. Setup 2 qt tanks to divide the fish evenly….. and reset my rock work which had all fallen apart….

It was a lonnnnng day but I’m going to run fallow with the exception of my inverts and corals for 77 days and treat the fish

Fingers crossed they all make it…. One jumped out of the tank and i didn’t see it and unfortunately he didn’t make it

How are you treating the ich in the two QT tanks?

I’m adding copper power today and do basically 100% water changes every three days

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I’m adding copper power today and do basically 100% water changes every three days

Just be sure you monitor the ammonia - depending on the stocking density, the ammonia may creep up on you before three days.

 

[liongolfer]

I’m adding copper power today and do basically 100% water changes every three days

Just be sure you monitor the ammonia - depending on the stocking density, the ammonia may creep up on you before three days.

Just got new ammonia alert badges today along with testing!

 

[mcarroll]

I must have terrible eyesight because I don't see spots on any of those pics. (actually nothing wrong with my eyeballs )

It's pretty normal to have other symptoms than just spots if there is actually a pathogen...breathing issues, eating issues, flashing on rocks...something...or a combination. They don't just act normal and keep eating.

I wish you had better evidence for your theory considering what you and your tank have already gone through – including losing a fish during the massive task of deconstructing your tank – all on the assumption that it's ich.

Crossing my fingers that The One And Only Official Process doesn't kill any more of your fish. (...also that the Ich theory is right, so this is worth it at all. Almost impossible to be sure now. Feels weird hoping someone has ich...)

(P.S. For future reference, there are zero-stress methods for dealing with a situation like this. Unfortunately, they seem mostly unknown or poorly understood on the forums. I honestly don't understand why tho....the topic is well documented for aquaculture and the methods are not novel....so the information is out there. Look up the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center "fact sheets". I think they recently moved the archive because a lot of my saved links stopped working, so if you find links that don't work, try another university's repository. I think it used to be at U of Miss. There is some good stuff at U of Fla, but that is not the main repository.)

 

[christinna77]

I must have terrible eyesight because I don't see spots on any of those pics. (actually nothing wrong with my eyeballs )

It's pretty normal to have other symptoms than just spots if there is actually a pathogen...breathing issues, eating issues, flashing on rocks...something...or a combination. They don't just act normal and keep eating.

I wish you had better evidence for your theory considering what you and your tank have already gone through – including losing a fish during the massive task of deconstructing your tank – all on the assumption that it's ich.

Crossing my fingers that The One And Only Official Process doesn't kill any more of your fish. (...also that the Ich theory is right, so this is worth it at all. Almost impossible to be sure now. Feels weird hoping someone has ich...)

(P.S. For future reference, there are zero-stress methods for dealing with a situation like this. Unfortunately, they seem mostly unknown or poorly understood on the forums. I honestly don't understand why tho....the topic is well documented for aquaculture and the methods are not novel....so the information is out there. Look up the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center "fact sheets". I think they recently moved the archive because a lot of my saved links stopped working, so if you find links that don't work, try another university's repository. I think it used to be at U of Miss. There is some good stuff at U of Fla, but that is not the main repository.)

I enhanced the images and circled the most visible spots. To me this looks like either ich or sand, but since OP said the spots come and go and are showing up on multiple fish, the odds of it being ich are pretty high.

When an infection is still mild, fish often keep eating and act mostly normal, I've seen it in my own tank. I've seen a lot of people who ignored early signs because the fish "looked healthy otherwise", until it progressed and fish started dying.

 

[mcarroll]

I've seen a lot of people who ignored early signs because the fish "looked healthy otherwise", until it progressed and fish started dying.

Well that makes sense.

"Doing nothing" wasn't what I was referring to though. ;)

There are significant things in between "doing nothing" and "going full nuke" as the OP did.

 

[winxp_man]

I’m adding copper power today and do basically 100% water changes every three days

Depending on how many fish you have, do WC everyday if you can at 15-20%. This will keep ammonia down. Ammonia creeps up fast! And also dirty water gets bacteria going on fish. Lost many fish with bad water and not knowing ammonia issues. I now do the following. A 20 long petco tank (cheap!), add exactly 15 gallons of SW with the Home Depot gallon marked 5 gal buckets. Then do a 5gal WC every day for 1.5 to two weeks. After this time frame passed I go to every two days for 2 weeks. After that there is enough bacteria that you can do WC every three days. I during the first week or so I add a dose of DrTims Bac after every WC. Have yet to lose a fish to anything but uronema. Two golden angles sadly recently.

For a filter I run the Fluval AC 50 with only the bio filter (the blue one). And use two of them in on opposite sides of the tank.

Current QT with two maroons, a hybrid powder blue, and a purple tang, and this gorgeous CB. All are doing great!

 

[christinna77]

Well that makes sense.

"Doing nothing" wasn't what I was referring to though. ;)

There are significant things in between "doing nothing" and "going full nuke" as the OP did.

No, you said you would not jump to conclusions because you did not see a single spot in the images, which there clearly are multiple. At this time, there is no proven reef safe way to eradicate ich. Anything else is just ich management. So I do not think the OP is going full nuke.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I must have terrible eyesight because I don't see spots on any of those pics. (actually nothing wrong with my eyeballs )

It's pretty normal to have other symptoms than just spots if there is actually a pathogen...breathing issues, eating issues, flashing on rocks...something...or a combination. They don't just act normal and keep eating.

I wish you had better evidence for your theory considering what you and your tank have already gone through – including losing a fish during the massive task of deconstructing your tank – all on the assumption that it's ich.

Crossing my fingers that The One And Only Official Process doesn't kill any more of your fish. (...also that the Ich theory is right, so this is worth it at all. Almost impossible to be sure now. Feels weird hoping someone has ich...)

(P.S. For future reference, there are zero-stress methods for dealing with a situation like this. Unfortunately, they seem mostly unknown or poorly understood on the forums. I honestly don't understand why tho....the topic is well documented for aquaculture and the methods are not novel....so the information is out there. Look up the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center "fact sheets". I think they recently moved the archive because a lot of my saved links stopped working, so if you find links that don't work, try another university's repository. I think it used to be at U of Miss. There is some good stuff at U of Fla, but that is not the main repository.)

The third image down, when expanded does seem to show ich.