Ich?

[gabesreef]

My sailfin tang is acting completely normal has great appetite but looks horrible. What the heck is this ich? He is in my reef tank so copper is not an option. I recently suspected my convict tang had flukes so I used prazipro(2 treatments 8 days apart). Man fish are a headache :/ advice would be much appreciated. This is a small sailfin tang maybe 3-4 inches. Tank is 5 feet long so please no tang police on this post. Yesterday I installed a large 36w UV sterilizer. Probably too late but would like to hear some opinions. What is this? What’s the best course for treatment? If it’s ich should I do nothing?

 

[W31Olds]

Looks like Ich so you will need to remove you Fish to treat them with CopperPower or CopperSafe and Fallow your Tank for 60 Days. I know it sucks and trying to catch them, setup a large enough hospital tank, and treat them, but other in-tank options don't work. People debate QT all the time, but it really is the key to success. My Tank has been operational for almost 2 years and I've never had Ich or Flukes, just alot of squabbling.

 

[gabesreef]

Looks like Ich so you will need to remove you Fish to treat them with CopperPower or CopperSafe and Fallow your Tank for 60 Days. I know it sucks and trying to catch them, setup a large enough hospital tank, and treat them, but other in-tank options don't work. People debate QT all the time, but it really is the key to success. My Tank has been operational for almost 2 years and I've never had Ich or Flukes, just alot of squabbling.

All of my fish in were quarantine for 2 weeks with copper before entering the tank. Now I added a bit of coral and snails a none of that was quarantined….. I also added live rock from my old system… I’ve had many reef tanks this is the first time I’ve had to deal with ich unfortunately :/ I’m a bit unsure as to if it’s ich or not because although I do see some white spots I see some black spots as well.

 

[gabesreef]

Here is a photo in white light

 

[W31Olds]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Marine Betta]

My sailfin tang is acting completely normal has great appetite but looks horrible. What the heck is this ich? He is in my reef tank so copper is not an option. I recently suspected my convict tang had flukes so I used prazipro(2 treatments 8 days apart). Man fish are a headache :/ advice would be much appreciated. This is a small sailfin tang maybe 3-4 inches. Tank is 5 feet long so please no tang police on this post. Yesterday I installed a large 36w UV sterilizer. Probably too late but would like to hear some opinions. What is this? What’s the best course for treatment? If it’s ich should I do nothing?

That’s ich, but at least she’s still eating. Best practice is to treat with copper (coppersafe or copper power) for 30 days at 2.25 ppm during QT. You will want to remove all fish and follow the same protocol I listed above. The tank should remain fallow (without fish) for 6-8 weeks.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

All of my fish in were quarantine for 2 weeks with copper before entering the tank. Now I added a bit of coral and snails a none of that was quarantined….. I also added live rock from my old system… I’ve had many reef tanks this is the first time I’ve had to deal with ich unfortunately :/ I’m a bit unsure as to if it’s ich or not because although I do see some white spots I see some black spots as well.

That’s ich - seeing spots on the fins is diagnostic. The black spots are due to granulation tissue put down by the fish in a response to the ich trophonts.

Treatment is going to be tough! All exposed fish need to be treated outside of the display, and then the display needs to remain fishless for 60 days.
You best option would be coppersafe, but hyposalinity is another choice. Both need to run for 30 days.

 

[higher99]

I was scared that looked like velvet for a second.

 

[gabesreef]

That’s ich - seeing spots on the fins is diagnostic. The black spots are due to granulation tissue put down by the fish in a response to the ich trophonts.

Treatment is going to be tough! All exposed fish need to be treated outside of the display, and then the display needs to remain fishless for 60 days.
You best option would be coppersafe, but hyposalinity is another choice. Both need to run for 30 days.

Thanks, I have no idea how I can remove these fish and setup a quarantine….. if I did should I remove all the fish or only the infected ones?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I was scared that looked like velvet for a second.

Velvet in marine fish just shows rapid breathing, not eating and hanging in water currents.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, I have no idea how I can remove these fish and setup a quarantine….. if I did should I remove all the fish or only the infected ones?

You really do need to treat all exposed fish.

 

[W31Olds]

All of my fish in were quarantine for 2 weeks with copper before entering the tank. Now I added a bit of coral and snails a none of that was quarantined….. I also added live rock from my old system… I’ve had many reef tanks this is the first time I’ve had to deal with ich unfortunately :/ I’m a bit unsure as to if it’s ich or not because although I do see some white spots I see some black spots as well.

Many people do not realize that Corals and Inverts can carry Parasites on the bases and shells. The risk increases because many LFS's also keep Fish with Inverts and Corals or at least mine does. Your 2 week Copper QT is pretty short and also increases the risk.

 

[gabesreef]

Many people do not realize that Corals and Inverts can carry Parasites on the bases and shells. The risk increases because many LFS's also keep Fish with Inverts and Corals or at least mine does. Your 2 week Copper QT is pretty short and also increases the risk.

I should have had the UV before adding the fish. I now realize that. I don’t think in my situation I can truly have an ich free system because I’m not going to quarantine my corals or inverts. I thought I would be okay with the 2 weeks quarantine because no fish was showing any signs of ich or anything but I guess I was wrong. Idk if I should try to catch these fish fish I have a small 15g system that I can use for qt but that might just stress the tangs out even more… my rock work is all cemented down… but I might be able to surprise catch them at night while they sleep. I’m just scared that stress would just put them over the edge

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I should have had the UV before adding the fish. I now realize that. I don’t think in my situation I can truly have an ich free system because I’m not going to quarantine my corals or inverts. I thought I would be okay with the 2 weeks quarantine because no fish was showing any signs of ich or anything but I guess I was wrong. Idk if I should try to catch these fish fish I have a small 15g system that I can use for qt but that might just stress the tangs out even more… my rock work is all cemented down… but I might be able to surprise catch them at night while they sleep. I’m just scared that stress would just put them over the edge

UV sterilizers for home use don’t have the killing power to stop ich infections. They might have some benefit in slowing down the rate of infection, but they won’t cure ich.

 

[W31Olds]

I wouldn't be concerned about stressing them out at this point, but I would be concerned using a 15G QT Tank long term.

 

[gabesreef]

So 15g quarantine is currently being setup I’ve decided I’m going to attempt to catch the purple and sailfin tangs tonight. They seem to be the only ones expressing ich. My Midas blenny is acting strange biting his tail so if I can catch him I’ll throw him in as well. I bought copper safe, ammonia warning sticker and an api test kit. Unfortunately my LFS doesn’t carry copper power ughhh I also bought nitrofurazone but it won’t be here till Friday…. I realize I should have had these things in hand. Mistake after mistake lol I’m definitely not going to be able to catch all the other fish to go without fish for 11 weeks. So I will treat these fish and once they are ich free for at least 2 weeks I’ll add them back to my tank and pray the UV keeps the ich down low enough that the fishes immune system and counter it.

 

[gabesreef]

If anyone thinks of anything else I should do please let me know if I’m missing something.

 

[gabesreef]

Thank you for everyone’s input this has been very helpful for me

 

[gabesreef]

Day 2 of trying to catch these fish…. They are way too fast for me to net, my night attack wasn’t successful. I now have a trap in the tank with nori that they want nothing to do with lol. Things are not looking great at the moment.

 

[gabesreef]

I will try again tonight