Is it Ick?

gclason33 · Feb 2, 2026

Need some help everyone. Had my NASO for two years and today I noticed this, it’s only on one side and sometimes he gets into the sand and it sticks to him but usually comes off quick. Been almost 8 hours and it’s still there. Is it what I dreading ?

PhishEDELIC · Feb 2, 2026

Hard to tell but could be ich. First things first check temp, and all water parameters. Stress is the key factor. Did you add a new fish? New lighting? Move stuff around in tank? Is the fish eating normally?

If it is ich I’m a big fan of freshwater dip. Take freshwater, buffer it up to match your tanks PH and float some ziplock bags of that water in your tank to match the temp. Put that water in a bucket and let the little guy swim for 5 minutes. Repeat daily as needed.

gclason33 · Feb 2, 2026

Parameters are perfect, tested everything today and ICP results came back Friday perfect. Haven’t done anything new to the tank in the last year. I will monitor and if tomorrow morning still there will probably do a fresh water dip. Thanks for the advice

Fish Fan · Feb 2, 2026

A freshwater dip can only provide some temporary relief, but wouldn't cure an Ich outbreak, and can often times be more stressful on the fish than it's worth.

Bump for the #fishmedic team!

Jay Hemdal · Feb 2, 2026

gclason33 said:
Need some help everyone. Had my NASO for two years and today I noticed this, it’s only on one side and sometimes he gets into the sand and it sticks to him but usually comes off quick. Been almost 8 hours and it’s still there. Is it what I dreading ?

It does look look like ich. In cases where sand sticks to the fish, there is usually some event in the tank (major cleaning, etc.) that stirred the sand up.

However, ich showing up n long term captives is rare unless something infected was added to the tank more recently.

gclason33 · Feb 2, 2026

Jay Hemdal said:
It does look look like ich. In cases where sand sticks to the fish, there is usually some event in the tank (major cleaning, etc.) that stirred the sand up.

However, ich showing up n long term captives is rare unless something infected was added to the tank more recently.

Nothing has been added to the tank in over a year. Not even a coral