Is this Flukes or something else??

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

Got this guy from TSM two weeks ago. He came in in great shape and immediately was acclimated to a 55 gallon conditioning tank. As the fish was quarantined by TSM my plan was simply to observe for two weeks then transfer to display. The 55 gallon was set up from dry tank two days prior to the fish arrival.

I firsT started to notice his appearance four days ago. He acts the same as he has from day one. Still a very aggressive eater. No accelerated or labored breathing. Might be light sensitive as he comes out more when I turn the tank light off.

This will sound strange but I swear the same stuff in him is also on the glass. I have attached a picture to show. The third picture shows the comparison where I cleaned the glass for the picture .

naterealbig · May 29, 2020

Looks like Ich to me. Let's see what the experts say. Awesome you didn't put it directly into the display. What fish was in the observation tank previously, how long ago, and did you treat prophylactically with copper? I only ask to help understand sources of potential cross -contamination.

TriggerFinger · May 29, 2020

It does look like ich. ich is microscopic to our eyes so that’s not what you see on the glass. The white dots you see on the fish are the the places the ich parasite has left the fish, leaving a tiny wound. It’s a beautiful fish, I hope it pulls through!
Edit to add: you can do a freshwater dip to confirm if flukes are present. This will also provide temporary relief from the ich until you decide if you are going to treat or manage.

Bo. · May 29, 2020

Beautiful annularis, I hope he makes it. I'd say looks like ich as well. Dry tank prior would indicate it got through TSM's quarantine process. I know they state how thorough they are, do they have any guarantee that livestock is pest or disease free?

Redfoxtang · May 29, 2020

That second picture to me looks like velvet. But it’s kinda hard to tell from the glass as well.

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

this tank was dry and hadn’t had fish in it for a couple weeks before the Annularis. I didn’t treat the fish with anything as TSM pre quarantines their fish. Thanks!

naterealbig said:
Looks like Ich to me. Let's see what the experts say. Awesome you didn't put it directly into the display. What fish was in the observation tank previously, how long ago, and did you treat prophylactically with copper? I only ask to help understand sources of potential cross -contamination.

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

It saying no to ich at all but two points. It didn’t show up until ten days after I had him and there wasn’t an inciting event to change the balance or at was level of the tank. Second TSM emailed me back at 6:35 this morning and asked me if the white spots on the glass move. I look at the do move around the glass! Appreciate the input and looking to start treatment today.

TriggerFinger said:
It does look like ich. ich is microscopic to our eyes so that’s not what you see on the glass. The white dots you see on the fish are the the places the ich parasite has left the fish, leaving a tiny wound. It’s a beautiful fish, I hope it pulls through!
Edit to add: you can do a freshwater dip to confirm if flukes are present. This will also provide temporary relief from the ich until you decide if you are going to treat or manage.

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

Bo Lin said:
Beautiful annularis, I hope he makes it. I'd say looks like ich as well. Dry tank prior would indicate it got through TSM's quarantine process. I know they state how thorough they are, do they have any guarantee that livestock is pest or disease free?

I would have to look and see if they offer any type of guarantee but it really doesn’t matter much to me. I honestly don’t think there is a QT protocol that you could provide a 100% guarantee.

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

Redfoxtang said:
That second picture to me looks like velvet. But it’s kinda hard to tell from the glass as well.

Hopefully not. Fish hasn’t flashed at all, doesn’t show any labored breathing, doesn’t wink in power head and the outward slime coat manifestations have been present for five days now.

Miller535 · May 29, 2020

That does not look like flukes to me at all. There was several threads on here where humble fish and a few others did fresh water dips to test for flukes.

The second picture does LOOK like ich. But I have to think that whatever is on the glass is something else.

Maybe @Big G can weigh in. Or @HotRocks

vetteguy53081 · May 29, 2020

Appears to be Velvet. First recourse is to give the fish a freshwater bath at matching tank temp. Flukes if present will also fall off looking like sesame seeds. Velvet has a lifecycle similar to ich and confused with ich. Velvet’s lifecycle is typically faster coveringfish in 4 days on average, and the attacking free swimmers are more numerous than ich. Also, velvet dinospores can remain infective for up to 15 days, where with ich , it’s only 48 hours because velvet tomonts and dinospores are both capable of using photosynthesis as a means of obtaining nutrients allowing them to multiply.
After freshwater bath, your treatment options are :
Formalin – Do the bath for 30-60 minutes max, but remove the fish immediately at the first sign of distress. Aerate heavily both before & during the bath, and temperature control the water. The following products contain formalin: Formalin-MS, Quick Cure, Aquarium Solutions Ich-X, or Kordon Rid-Ich Plus.
After bath, place fish in QT. While in QT, use a wide spectrum antibiotic such as Seachem Kanaplex, or Furan-2 for the first week to ward off any possible bacterial infections. Secondary bacterial infections are very common in fish with preexisting parasitic infestations such as velvet.

TriggerFinger · May 29, 2020

Feet4Fish said:
It saying no to ich at all but two points. It didn’t show up until ten days after I had him and there wasn’t an inciting event to change the balance or at was level of the tank. Second TSM emailed me back at 6:35 this morning and asked me if the white spots on the glass move. I look at the do move around the glass! Appreciate the input and looking to start treatment today.

Did they say what might be on the glass?
Also, what treatment are you planning on?

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
Did they say what might be on the glass?
Also, what treatment are you planning on?

One guess they had was flatworms.

Feet4Fish · May 29, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Appears to be Velvet. First recourse is to give the fish a freshwater bath at matching tank temp. Flukes if present will also fall off looking like sesame seeds. Velvet has a lifecycle similar to ich and confused with ich. Velvet’s lifecycle is typically faster coveringfish in 4 days on average, and the attacking free swimmers are more numerous than ich. Also, velvet dinospores can remain infective for up to 15 days, where with ich , it’s only 48 hours because velvet tomonts and dinospores are both capable of using photosynthesis as a means of obtaining nutrients allowing them to multiply.
After freshwater bath, your treatment options are :
Formalin – Do the bath for 30-60 minutes max, but remove the fish immediately at the first sign of distress. Aerate heavily both before & during the bath, and temperature control the water. The following products contain formalin: Formalin-MS, Quick Cure, Aquarium Solutions Ich-X, or Kordon Rid-Ich Plus.
After bath, place fish in QT. While in QT, use a wide spectrum antibiotic such as Seachem Kanaplex, or Furan-2 for the first week to ward off any possible bacterial infections. Secondary bacterial infections are very common in fish with preexisting parasitic infestations such as velvet.

Will dip him soon and move to a new sterile tank. Any ongoing velvet treatment that you would recommend after dip?