Is this ich?

[stnc]

Hey everyone,

I noticed today that two of my clowns have tiny white spots on them, and one of my springer damsels has a big spot, too. I noticed them today. The only tank issue I have is high alkalinity, but I've been working to bring that down (was above 20 over the weekend, 17 today).

Is this ich? I've had the tank for about two months. Parameters from recent tests are below:

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Getting an accurate diagnosis from a photograph is very difficult.

Can you get some pictures taken under white lights instead of blue?

Some of the spots are too large to be ich, but I'd had issues with out-of-focus shots making spots look larger than they actually are.

How long have they had these spots?

Jay

 

[stnc]

Getting an accurate diagnosis from a photograph is very difficult.

Can you get some pictures taken under white lights instead of blue?

Some of the spots are too large to be ich, but I'd had issues with out-of-focus shots making spots look larger than they actually are.

How long have they had these spots?

Jay

Sorry about that, I've taken new pictures / totally rescaped my tank getting these guys into my QT tank (sigh). I noticed the spots today, didn't see them yesterday.

Clowns:

Small Springer:

Big Springer (there's a huge thing on her head)

 

[LaloJ]

They seem to be flukes in my opinion, I think those spots are a bit big so I wouldn't bet on Cryptocaryon. In any case, here's a read on flukes, just in case it's that:

Flukes – General Guidelines

Many thanks to "Newsmyrna80" for writing this. Reposted with her permission. Some facts: Flukes are not true flukes. They are actually parasitic flatworms belonging to the class of Monogeans. There are 13 families of flukes. However, only three families infect saltwater fish. 1...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[socalfishy]

x2 on marine flukes, get a black cup or container put same temp fresh water in it and dip one of the clowns, 5 mins. They will fall off and be very visible. Youtube this process and you can see the flukes literally die turn white and float around.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here is the issue - flukes are nearly invisible on a fish. A fish can be covered in big Neobenedenia flukes, and all you may see are some tattered fins and cloudy eyes. Smaller Gyrodactylids won't really show at all, neither will gill flukes. The fish may well have flukes, but these random spots are knocks and dings - from fighting,(see how the one springeri is missing the top of its caudal fin?) getting moved around, etc. There may also be some ich spots mixed in, no way to rule that out.

What you need to do is give the fish a 5 minute FW dip as mentioned, b ut then start the fish on a comprehensive copper treatment. When that is done, you'll need to dose them with prazipro, since freshwater dips only knock flukes back, and don't cure them.

Jay

 

[stnc]

Got it, thank you all so so much! I will get on this ASAP - really appreciate it! After the dip I'll put them back in the QT tank for the copper treatment.

As far as the copper treatment, is there a recommended brand y'all trust?

Stay tuned for updates!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Got it, thank you all so so much! I will get on this ASAP - really appreciate it! After the dip I'll put them back in the QT tank for the copper treatment.

As far as the copper treatment, is there a recommended brand y'all trust?

Stay tuned for updates!

I use Coppersafe and a good test kit (Hanna probes are best, avoid the API kit if you can).

Jay

 

[stnc]

Awesome, thanks! Just for my own knowledge, what am I using the tester for if this is in my hospital tank? Also, do I want the HR or LR checker?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Awesome, thanks! Just for my own knowledge, what am I using the tester for if this is in my hospital tank? Also, do I want the HR or LR checker?

You would want the Hanna HR checker for Coppersafe of Copper Power, and even Cupramine. LR is for copper sulfate solutions.

If you know the EXACT volume of the tank and measure the copper really carefully, you might get away from needing to test for it. I used to do that all the time, but now I double check with a Hanna HR.

Jay

 

[stnc]

You would want the Hanna HR checker for Coppersafe of Copper Power, and even Cupramine. LR is for copper sulfate solutions.

If you know the EXACT volume of the tank and measure the copper really carefully, you might get away from needing to test for it. I used to do that all the time, but now I double check with a Hanna HR.

Jay

Understood, I'm using my 5G hospital tank for the treatment - or do I need to treat my entire tank and get my inverts out?

 

[stnc]

I think I just figured it out sitting here thinking, I need to know the amount of copper in the hospital tank daily per the treatment, yes?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I think I just figured it out sitting here thinking, I need to know the amount of copper in the hospital tank daily per the treatment, yes?

No - most modern copper treatments (Cupramine, Copper Power and Coppersafe) are single full dose and then you are done - it stays in solution for about 30 days, as long as the tank doesn't contain any calcium based rocks or substrate that tends to pull the copper out of the water. Still, a good copper test kit is safest.

Jay

 

[stnc]

Got it! Thanks again Jay - I really appreciate it!