Is this Ick, or substrate?

[Gman83]

Hey everyone,
I noticed last night when I got home from work my blue damsel had a white spot on his tail. We recently added a valenti puffer, from petco, and last night it looked like he some white spots, that we’re hanging down. They were gone this morning, so I don’t know if they were Ick dropping off, or just sand. I was not able to get a picture.

does this look like Ick?

 

[MnFish1]

It does not look like Ich. There is a spot within the fin itself - and there is also a white patch just in front of the tail. It could be a fluke issue, an injury issue or something else - more history would be helpful

 

[vetteguy53081]

My guess is sand but can be rash
Keep an eye for any changes And post new pics if any

 

[Gman83]

Tank has been up approximately 11 months. We cycled before adding fish. Initially, we had two clowns, a blue dot puffer, and a conch. I had fish as a kid, and decided it would be something fun for me and my son; but I was nervous because I hadn’t taken care of fish in almost 20 years. Our tank is a 30 gal.

Things went great the first 6 months. Regular water changes, no issues, no deaths. One night our lid didn’t get placed back on correctly after a water change, leaving a little gap in back. We woke up to the puffer on the floor, dried out.

The puffer was my wife’s favorite, so I went to go see if the pet store had another one. They didn’t so we got the blue fish. At that time we also added a sand shifting starfish.

There was a little period of time where we couldn’t get any clean up crew. The Petco shut down, for a couple months. An independent lfs stopped doing marine, and went fresh water only.

About a month ago we were running low on frozen food, so we went to get some. They had a valenti puffer, so we got it (my wife really wanted it).

We thought everyone was getting along fine, but there could be bullying that we don’t see. We have 3 of the petco “live rocks” with the hole in the center, and then three other structures for the fish to live/ hide in.

stock:
2 clowns
1 blue devil damsel
1 valenti puffer
1 blue leg hermit crab
1 sand shifter star fish

water:
PH:8.0
Ammonia:0
NO2:0
NO3: less than 20
Salinity;1.023
Temp: 77

I had just started talking to my wife about upgrading equipment and looking at going to a 50+ since we had done a pretty good job.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Tank has been up approximately 11 months. We cycled before adding fish. Initially, we had two clowns, a blue dot puffer, and a conch. I had fish as a kid, and decided it would be something fun for me and my son; but I was nervous because I hadn’t taken care of fish in almost 20 years. Our tank is a 30 gal.

Things went great the first 6 months. Regular water changes, no issues, no deaths. One night our lid didn’t get placed back on correctly after a water change, leaving a little gap in back. We woke up to the puffer on the floor, dried out.

The puffer was my wife’s favorite, so I went to go see if the pet store had another one. They didn’t so we got the blue fish. At that time we also added a sand shifting starfish.

There was a little period of time where we couldn’t get any clean up crew. The Petco shut down, for a couple months. An independent lfs stopped doing marine, and went fresh water only.

About a month ago we were running low on frozen food, so we went to get some. They had a valenti puffer, so we got it (my wife really wanted it).

We thought everyone was getting along fine, but there could be bullying that we don’t see. We have 3 of the petco “live rocks” with the hole in the center, and then three other structures for the fish to live/ hide in.

stock:
2 clowns
1 blue devil damsel
1 valenti puffer
1 blue leg hermit crab
1 sand shifter star fish

water:
PH:8.0
Ammonia:0
NO2:0
NO3: less than 20
Salinity;1.023
Temp: 77

I had just started talking to my wife about upgrading equipment and looking at going to a 50+ since we had done a pretty good job.

I think the spot is too large to be ich. It could be a sand grain or a broken fin ray.
Jay

 

[MnFish1]

the white patch im looking at is not a sand grain

 

[Gman83]

I wanted to give everyone a update. I don't think it was ich, but we will never find out for certain. Shortly after starting this thread, and watching to see if anyone else developed spots, my wife bought a Condylactis Anemone. A couple days later, I think it got into my powerhead (or the puffer went got after it). I went to work, and my wife called that our tank was cloudy/milky white, and that all our fish had died. When i got home I started cleaning it up. I did discover that the two clowns were still alive, so i moved them to another tank while we got the 30 gallon cleaned up. In cleaning it up I believe I found shredded pieces of the anemone, which is why i think it got in the powerhead. I think it released its toxins when it died. It was a rough and sad lesson, but the clowns are currently doing great and are disease free (as far as I can tell).

 

[MnFish1]

I wanted to give everyone a update. I don't think it was ich, but we will never find out for certain. Shortly after starting this thread, and watching to see if anyone else developed spots, my wife bought a Condylactis Anemone. A couple days later, I think it got into my powerhead (or the puffer went got after it). I went to work, and my wife called that our tank was cloudy/milky white, and that all our fish had died. When i got home I started cleaning it up. I did discover that the two clowns were still alive, so i moved them to another tank while we got the 30 gallon cleaned up. In cleaning it up I believe I found shredded pieces of the anemone, which is why i think it got in the powerhead. I think it released its toxins when it died. It was a rough and sad lesson, but the clowns are currently doing great and are disease free (as far as I can tell).

Sorry - and happy to hear....

 

[Gman83]

I might have spoke too soon on my clowns. Does this look like brook? Everyone seemed fine this morning, and it wasn’t until dinner my son pointed out how weird our orange clown was swimming. Additionally, it looked like he was peeling, and some color faded. I don’t have any of the recommended meds on hand, so I tried a fresh water dip, and moved him back to the five gallon.

if it is I know I need to go fallow for an extended period. Does that apply to snails and inverts too, or only fish?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I might have spoke too soon on my clowns. Does this look like brook? Everyone seemed fine this morning, and it wasn’t until dinner my son pointed out how weird our orange clown was swimming. Additionally, it looked like he was peeling, and some color faded. I don’t have any of the recommended meds on hand, so I tried a fresh water dip, and moved him back to the five gallon.

if it is I know I need to go fallow for an extended period. Does that apply to snails and inverts too, or only fish?

Yes it is as the thick mucus on its body is a sure sign which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.

 

[CoralB]

I believe Could be

 

[Gman83]

So I understand that my other clown has been exposed, and I’ll quarantine and treat. On my tank, I will need to go fallow for 6 weeks, can I leave the snails/ inverts in?

Also, do I need to sanitize equipment like my net?

 

[MnFish1]

So I understand that my other clown has been exposed, and I’ll quarantine and treat. On my tank, I will need to go fallow for 6 weeks, can I leave the snails/ inverts in?

Also, do I need to sanitize equipment like my net?

You can leave the fish etc in. If you're not using it (the equipment) - and it dries out - that should be good enough.