Let's beat a dead horse- My new ich and thoughts on what to do next.

[FiveGallonSea]

Hi everyone,

Long story short as possible- My tank has had a very small fish stock list and corals with no changes and doing well for a long time due to school and then a seam failure that I then needed to replace my tank. Got everything up and finally decided to enjoy the hobby again. Been buying some corals here and there from responsible reputable local private and only one LFS. Things were doing well. Then I bought a school of chromis. Everything continued doing well. I then came across a very reputable seller with an appointment only facility that had Gem Tangs on sale for $400. My dream fish. This is great, right? No. At his facility the fish looked great in a small container when looking at him but there was dim lighting overall. The seller claims the fish was in copper and had multiple tanks plumbed with very very high end fish that all seemed to be doing okay. My QT tank wasn't up and running at the time so I acclimated him, put him in a acclimation box in my display during lights out and when the lights came on the next day I see spots along his fins consistent with what appeared like ich. I immediately removed him and returned him praying I was able to get him out in time.

I monitored my fish for a few days and all was looking okay. During that time I got the opportunity to buy a small Gem and Hippo Tang but had to act fast as they were on a limited time sale. Now my QT is up at this point but definitely not as well cycled as I wished. I put my Hippo in my display as he was from a reputable seller but the Gem Tang was from an iffy seller so he went into the QT. I'm sitting there observing the Hippo who is doing great and eating annnnnnnd there it is. 2-3 white spots on the body/fins of my Foxface and Blonde Naso. Next day my Hippo has a single white spot.

So I'm in an early phase or light infestation of something. Not big enough to be lympho and consistent enough with the look of ich. The fish are all eating and acting normal.

I don't have the place to move all the fish and do an eradication of this possible ich so I'm stuck. I have my Gem in a QT that is way too new and don't trust him in there too long and a display with some sort of issue. I am feeding more frequently and adding Selcon and garlic. This has happened before and I was able to save all the fish within the display. I run a 25 watt Aqua UV sterilizer as well in my tank.

Now the question is, do I move my Gem to the display within the next week as I manage this possible ich. I hate to see him get sick in my newly set up QT as I planned to only have him in there for a short observation period.

Also anyone have any new innovative ich management protocols they have had luck with? I wasn't able to get photos of any of this as it is only a couple spots on the fins of fast moving fish but I will try tonight.

I should add that years ago I had an ich outbreak and did a 5 month fishless tank only to put them back and get ich immediately so eradication really isn't my preferred method nowadays and management seems to be it. I think ich is inevitable. You do this long enough and it'll get you.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MnFish1]

You could try hyposalinity there is a protocol in a sticky above. However, since you have corals you will have to remove them or the fish to a new tank. A picture would help determine whether your fish actually have ich or not.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi everyone,

Long story short as possible- My tank has had a very small fish stock list and corals with no changes and doing well for a long time due to school and then a seam failure that I then needed to replace my tank. Got everything up and finally decided to enjoy the hobby again. Been buying some corals here and there from responsible reputable local private and only one LFS. Things were doing well. Then I bought a school of chromis. Everything continued doing well. I then came across a very reputable seller with an appointment only facility that had Gem Tangs on sale for $400. My dream fish. This is great, right? No. At his facility the fish looked great in a small container when looking at him but there was dim lighting overall. The seller claims the fish was in copper and had multiple tanks plumbed with very very high end fish that all seemed to be doing okay. My QT tank wasn't up and running at the time so I acclimated him, put him in a acclimation box in my display during lights out and when the lights came on the next day I see spots along his fins consistent with what appeared like ich. I immediately removed him and returned him praying I was able to get him out in time.

I monitored my fish for a few days and all was looking okay. During that time I got the opportunity to buy a small Gem and Hippo Tang but had to act fast as they were on a limited time sale. Now my QT is up at this point but definitely not as well cycled as I wished. I put my Hippo in my display as he was from a reputable seller but the Gem Tang was from an iffy seller so he went into the QT. I'm sitting there observing the Hippo who is doing great and eating annnnnnnd there it is. 2-3 white spots on the body/fins of my Foxface and Blonde Naso. Next day my Hippo has a single white spot.

So I'm in an early phase or light infestation of something. Not big enough to be lympho and consistent enough with the look of ich. The fish are all eating and acting normal.

I don't have the place to move all the fish and do an eradication of this possible ich so I'm stuck. I have my Gem in a QT that is way too new and don't trust him in there too long and a display with some sort of issue. I am feeding more frequently and adding Selcon and garlic. This has happened before and I was able to save all the fish within the display. I run a 25 watt Aqua UV sterilizer as well in my tank.

Now the question is, do I move my Gem to the display within the next week as I manage this possible ich. I hate to see him get sick in my newly set up QT as I planned to only have him in there for a short observation period.

Also anyone have any new innovative ich management protocols they have had luck with? I wasn't able to get photos of any of this as it is only a couple spots on the fins of fast moving fish but I will try tonight.

I should add that years ago I had an ich outbreak and did a 5 month fishless tank only to put them back and get ich immediately so eradication really isn't my preferred method nowadays and management seems to be it. I think ich is inevitable. You do this long enough and it'll get you.

Thanks in advance.

Just to clarify - observational quarantine is not effective at controlling ich unless it is done for at least 45 days, even longer is safer. Ich can simmer along at low infection rates, it is better to actively treat as a preventative - with hyposalinity or coppersafe.

Jay

 

[FiveGallonSea]

Okay, this is the best I could do. Today with bright whites my new Hippo didn't have anything. He had one speck yesterday for only one day (maybe sand?).

My Naso has two sort of white blotches? spots? oh his fin and two "grain of sand" type spots for about 3 days now that hasn't moved on his body.

My Foxface has what you see in the photos.

Is this ich? What the heck is it? They have had this before for sure at some point and it has come and gone but it has been a while since that happened.

 

[FiveGallonSea]

You could try hyposalinity there is a protocol in a sticky above. However, since you have corals you will have to remove them or the fish to a new tank. A picture would help determine whether your fish actually have ich or not.

Photos up.

 

[FiveGallonSea]

Just to clarify - observational quarantine is not effective at controlling ich unless it is done for at least 45 days, even longer is safer. Ich can simmer along at low infection rates, it is better to actively treat as a preventative - with hyposalinity or coppersafe.

Jay

Understood. I just mean that when I QT I start off by observation and don't jump straight into meds. I put some photos up. Would appreciate your input.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Understood. I just mean that when I QT I start off by observation and don't jump straight into meds. I put some photos up. Would appreciate your input.

Watching fish for some time prior to beginning a quarantine process *seems* to make good sense, but it really isn't best. All of the protozoan treatments we have available take some time to work. If an infection builds up during the observation phase, it is then more difficult for these medications to stop it in time. I generally suggest waiting just 72 hours for the fish to acclimate before beginning a preventative protozoal treatment.

In regards to your pictures - the foxface seems to have a broken fin ray, that will heal in time (a month or so). The tiny spots on the naso could be ich. The trick there is to watch the spots daily - if they come and go and change location, it is likely ich. If they go and don't return, they may be sand grains. If they stay in the same spot day to day, they may just be a damaged scale.

One note - we have been hearing of people having a LOT of trouble with blonde nasos dying for no apparent reason, or from possible bacterial infections, a few weeks to months after purchase. This is a relatively recent change, this species used to be fairly hardy.

Jay