Hello,
After dealing with ich years and years ago, I have always QT'd my fish for at least 90 days. I have two in QT right now - a blue hippo tang and a harlequin tusk fish.
The blue hippo eats great whenever I feed the tank, but doesn't really go for the nori on the clip. I assume that's because it's just a baby and doesn't have much confidence in the water column. The harlequin has always been very personable and curious, with a decent appetite. I always have some trouble with this species being a finicky eater though.
Anyway, the blue tang started tell tale signs of itching. This is after having the fish for 90 days. However, I see no actual whitespots on either fish, and I know what to look for. So the first thing I tried was a freshwater dip, 5 minutes for each fish. No signs of flukes.
As a follow up, I tried treating with maracyn 1 & 2. The tank got real cloudy on day 2&3, but we're on day 6 now and ready for a water change. I was just observing this morning and saw the tusk now also itching.
This has me second guessing the Ich even though I still don't see any spots on either fish. What else could cause the itching like that? What would be the best treatment going forward? How soon should I even start another treatment after just finishing Maracyn? I can do copper or tank swap if required. I thought copper might be better here since I don't know exactly what I'm treating. Is there anything else that could cause that itching behavior?
I'm open to suggestions. I want to do what I can for the little guys.
thanks in advance
-danny
After dealing with ich years and years ago, I have always QT'd my fish for at least 90 days. I have two in QT right now - a blue hippo tang and a harlequin tusk fish.
The blue hippo eats great whenever I feed the tank, but doesn't really go for the nori on the clip. I assume that's because it's just a baby and doesn't have much confidence in the water column. The harlequin has always been very personable and curious, with a decent appetite. I always have some trouble with this species being a finicky eater though.
Anyway, the blue tang started tell tale signs of itching. This is after having the fish for 90 days. However, I see no actual whitespots on either fish, and I know what to look for. So the first thing I tried was a freshwater dip, 5 minutes for each fish. No signs of flukes.
As a follow up, I tried treating with maracyn 1 & 2. The tank got real cloudy on day 2&3, but we're on day 6 now and ready for a water change. I was just observing this morning and saw the tusk now also itching.
This has me second guessing the Ich even though I still don't see any spots on either fish. What else could cause the itching like that? What would be the best treatment going forward? How soon should I even start another treatment after just finishing Maracyn? I can do copper or tank swap if required. I thought copper might be better here since I don't know exactly what I'm treating. Is there anything else that could cause that itching behavior?
I'm open to suggestions. I want to do what I can for the little guys.
thanks in advance
-danny