Puffer fish is sick

[jcalla]

I have a puffer fish and he is my favorite fish. He has had tiny white dots on him even on his eyes

and I suspect ick. He has had it for over 2 months and I am very nervous about how I should treat him or if I should let him try to get rid of it on his own. I have bought copper but have no idea how to deal with this. Can anyone confirm or deny if this is something I should treat.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Yes, that is marine ich, Cryptocaryon irritans.

You will need to treat this quickly, as it will soon become severe.

Are there other fish in the same tank? They will need to be treated as well.

The two most effective treatments are either coppersafe or hyposalinity, neither of these can be done in tanks with invertebrates though.

Here is a link to hyposalinity:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

I can walk you through a coppersafe treatment if you decide to go that route.

Jay

 

[jcalla]

Yes please help me through the copper treatment. I am picking up a quariten tank tomorrow it's 29 gallon. None of the other fish have it on them.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

You’ll need coppersafe and a copper test kit. The Hanna high range meter is the best choice by far. Since you are setting the tank up on the fly, you’ll need some biological filtration - best way to do that is to use some non calcium bio media from an established tank. Second best way is to buy some bacteria in a bottle like Dr Tim’s.
Then, over a day, you dose the copper a bit at a time, testing between additions until you reach 2.25 ppm. Then maintain that level for 30 days. You cannot return the fish to the main tank for another 30 days to allow for the ich to die out. That assumes you are treating all of the fish.

Not easy to do this, I know.