Purple tang in 2.4 ppm copper safe but still white spots.

[KGV]

I always quarantine my fish with 2-2.5 ppm copper safe for 1 month and 2 weeks observation. Although I have only done this for 3 rounds of fish, this has so far never failed me.

But now I have a purple tang for 2 weeks in QT with 2.4 ppm copper safe (Hanna tested), and he shows the typical signs of ich. He's in a good shape though. I am so puzzled! There are some anecdotal reports for copper resistance, but really??

If this doesn't work, what is the next approach? Hypo-salinity? @Jay Hemdal?

Cheers,

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That may not be ich. Purple tangs in copper are prone to developing mucus plugs. Do you see any spots on the fins, or just the body? If just the body, that can point to this issue. Here is what I would do; map out the location of the spots (like taking a clear picture) then check each day. If most of the spots are in the same location after 36 hours, it isn't ich. If the spots come and go, and new spots show up, it is more likely ich.
There is no treatment I know of for these mucus plugs, but they often go away on their own with time.

Jay

 

[KGV]

That may not be ich. Purple tangs in copper are prone to developing mucus plugs. Do you see any spots on the fins, or just the body? If just the body, that can point to this issue. Here is what I would do; map out the location of the spots (like taking a clear picture) then check each day. If most of the spots are in the same location after 36 hours, it isn't ich. If the spots come and go, and new spots show up, it is more likely ich.
There is no treatment I know of for these mucus plugs, but they often go away on their own with time.

Jay

Thank you so much @Jay Hemdal! I will follow your advice.

 

[piranhaman00]

If hes been in there for two weeks transfer him to sterile QT tank and observe.

 

[nornicle]

Have you tried Prazi those spots look quite large like some kind of fluke or worm.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you so much @Jay Hemdal! I will follow your advice.

Just keep a close eye on the fish, I doubt it is ich since the fish is in copper, but I can’t be 100% certain.
Jay

 

[KGV]

Hi @Jay Hemdal,

Now 6 hours later tried to take a similar picture. The pattern of white spots certainly changed, with most spots disappearing (I can't say I see new ones). And, there are some spots on the fins as well.

Should I go ahead and assume it's ich? The size of the spots and their shape fit with ich. I have seen mucus plugs on tangs in copper before and those were not as nicely spherical as these.

What would be the next step? I've used formalin before but with various success to the point where I am not very excited about that method. I was edging more to hypo-salinity. What do you think?

 

[nornicle]

The spots look larger than ich. You should consider prazipro as I mentioned before it’s pretty gentle on fish (and in my opinion should be used to get rid of external and potential internal parasites before introducing new fish to a tank).

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi @Jay Hemdal,

Now 6 hours later tried to take a similar picture. The pattern of white spots certainly changed, with most spots disappearing (I can't say I see new ones). And, there are some spots on the fins as well.

Should I go ahead and assume it's ich? The size of the spots and their shape fit with ich. I have seen mucus plugs on tangs in copper before and those were not as nicely spherical as these.

What would be the next step? I've used formalin before but with various success to the point where I am not very excited about that method. I was edging more to hypo-salinity. What do you think?

I wouldn’t use formalin dips, pretty stressful and are not 100% effective.
I still think these are too large to be ich, but I recall one time I said that and then learned the fish was only an inch long(grin). Obviously, you tang is decent sized. Trematodes are virtually invisible; you really see them based on the damage they do, so this isn’t a fluke problem. Turbellarians and digeneans are dark, not white. Xenomas are big and white, but they don’t drop off like that.
Hyposalinity, to a specific gravity of 1.010 will control ich and most flukes, so might be a course of action for you.
Jay

 

[KGV]

I wouldn’t use formalin dips, pretty stressful and are not 100% effective.
I still think these are too large to be ich, but I recall one time I said that and then learned the fish was only an inch long(grin). Obviously, you tang is decent sized. Trematodes are virtually invisible; you really see them based on the damage they do, so this isn’t a fluke problem. Turbellarians and digeneans are dark, not white. Xenomas are big and white, but they don’t drop off like that.
Hyposalinity, to a specific gravity of 1.010 will control ich and most flukes, so might be a course of action for you.
Jay

Note that, by enhancing the white pixels in the picture to make the spots clearer, they also look somewhat larger than they are.

And it’s a young tang. Small to medium size.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Note that, by enhancing the white pixels in the picture to make the spots clearer, they also look somewhat larger than they are.

And it’s a young tang. Small to medium size.

Oh - I didn't realize the images were enhanced. The best I can tell you is to look at pictures of fish with ich in the sticky section above and see if anything seems to match your fish...

Jay