Surprising ick appearance

[Grasshopper04]

The Hippo is the only fish showing any signs of distress in the tank. I’d rather not do anything drastic unless necessary. Worth waiting? Or will that make matters worse? As said before, I have a quarantine tank (35g cube) but it has three fish in it currently (for a little over a week, from a local LFS).

 

[KrisReef]

Again for context in my case I had four completely unquarantined fish already in the display as a brand new system healthy but only for a few weeks, so (re)newbie impatience is at play. Trying to relearn the patience necessary for good husbandry.

I would put a UV on the tank and allow the new fishes time to thrive.

 

[LiquidSpace]

Could this be mucus plugs and not ich?

 

[EliMelly]

I’m not a fish medic but I would see how it goes, add a UV, feed solid food like LRS and rods, add vita chem and selcon to food once a day. Feed live black worms or white worms to help build the fish gut.

I would put a UV on the tank and allow the new fishes time to thrive.

 

[EliMelly]

If it continues getting worse even after this then you need to do QT and fallows

 

[MnFish1]

So - to me the pictures are unclear. If one sees actual spots, and they come and go - (to different locations) - that suggests Ich. Mucus plugs can be caused by multiple things - but ich is common to do so. I re-looked at the pictures - can you update them? One problem is that I see some of the same (almost) 'spots' on the nearby glass in at least the one picture that shows the most of what I think you're saying.

Again - if you treat, you will need to treat all the fish in a hospital tank - unless you have no invertebrates - and in that case I would use hypo salinity in your main display. If the fish have never been treated for flukes - you can also dose that in your display tank per the protocol above (remove carbon etc and increase aeration). The hypo salinity protocol is also posted above in a stickie.

Hope this helps - let us know updates when you have them. Good luck with the fish

EDIT - the reason waiting may not be 'the best' - is that every fish you buy - you may have the same issues i.e. them catching something that is present in your tank. The more fish you buy, the more risk there will be - and the more dangerous cryptocaryon becomes - due to over or heavy stocking of livestock. This can then lead to mass mortality.

UV isn't going to hurt - however you will need a large one - and I'm not a. big fan - I've used them never saw a benefit - however many people swear by them. If you want to do that - all good as well

 

[MnFish1]

I wish everyone would research Dr. Reef more before purchasing from him. There are dozens if not hundreds of reviews of people getting diseased fish from Dr. Reef on the inter webs. Whether he is not observing proper biosecurity between tanks or what, I do not know. But, I would personally never put one of his fish directly in my display tank without an additional quarantine and possible medication regimen. It's really kind of crappy because people with fish they've had for years may introduce one of his improperly treated/quarantined fish (thinking they are properly quarantined) and kill their beloved pets.

Though I have not ordered fish from @Dr. Reef , I have worked with him on a couple experiments. I find him to be an upstanding person who backs his products. I have read many of the 'reviews' - there are some negative experiences and many positive experiences - including on R2R. As to your comment - I agree with you on a couple things - I would have an observation QT available for any fish bought that were 'quarantined', second, sometimes things happen - and having medication on hand is not a bad idea in case treatment is needed.

Having read some of these 'reviews' - my conclusion is different from yours - many of the negative reviews strongly suggest that there was already an issue in their tank. As far as I know - Dr. Reefs policy is to replace or make good fish orders.

If you have ordered fish from him - You can post on the vendor feedback forum.

 

[Grasshopper04]

I was able to get a few decent photos of the hippo tonight during feeding, particularly its left flank which it’s been hiding/guarding against rock work or back glass for the past week. Looks a little beat up. Good news is that I’m not seeing any of the white spots which I could clearly see a couple days ago, and which could be partially seen in the previous photos. So maybe it’s shaking the problem off? If it’s ich, then I guess it’s still in the tank even if the one fish gets better.

Last photo is the hippo cuddling with the Desjardinni.

 

[MnFish1]

I was able to get a few decent photos of the hippo tonight during feeding, particularly its left flank which it’s been hiding/guarding against rock work or back glass for the past week. Looks a little beat up. Good news is that I’m not seeing any of the white spots which I could clearly see a couple days ago, and which could be partially seen in the previous photos. So maybe it’s shaking the problem off? If it’s ich, then I guess it’s still in the tank even if the one fish gets better.

Last photo is the hippo cuddling with the Desjardinni.

I'm not seeing spots either.

 

[Grasshopper04]

It seems maybe the hippo has shrugged off the infection, though it's bearing some scars from all the flashing against the rock. Unfortunately the desjardinni now has some little spots. It's super fat and healthy from being in the tank and eating really well for weeks prior to the hippo, so hopefully it weathers it well. However, it's taking shelter every time someone comes close to the tank now, whereas before it (along with the clowns and midas blenny) would follow me around the tank every time it came close. I assume that's typical for a fish under stress from disease?