What could it have been?

Geebs19 · Dec 20, 2018

So I recently and stupidly bought a watchman goby and a royal gramma and added them to my tank that already had 2 clowns. No qt. I noticed the first night the royal gramma had white spots on his head and hid a a rock and hasn’t been seen ever since, pretty sure he is gone and this was a month ago. Anyways, I figured it was ich and started to watch my clowns develope small white spots on them as well, we are in the process of moving and I had no way of setting up a hospital tank to treat right now. The fish slowly got worse with white spots but moved and ate normal and the last 2 days the lights have been off as the tank was covered while we were getting work done on the house. Today the fish have no white spots at all, completely gone and there skin appears as normal. What could that have been?

No photos as these guys move to fast and my camrera didn’t really capture the dots.

rkpetersen · Dec 20, 2018

That's how ich, or better named 'crypto' in saltwater, works (if that's what your fish had/have, which sounds likely.) One stage of the parasite feeds on the fish, then drops off as another stage, then forms a cyst on the bottom or any hard surface as the next stage. That may be where you are now. After a variable period of time of usually 3 to 14 days (although in rare cases can be months), those cysts burst and release hundreds of new swimmers into the water, each trying to reinfect a fish. And what makes it even more diabolical is that they tend to burst at night, when many fish are inactive and near the bottom, right near the cysts.

So you might see the disease come back. Or you may never see it again, especially with clowns who are fairly resistant due to their thick mucus coats (especially if they're hosting with an anemone.) However, any new fish you add are at risk now, even if you quarantine them and all the fish you currently have seem healthy. Assuming it's crypto.