Arg, Is this ich?

[Fishbulb2]

Hi guys,

It looks like my 6-line wrasse has some sort of ecto-parasite. Can someone ID it as ich or non-ich? He is the only fish in my tank and I noticed this about a week after adding him to the system. I managed to pull out all the live rock (HUGE PAIN) and net him into a 5 gallon bucket. He's currently being treated with CopperSafe by Sentry. What else should I do? I was thinking about leaving him in the bucket with copper for about a week while raising the temp to 80 degrees. If it's not ich, I would assume that would be plenty sufficient. I looked larger than ich to me.

Thanks guys!
FB

 

[MrTuskfish]

Is this stuff lumpy, like miniature cottage cheese or cauliflower? If so, its lymphocyctis. This is a virus that will go away with pristine water, good diet, and (probably) reduced stress. it looks to big to be ich and isn't very dangerous. Ich spots resemble a sprinkle of salt and the fish is usually scratching itself on rock, substrate, etc. A QT would have prevented all the work to get him out.

 

[Fishbulb2]

Thanks MrTuskfish. I also thought it looked too big to be ich. I guess I never considered a fungus or bacterial infection. I can't see it clearly now because the fish is in quarantine (where he should have been from the beginning). Would the copper help if it is lymphocytis?

FB

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks MrTuskfish. I also thought it looked too big to be ich. I guess I never considered a fungus or bacterial infection. I can't see it clearly now because the fish is in quarantine (where he should have been from the beginning). Would the copper help if it is lymphocytis?

FB

No. Lympho is a virus; like human viruses, there isn't much you can do but provide a healthy environment and wait it out. I'm a big fan of copper, but its tough on fish and could even delay the healing process. I'd remove the copper with carbon, WCs etc. Because the fish has already been in the DT, there isn't much sense in a preventative dose of copper (for parasites) anyhow.