Butterfly may have ICH

[lilchris]

Well I have had this fish in my tank for about a month now. I have him eating like a champ. Very aggressive feeding. He takes food out of my tangs mouth. He is constantly swimming around picking at rocks, playing w/ the tang that he shares the tank with. One thing is bothering me. Those little white spots that are all over his fins. Man I hope it is not ICH. :furious::furious:
Please take a look at the pictures and see if you can tell. The reason I am not thinking it is ich is because one day the spots are there and the next they are gone. I know they go through cycles. If it is ICH I will not hesitate taking him out and QTing w/ Hypo. Another part is telling me to leave him be and let him shake it. I am feeding 2 to 3 times a day soaked heavy w/ garlic Extreme. Any suggestions??

 

[aquaph8]

I just went through exactly as you descriped with my powder blue. He got better, got worse, got better and then one day he looked like hell. I lost the tang and moved the other fish to QT and they are all doing fine now. I would pull all fish in the tank to qt with a copper treatment for 8 weeks and leave your Display fishless. If I would have acted faster I would probably still have my powderblue. IMO dont hesitate, it looks like ich to me. Goodluck

 

[NCSUsalt]

yes, the butterfly has ich

 

[sedor]

+2 on ich. If he is still eating I would leave him alone. Instead ich usually appears on more sensitive fish because of something stressing them out whether it be the size of the tank, the water quality, a harassing fish etc. I would try and determine what is causing the stress and if you solve that problem I guarantee the fish will be able to deal with the parasite on its own just like your immune system would deal with a virus. I'm one of those insane "ich is ever present in our tanks" people though. The same thing happens with my powder brown tang and everytime it has been because of an issue with my water quality. I'm afraid that if you were to catch and QT the butterfly you would also have to let the tank sit fallow (fishless) for 6 weeks so the parasite would die off. So you can cure the parasite all you want in a QT tank, but as soon as they go back into the DT the parasite will hop back on board. Ich is not as scary as we make it out to be.

PS the reason it comes and goes is because ich tends to show itself when the lights are on, and when they go off the parasites fall off the host and back into the substrate or water column. You probably notice the spots towards the end of the night...

 

[lilchris]

As far as water quality, what would cause it? Presents of ammonia and Nitrites I am sure, what else? I am sure I have some Phosphates.
Stressful situations, I have an Atlantic blue tang. The tang has shown some aggression but the butterfly is really holding its own to the point where the tang doesn't bother him. He is always waiting patience at the top of the feeding area when ever I come in the room. He is the first to receive food and the last to leave. Eating the entire time.
I know the right thing to do is take everything out and QT. Just don't want to cause anymore stress on the fish by putting them in QT. Especially if they are eating and swimming. I haven't seen any rock scratching either.

 

[aquaph8]

I believe my problem was started by a ph swing. I fixed the problem, but the ich had already got too bad for the fish to kick it. He was still eating, but never recovered.