Does this look like ICH?

[MatthewLaw]

Greetings All- I purchased a Klein Butterfly and a Coral Beauty Angel. I have them in my introduction quarantine tank. I noticed some white spots on the butterfly tonight...does this look ich??? No spots on the angel.

 

[Jerry W]

It does appear to be ich. Since the fish are in a quarantine tank, treatment with either hyposalinity or copper should be easy.

 

[MatthewLaw]

I agree. I started lowering the SG last night.

 

[robsk]

Yeah, looks like you are dealing with ich. how's the treatment going?

 

[MatthewLaw]

treatment is going well. i just lowered teh salinity again so current the tank is at 1.013. i figure the tank will be done to 1.009 by tomorrow afternoon. fish are active and eatting very well. i put an airstone in too to increase oxygen.

what can do with the LR that was in the tank? should i just dry it out and put it in my display? i mean can ich 'carry' on wet LR from the hospital tank to the display tank?

also, do you suggest buffing the 1.000 water that is being added to the hospital tank? the water from the faucet is about 7.8 so i buff to 8.3. should i also do this in quarantine?

 

[robsk]

I have never worried too much about the rock...if the ich doesn't have a host after a certain amount of time it will die anyways. Many people will say to keep the ph the same in all the tanks to lessen any kind of shock or stress on fish, which is often why they get ich in the first place. Continued luck with your treatment.

 

[MatthewLaw]

i removed the LR and it is sitting in a clean mini-bin. it is dry so not sure if it is 'ich' free but dont want to chance it in the display.

i lowered the salinity again this morning and it is right aruond 1.009. i buffed the final water change (bringing it down to 1.009) and was home for another 1.5 hours after leaving for classes.

fish are doing well and eatting very well too. even my coral beauty angel came out to get some food. usually when she sees me she runs back into her house (plastic cup).

i think i see less spots on the butterfly but at very least, not any more spots. i saw a few spots on the coral beauty last night but i am not worried since the 1.009 status did not start until this morning.

as long as everyone is eating well, i am happy

on a separate side note, do you suggest keeping the light off a llot less b/c the tank is in this hyposalinity state? dont want to stress the fish any more. light is usually on about 6 hours a day. i usually turn the light on and feed, as I am trying to develop a pseudo-Pavlov response.

 

[billsreef]

Keep the lighting routine

As for the LR, yes it can carry ich cysts from one tank to another, so it's best to QT it away from fish.

 

[MatthewLaw]

i want to prevent an amonia spike in the QT, so I removed the LR. If I left it inside, it will die at 1.009 and cause a spike. If I put it in the display, risk of some dieoff and amonia spoke.

Maybe smartest to just throw it out completey??

 

[billsreef]

You could put in a cheap plastic garbage can with some water and a powerhead as a LR QT

 

[MatthewLaw]

good idea!! how long shoud i keep it in there? at leat 6 weeks?

 

[billsreef]

Yup, at least 6 weeks.

 

[MatthewLaw]

hmm thanks for the idea.

 

[MatthewLaw]

stupid question. when the fish are done the ich treatment and then acclimated back up to standard SG, followed by transfer to the display tank, any risk that the stress from QT to Display will cause another bout of ich?

 

[billsreef]

Since ich isn't caused by stress, once you've killed it off, it's gone

 

[MatthewLaw]

i thought it was always 'there' but the stress brings it out.

 

[Jerry W]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14309428#post14309428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MatthewLaw
i thought it was always 'there' but the stress brings it out.

This is a myth. Like any organism, stress can weaken immune function, but it does not cause a parasitic outbreak if the parasite is not present. Raise the salinity back to normal limits over 5-7 days. The fish will be fine. Advisable to watch them for an extra week to be sure there is no recurrence. Some strains of ich are resistant to hyposalinity.

 

[MatthewLaw]

uh oh....for those strains, i assume the white dots never disappear? do u use copper in those situations?

 

[billsreef]

In the rare situation you've encountered a hypo resistant strain, copper would be the next thing.

 

[MatthewLaw]

and how long before I should go with copper? i have treated ich before and usually the dots were gone within the first few days after starting hyposalinity. i assume if the dots are not gone by Saturday, then go with copper or wait longer?