FW dip? Please help!

[alaska clowns]

I've been researching threads to figure out how to do a freshwater dip, and there seems to be much disagreement about whether or not it should be done.

I have a PJ Cardinal in my QT tank - he's sitting on the bottom, I suspect that he has ich. I was wondering if a fw dip could help him before I try something like hypo? or is it too late....

 

[MrTuskfish]

Dips do nothing for ich; the parasite is buried too deep in the fish. FW dips help (short-term, fish still need to be treated. ) ONLY if the fish has brooklynella or velvet. First thing: find out what the fish has. Google info & images of all 3 ; better yet, post a pic. I'm glad you have him in a QT where he can't infect other fish.

 

[alaska clowns]

Dips do nothing for ich; the parasite is buried too deep in the fish. FW dips help (short-term, fish still need to be treated. ) ONLY if the fish has brooklynella or velvet. First thing: find out what the fish has. Google info & images of all 3 ; better yet, post a pic. I'm glad you have him in a QT where he can't infect other fish.

Thank you for your response!

Definitely it's not brooklynella or velvet (if the symptoms are as visible as the pics I googled).

I received an order of new fish about a week and a half ago, and boy am I glad I put them in a QT tank!! My only regret is that I also have some LR in there that I was holding from my display..... bummer....
So, yes, I QT'd for the first time, but I still made some pretty hefty mistakes.

QT is 38 gallons. About 10 pounds LR, hob filter with mature filter media, and hob skimmer.

I have 3 pj cards, 3 small mccosker's flasher wrasses and 1 tiny longnose hawkfish.

The sick pj is with another pj, they have gotten along since I received them.

1 pj card has been separated from the other two by a tank divider.

Although he was sitting on the bottom this morning, the sick pj has been up in the water column for the last hour or two. He often assumes a tail-higher-than-head position. He is the only fish that wouldn't eat at first when I got them, but he had finally started eating.

I just took these pictures. I can't see anything abnormal just by looking, but then, I've never had a PJ Cardinal before.

Last week the pj cards had a couple of tiny white spots, and I figured they had ich. The next day the spots were gone and they haven't returned since. SO I went into several days of denial. I am assuming that the culprit is ich. All the other fish have appeared fine so far; obviously, if one has ich, I know they're all infected. Other than the one isolated time of seeing the tiny white flecks on their fins, there have been no other symptoms (no abnormal breathing, scratching/flashing). His lack of appetite had been my biggest concern.

I think my plan will be to remove LR and inverts (I have some feeder shrimp and a fighting conch) and drop the salinity. Will the hawkfish and wrasses respond ok to hyposalinity?

I appreciate your help!

 

[snorvich]

Your pictures are not clear enough for me (with my eyes) to accurately diagnose. The fact that the white spots disappeared is normal in the life cycle of ich (cryptocaryon irritans). Please read stickies in this forum.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Your pictures are not clear enough for me (with my eyes) to accurately diagnose. The fact that the white spots disappeared is normal in the life cycle of ich (cryptocaryon irritans). Please read stickies in this forum.

I can't tell either. Like Snorvich said, light cases (they don't stay "light") often disappear, then reemerge X100s. Air bubbles, tiny bits of substrate, etc., can often be mistaken for ich. But, IME & IMO, if you think its ich; it almost always is. I also agree that you should read the ich stickies. The sick cardinal could be showing signs of ich....or a dozen other things too. The other fish can handle hypo; its really more stressful on the owner than the fish...IMO. Starting hypo or waiting to see if it was (still is) ich is your call. I'd do all the research possible and make a decision. If it was ich you saw, good pics of ich should let you know; and it won't go away on its own. Just a heads-up: a good, well calibrated refractometer and precise attention to details are vital for hypo.

 

[alaska clowns]

Thanks again for your responses. The pictures are pretty accurate- the fish really doesn't have any visible abnormalities, even that I can see. Still no spots, either. I agree ich can appear to disappear, only to return much worse. I expected it to return, if indeed the spots were ich. I'll look over the ich stickies again.

The fish hovers in the water column with the other fish during the day. As soon as I turned out the lights last night, I watched - while the other fish continued hovering, the sick fish started swimming erratically - all the way up to the surface, around and around. I expected to find it dead this morning, but when the lights turned on, there it was hovering with the other fish as if nothing had happened. He doesn't seem to have very good balance when he hovers. I'm stumped.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks again for your responses. The pictures are pretty accurate- the fish really doesn't have any visible abnormalities, even that I can see. Still no spots, either. I agree ich can appear to disappear, only to return much worse. I expected it to return, if indeed the spots were ich. I'll look over the ich stickies again.

The fish hovers in the water column with the other fish during the day. As soon as I turned out the lights last night, I watched - while the other fish continued hovering, the sick fish started swimming erratically - all the way up to the surface, around and around. I expected to find it dead this morning, but when the lights turned on, there it was hovering with the other fish as if nothing had happened. He doesn't seem to have very good balance when he hovers. I'm stumped.

Is this fish eating or scratching? If neither, it could be in the "Zombie" stage.

 

[alaska clowns]

Is this fish eating or scratching? If neither, it could be in the "Zombie" stage.

The fish neither eats nor scratches - I'm not sure what the "zombie" stage is - though maybe that's a good description - I didn't notice that term in what I read, maybe I didn't read the right thing? None of the fish have scratched, and all except the one eat like little piggies.

 

[alaska clowns]

I'm not going to wait - I'm just going to try hyposalinity so that I don't have to worry about putting fish that may be carrying something into my DT. I read the stickie and I'm nervous, but here goes - tell me please if there's any flaws in my setup? I'm hoping I can just use what equipment I already have.

-38 gallon QT, fish have been there for almost 2 weeks now (I'll pull all inverts/rock to hold in a 10 gallon)
-HOB filter (an old penguin without the biowheel, I can't remember which one - the middle size) - I'll change the filter media daily (poly wrapped around some carbon). I have allowed the water returning from the filter to splash into the tank to help with oxygenation, and I'll continue to do that.
-Protein skimmer - cpr bakpak with no media in it
-Refractometer, which I have calibrated according to the instructions given by the dealer (with distilled water) - but I'll take it to the LFS and double check its accuracy.

I don't have an ATO, but I'm home all day so I think that adding water to keep the level exact won't be a problem.

I have a small spare pump that I could use to add an airstone, if it seems that I don't have enough oxygenation.

Thank you!

 

[alaska clowns]

BTW, there is 1 tiny speck on his tail fin that I just noticed, and a speck or two on the tail fins of the other two - I'm pretty sure that ick is the proper diagnosis.

 

[alaska clowns]

So if you were me..... is hypo the course of action you would take?

 

[MrTuskfish]

So if you were me..... is hypo the course of action you would take?

Sure. You sound well prepared. Its not as tough on fish as you'd think.