I believe my fish have an issue

[Spectorman]

Hey y’all
Been a while. I have been battling marine ich for about a month and a half mostly with Hydrogen Peroxide and ginger. I am aware my methodology is a bandaide but my fish are MOSTLY happy a show no signs of ich like they had. For now things are……..ok.

My tank is 10months old and looks fantastic. All of my fish were tiny including my engineer goby. To me he had always looked cloudy kind of. Not super black but kind of a haze over his body. He’s almost 9”. He has always looked that way. I have nothing to compare it to so as far as I was concerned while it is odd…..he’s happy and eats like a pig.

I have a blue Caribbean tang. Who until maybe a month ago, kind of has a haze over him too. I noticed a couple days ago his eyes are more cloudy than the clear they normally are. My best guess is flukes.

I have had ich before as well as marine velvet. Both heartbreaking. I have never had this haze before. Nobody is struggling. Everyone is eating like pigs. Everyone else has bright colors and eyes. It’s a full on 200gallon mixed reef with a lot of rock. Is it normal to have a haze on two of the fish but none of the others. Or is there definitely a flukes issue with everyone the eventuality. They need to go to the hospital?

In my 20+ years in his sport have never seen this before. Mostly because unlike velvet where everything dies quickly, everything in my tank seems content, happy and eating. Am I missing something and it’s nothing to worry about or follow my spidey senses and get them out?

Thanks!
H

 

[reefing102]

I did a quick google search but didn’t come up with anything. I’ll tag @HumbleFish @leebca @Dr. Reef for their thoughts

That said, I know some pics and a close video of the fish swimming at least a minute long under white light generally help with determining illnesses too

 

[Spectorman]

I can do that. I was in an airport when Inwrote this. Lol

 

[Spectorman]

Here he is. Best I can do. The top of his eye looks funky. He is the only one with those sparkly spots on him. Crazy to me. I have a tomini tang and a yellow in there too. No spots no fog. Just him.

 

[leebca]

Here he is. Best I can do. The top of his eye looks funky. He is the only one with those sparkly spots on him. Crazy to me. I have a tomini tang and a yellow in there too. No spots no fog. Just him.

Thanks for the photo. A video would be better.

This fish is having issues with its skin. Most ornamental marine fishes have a substantial mucous coating over their skin. Tangs on the hand are at the low-end of the range. Tangs have a thin mucous coating and hence are often the first to show signs of parasites. In an effort to protect itself the fish will put out extra mucous. Perhaps that is what you are seeing in the other fish.

This young tank is most likely infected with parasites. Cryptocaryon irritans (Marine Ich) is most likely, however I wouldn't eliminate the possibility of there being Brooklynella hostilis (Brook) in the tank. Fish react to Brook my creating excess mucous. Without skin scrapes, a microscope, and familiarity of what to look for, it's not possible to identify what the culprit(s) is.

The conventional procedure of a DT infected with Marine Ich is to move all the fish to a treatment/hospital tank and let the DT go fallow (fishless).

Studies have shown that about 45 days of the tank going fishless (fallow) are reliable if you can raise the DT temperature to 27C (80.6F) and there are no dormant Marine Ich in the DT and DT system (assuming corals and invertebrates, if present, can handle this temperature). If you have a FOWLR DT, raise temp to 30C (86F) for 15 days, again providing there are no dormant Marine Ich in the DT or DT system (assuming invertebrates present, if any, can handle this temperature).

Marine Ich can lay dormant in low oxygen (hypoxic) areas and is able to survive longer than the above times. To avoid this, you want to reduce/eliminate areas of low oxygen. These areas include:

1. Thick substrates -- need to be 'disturbed.'

2. Rock sitting on substrate can hide dormant Marine Ich;

3. Canister filters -- need to be broken down;

4. Other non-biological filters/media and chemicals need to be replaced (e.g., carbon, filterfloss),

5. Check that bio filter(s) are not trapping any water; and lastly

6. Rock crevices can hide dormant Marine Ich.

Use high circulation and 'blast' under rocks and into rock crevices -- as much as any corals you have can take. If there is any part of the system which you feel may have low oxygen areas, find and eliminate them.

After removing/eliminating low oxygen areas, then begin the times noted above.

If raising the temperature above 78F is not an option, then go fallow 75 days after removing/eliminating low oxygen areas.

Avoid introducing parasites into the aquarium in the future by a good quarantine procedure. It's good the fish are still eating.
Download then read, the Fish Nutrition document

Help the fish by improving its immunity and ability to heal wounds by adding supplements for an ill fish to its diet as recommended in the Fish Nutrition document. Click on that link, then download (and read) the document. Use especially Beta-1,3/1,6-D-Glucan found online, in health-food stores, and pharmacies. Directions for its use and quantity is provided in the link.