Ich gone in less than 8 hours?

[xdestry]

Hi guys, last night around 3 am I looked at my royal gramma and it had hundreds of small white spots all over its body, fins, and face. I assumed immediately that it was ich, but was confused because just around 9 pm earlier he looked absolutely fine. All my other fish looked fine. Around 3 I was also dosing about 200 ml of calcium and 75 ml of alk. I went to sleep and today in the morning I checked again and the gramma looked great, not a single spot on his body nor on any of the other fish. I read that the trophont stage of ich lasts around three to seven days attached to the fish, so is it possible that the white spots were due to my dosing at the time somehow? Not really sure what happened here, all the fish look vibrant and healthy as ever now. The spots were literally in the hundreds on my gramma covering every part of its body. Thanks for any insight you guys can provide.

 

[scuzy]

That only shows that the ich already excited the fish and fell to substrate for more hatching

 

[billdogg]

It could easily have been fine sand particles or even precipitated Alk supplement sticking to it's slime coat. I would keep a close eye on everybody, however, and be prepared to QT them all if needed.

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi guys, last night around 3 am I looked at my royal gramma and it had hundreds of small white spots all over its body, fins, and face. I assumed immediately that it was ich, but was confused because just around 9 pm earlier he looked absolutely fine. All my other fish looked fine. Around 3 I was also dosing about 200 ml of calcium and 75 ml of alk. I went to sleep and today in the morning I checked again and the gramma looked great, not a single spot on his body nor on any of the other fish. I read that the trophont stage of ich lasts around three to seven days attached to the fish, so is it possible that the white spots were due to my dosing at the time somehow? Not really sure what happened here, all the fish look vibrant and healthy as ever now. The spots were literally in the hundreds on my gramma covering every part of its body. Thanks for any insight you guys can provide.

The white spots are not due to the ich...it is microscopic. The white spots are necrotic skin where the ich has buried into the mucosa of the fish
I've actually had that happen with my royal gamma but don't know why..just know it was not ich

 

[xdestry]

That only shows that the ich already excited the fish and fell to substrate for more hatching

Well the trophont stage as far as I've read lasts at the minimum 3 days which is why I was thinking it might not be ich.

It could easily have been fine sand particles or even precipitated Alk supplement sticking to it's slime coat. I would keep a close eye on everybody, however, and be prepared to QT them all if needed.

I was thinking it might be the alk as well, I will keep track of the fish to see if it comes back.

The white spots are not due to the ich...it is microscopic. The white spots are necrotic skin where the ich has buried into the mucosa of the fish
I've actually had that happen with my royal gamma but don't know why..just know it was not ich

Has anybody else ever observed the white spots on a gramma? I didn't see it on any of my other fish that night.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Could also just be Lymphocytis

 

[scuzy]

Lymph are bigger sores

 

[xdestry]

Could also just be Lymphocytis

Maybe, not really sure what it was at this point but I am leaning towards precipitated alk/cal. There was no less than 500 white spots on the fish and today nothing at all

 

[GroktheCube]

Sounds like it was some sort of debris sticking to the fish.

 

[AcroporAddict]

Could also just be Lymphocytis

It is not Lymphocystis. Lymphocystis looks nothing like ick, and it is associated with finnage, not the body, as the OP reported. Lymphocystis looks like this:

 

[CoralsAddiction]

It is not Lymphocystis. Lymphocystis looks nothing like ick, and it is associated with finnage, not the body, as the OP reported. Lymphocystis looks like this:

Not all lymph cases look the same. The fact that the spots randomly went away in 8hrs suggests that it in fact could be it because lymph comes and goes at random times. I once had a snowflake clownfish that was covered with white spots. I put in my QT as soon as I noticed the spots and 20 mins later spots were gone. Was it ich, brook or velvet? I don't think so. Fish went back to being perfectly normal afterwords.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

To OP, does your royal gramma have a white stringy poop or is it normal? May be some sort of an internal parasite?

 

[Pfisherman]

Do you have any cleaner shrimp? I've watched mine pull the white sored off of fish and throw them into the sand.

 

[Yodeling]

It could easily have been fine sand particles or even precipitated Alk supplement sticking to it's slime coat. I would keep a close eye on everybody, however, and be prepared to QT them all if needed.

I would tend to suspect the above.

 

[snorvich]

Lymphocystis tends to be persistent and recedes over time. Precipitate matches the symptoms and especially time line displayed.

 

[AcroporAddict]

Not all lymph cases look the same. The fact that the spots randomly went away in 8hrs suggests that it in fact could be it because lymph comes and goes at random times. I once had a snowflake clownfish that was covered with white spots. I put in my QT as soon as I noticed the spots and 20 mins later spots were gone. Was it ich, brook or velvet? I don't think so. Fish went back to being perfectly normal afterwords.

Sorry, but lymphocystis does not disappear in 8 hours. Just doesn't happen. Takes several weeks.

It can appear on the skin, but it tends break out where the fish's immune system has the least presence, like along fins and gills.

Your snowflake clown would not have recovered from lymphocystis in 20 minutes. Your issue was something else.

And if you choose not to believe me, then here is a primer on the illness from the the University of Florida, in which they state "Lymphocystis is usually a self-limiting disease, meaning that, in most cases, the lesions will clear up after a few weeks in warmwater fish species (up to 6 weeks in cool or coldwater species)." Weeks, not minutes and not hours.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa181

 

[AcroporAddict]

Lymphocystis tends to be persistent and recedes over time. Precipitate matches the symptoms and especially time line displayed.

This ^.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Your snowflake clown would not have recovered from lymphocystis in 20 minutes.

It was the oddest thing ever and after checking a few sites on marine diseases Lymph was the closest thing to what had happened to the clownfish. Anyway, I hope OPs fish does well whatever it is the fish has.

 

[xdestry]

Happened again last night, around 12 the gramma looked fine and at 3 it was covered in tiny dots again. Did not dose this time however, but still the dots were all gone by morning. Other fish still look as healthy as ever. Guessing if it's not precipitate maybe just some sand stuck to it, does a fish's slime coat get thicker at night? I'll take a pic the next time this happens

 

[Sk8r]

That's bizarre. Slime coat varies. And I've seen stuff stick to fish, but calcium? Are you dosing cal and alk straight into the tank? Predissolve it, at very least.