Ich i think??

[Monster00101]

I bought a yellow tang and a niger trigger about twwo weeks ago from the lfs. They r both doing good but i noticed the tang has been scrathing on the decoration in my qt. He has scratched so much that he is damaging his yellow line on his side. Neither of the fish show any other signs of ich. The trigger has not had any problems at all. I am fairly new to this and i just want to make sure before i treat them. Any help would b appreciated. thanks.

 

[75gsalt]

A pic would probly help

 

[Monster00101]

there is really no signs except the damage behind the gill at the front of the line. It only seems to b the one side thats bothering him.

 

[Monster00101]

its really hard to get a pic of it

 

[jason71832]

Although there are no signs, he still may have ich. Keep a watch on him.

 

[Monster00101]

I have been watching him closely. This is my first problem. Is this something that has to b treated quick or do i have some time?

 

[Monster00101]

Does it kill fast? How can i tell for sure what it is?

 

[shaunt]

is he eating? has his swimming habits changed other than the scratching?

 

[Monster00101]

eats like a horse. other than the scratching nothing at all. I have been soaking his food with garlic as well.

 

[Monster00101]

I know garlic dosnt cure ich but it dont hurt either.

 

[Monster00101]

Just curious if i should start treatment or wait it out?

 

[steelhead77]

You will get advice from everything to get all fish out of your tank and let it go fallow for 8 weeks to do nothing and wait it out. I'm in the latter camp. Typically ich is like the flu to us. The majority of the time, as long as the fish is eating and is still swimming, he will fight it off. Most times the treatment is harsher than the disease itself. My Purple Tang came down with a horrible case of it and was able to fight it off. It took the better part of two weeks, but he's fine now.

This was taken a year and a half ago.

 

[Monster00101]

they r still in the qt from when i bought them. beautiful fish by the way. will letting him fight it off then putting him in the display bring the ich to my display?

 

[Reefer2727]

Yes.

 

[Monster00101]

So what should i do to avoid contracting it to my display? Im not even sure the fish has it but i dont want to risk it.

 

[Reefer2727]

In my opinion, you have to treat the fish for ich. Using either hyposalinity or copper. It's not a fun process but a necessary one or you could be battling this for a long time in your DT. Bonus is, they are already in QT.

 

[Monster00101]

cool thanks alot. Is it safe to treat without the copper test kit if u just follow the instructions on the bottle?

 

[Reefer2727]

No. I would not recommend using copper if you are not testing for it. A recipe for disaster.

 

[Monster00101]

k thanks again for the help.

 

[steelhead77]

If the fish is not showing signs of ich, don't treat him for it. This will only create unneeded stress on the fish. Once again, most fish will fight it off on their own if left untreated. Once you use copper in a tank, it is useless for anything else. You will never be able to keep any inverts in there, ever. Take a look at my Tang above. He fought off that level of ich with no treatement at all. There were five other fish in the tank with him and no other fish ever came down with it either. It's been over a year and my tank is still ich free.

Don't panic. Oftentimes ich is brought on by stress, especially in Tangs. A lot of reefers will not even qt their fish because switching tanks brings extra stress to the fish. Oftentimes, a fish won't show sign of ich in a qt by himself, only to get it once in a community tank.

There are many opinions on this subject, but, as long as he is still eating and swimming, I am a firm believer in letting him fight ich off with no meds. I think he'll be a much healthier fish afterwards