Ich

[jsalt1]

I have been reading through the various Ich treatments and science of the parasite etc.

I have a yellow that that did great for about 3.5 weeks and on Sunday showed a few white dots they progressively covered more of the body and this morning it was dead. He was eating and still active. I assumed it was Ich.

Tank parameters were good. Its a 55 Gal tank with 10 G sump. Salinity was 1.025, Ph and KH were good and nitrites at 5 ppm. Temp was at 80 but now down to 78.

His symptoms didn't show very long before killing him (three days). I have two clowns in the tank which have been there two months and a six line wrasse that was put in the same time as the tang. The Wrasse and clowns are doing great, active eating, no signs of anything including Ich.

What do i do now? I can't dose / treat my DT as I have a pile of Corals, cleaner shrimp and snails. Should I pull out these three fish and quarantine for a set period of time? If I leave all the fish out of the DT is there a way to get all the parasite out of the DT?

One of the articles I was reading said the parasite sticks to the host for a week before dropping off and replicating and then moving to the next victim... if the tang only showed symptoms for 4 days is it possible the parasites didn't let go? Probably not.....

Anyways I could wait and see what happens... Maybe the healthy fish won't be affected by it due to good immunity. Just worry in the future about putting a new fish in the tank. I didn't quarantine these fish and in the future always will!

Just thought I would see if anyone had any suggestions at this point.

Thanks for your help.

 

[homer1475]

Ich can only be cured 3 ways. TTM, copper, and hyposalinity.

Pull the fish and research tank to tank method(TTM) for ich. I figured of the 3 methods this was the least stressful for the fish. Only way to get rid of it in your DT, is to let it lay fallow for 72 days(no fish, corals and inverts are fine).

I'm currently doing TTM, and am using 5 gallon buckets with heaters, airstones, and ammonia badges. I'm into my third transfer and all is doing well so far. After TTM my fish will go into QT for the remainder of the time, and be treated with 2 rounds of prazipro.

Good luck.

 

[jsalt1]

Ok thanks will do.
So if I pull my three remaining fish and put in QT then technically in 80 days or so my DT will be ich free? I can't even be sure my tang had ich in the first place so should I wait to see if the clown and wrasse display signs on Ich or just assume they will get it and pull them out now?

Thanks again.

 

[ThRoewer]

The timeline (3 to 5 days) from first noticeable symptoms to death don't line up with Cryptocaryon.
Amyloodinium and Brooklynella can both produce white bumps that someone unfamiliar with these diseases may take for Cryptocaryon nodules. And the timeline for sure fits much better.

My advice would be to treat with Chloroquine Phosphate in a hospital tank.
There are enough reports that it is also effective against Cryptocaryon and it for sure treats Amyloodinium and Brooklynella.

The DT should go fallow for at least 6 weeks (11 if you want to have high confidence eventually present Cryptocaryon is also gone)

 

[snorvich]

The timeline (3 to 5 days) from first noticeable symptoms to death don't line up with Cryptocaryon.
Amyloodinium and Brooklynella can both produce white bumps that someone unfamiliar with these diseases may take for Cryptocaryon nodules. And the timeline for sure fits much better.

Absolutely. Ich can eventually overwhelm a fish but it does not have a mortality time line as described. My educated guess is amyloodinium and the fish was acquired from a system running low level of copper.

 

[jsalt1]

Wow thanks for the input. I just googled both and the pictures that came up for various tangs looked like mine. They also showed some of the discoloration that I saw. Parts of him looked less yellow like around the lips etc.

So i will put out my clown and wrasse and QT. I will leave my DT with inverts and corals for min of 6 weeks - no fish.

In the QT tank should I treat with chloroquine phosphate right away or wait for a sign that maybe they have the same thing?

I read that there can be some respiratory issues and I felt like the tang was gasping a bit - temp was a bit high and thought that could be but when temp got back to normal range there was no change in the tang.


What makes you think that the source was dosing with copper? Just curious.

Thanks again - I really appreciate it!

 

[jsalt1]

Where does one buy Chloroquine phosphate!!! Is there a shelf name that it goes by?
thanks

 

[ThRoewer]

With velvet and brook I wouldn't wait for symptoms to show - by then it is already well advanced.
So treat right away prophylactic even if the survivors show no symptoms. Though with the wrasse I would check first alprazo's Chloroquine Phosphate primer thread if it is on the contradiction list.

As for the copper:
Low level copper can suppress Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium symptoms by weakening the parasites. But at the same time it weakens the fish's immune response and 2 to 3 weeks after the fish is out of the copper soup the parasite may come back with a vengeance. Even worse, Amyloodinium may develop a high tolerance against copper so that it won't be affected by a proper copper treatment later. That's why I would always advise against using copper if you are not sure you are only dealing with Cryptocaryon. And in that case TTM is more effective.

 

[ThRoewer]

Where does one buy Chloroquine phosphate!!! Is there a shelf name that it goes by?
thanks

New Life Spectrum Ick-Shield Powder - Amazon Prime has it.

 

[Martini5788]

Ick shield powder. Amazon search it. Blue and white bottle

 

[Martini5788]

Haha 42 second difference. But ya go to Amazon.

 

[jsalt1]

Thanks! Wont ship to Canada but i did find in online locally for twice the price! lol... Oh well such is life...
Thanks again for all your help.