Please help--is my fish sick?

[mmarisca]

Hello all, I'm about 2.5 months in and everything has been going exceedingly well by all accounts. I got a Kole Tang about a month ago. I did not use a QT. In fact, my plans this week on my day off was to get that all started up because I didn't want to add another fish without one. In the last few days I've been noticing some faint white spots on my Kole Tang in morning. The picture attached isn't the best but I think you can make out what I'm talking about. The funny thing is that after a few hours with the lights on these faint spots seem to go away. His behavior seems fine, is eating good, but every morning I wake up thinking he's in rough shape.

I did a water change yesterday thinking that would help. Should I set my QT up with water from my tank and medicate him just in case? This is my first experience with sickness in saltwater and have read a number of threads on the site about it but really could use some guidance. Thanks.

 

[Nina51]

can't really tell anything by the pictures. it could be any number of things, ich probably being the most likely. do you ever see him rubbing himself on rocks or on the sand bed?

i would go ahead with your qt plans but do NOT use tank water. use freshly made saltwater that has been mixed (with a power head) for 24 hours. IF it's any sort of disease, it could be carried over with your tank water.

also, there are sticky threads in the disease forum that may be able to help you diagnose if there is a problem.

 

[mmarisca]

Thanks Nina..no he seems to be acting fine. So i can just put him in fresh saltwater even though it hasn't been cycled?

 

[Sk8r]

Cycling does nothing for the fish except dispose of fish poo and create an ecosystem: in qt or hospital, that is not the idea. Change out the filter floss when it stains brown with bacteria at any spot on it, which may be once a day. Pillow floss from the fabric store is a cheap source of floss.