Powder Blue ICH

[dahenley]

I have had my powder blue tank for over a year now. i originally had it in my 55gal and after about 6 months, we moved houses and i upgraded to a 240display (feb. 2009). the tang had been doing very well. about two weeks ago, i noticed a few white spots in its front fins. after a few days, i noticed that it looks like it has bubbles attached to its sides. it kind of looked like my fish hit puberty. i dont really want to chemically dose anything in my tank to fix this problem. he eats all the time and doesn't rub on the rocks or sand. i purchased some garlic to add to the frozen food to try and see if that would help. i asked my local fish store, and they said that i could put him in a tank of Declorinated Water for 5min and then put him back in the tank. i am kind of scared to dunk my saltwater fish in pure H2O. would this work? are there any other ways to treat this? i am open for all suggestions.
thanks

 

[jonel2k9]

i have that question too

 

[Gwynhidwy]

A freshwater dip will not harm the parasite that causes ich once it attaches to the fish.

If it is ich, you can either remove all of your fish and treat them in a hospital tank, leaving your DT completely fishless for eight or more weeks, or you can live with ich in your system.

 

[dahenley]

its only one fish. (i have about 10-15) i was told that a fresh water dip would pop the bubbles on its body? what would i treat the fish with in a QT tank? i dont have one set up, but i do have a few extra tanks lying around. (also, how long do i treat the fish)

 

[Gwynhidwy]

Even if only one fish is showing signs, all of your fish have been exposed and therefore need to be treated.

The first thing that I would do is be as sure as you can of the diagnosis. There are lots of reasons that fish get spots on their body. Could it be sand? Microbubbles? Lymphocystis?

The freshwater dip will not damage the parasite. The white spots are not the parasite, but actually the fish's skin. The skin will protect the parasite from the freshwater. If you decide to do a dip, make sure that the water is not only dechlorinated ( I wouldn't use anything other than RO/DI), but it also needs to match in pH and temperature.

I would treat the fish with Cupramine, if it is ich. The treatment will only take a couple of weeks, but you must leave the DT completely fishless for eight weeks or more. This allows time for observation of the fish to ensure that the treatment worked.