Treat for Ich if Unsure

[Fletch7]

I'm back in the game after about 10 years. Currently have two b&w clownfish in a 10g QT for observation. A 40g DT running separate with dry rock / sand and a handful of snails. The clowns had stringy poop so I am currently treating with prazi and metro to clear that up.

A day or so after starting that prazi/metro I noticed tiny white specs (pin-point size) on the portion of the tail fins and dorsal fins of both fish. The strange thing is, the spots are only on the clear portion of the rays, not the rest of the fin or body of the fish. It's been that way for about 5 days and hasn't changed. The fish are behaving fine and eating very well. Water parameters are excellent (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0-5 nitrate, 80F, 1.024 sg).

My question is, should I treat the fish assuming this is ich if they are otherwise doing OK? Would this be an overreaction at this point? I was told that not all white spots are ich or velvet and that it could just be an effect of stress on the mucus coat that will resolve itself. I've only ever tried copper in the past, but could try hypo. I think neither are particularly easy for me or the fish (I had disastrous results with copper a long time ago). That said, I obviously don't want the fish to carry anything into the DT after QT.

 

[Dmorty217]

Can you post a picture? Usually fish will be covered in white spots if it is ich or velvet.

 

[pfan151]

There's no reason to not treat every fish for ich if they are in qt already anyway.

 

[Fletch7]

These are the best photos i could get. You can clearly see a spot on the tail in one and on the upper fin on the other. There are a few smaller spots that just don't seem to show up on camera. Around 5 spots in total on both fish - only on the clear portion of the fins. I highly doubt it is the onset of velvet since it has been almost 5 days and is no worse.

I guess I prefer not to treat fish unless I know what the problem is. Treatments for ich, especially copper, do damage to the fish and I'd like to avoid if possible.

 

[pfan151]

These are the best photos i could get. You can clearly see a spot on the tail in one and on the upper fin on the other. There are a few smaller spots that just don't seem to show up on camera. Around 5 spots in total on both fish - only on the clear portion of the fins. I highly doubt it is the onset of velvet since it has been almost 5 days and is no worse.

I guess I prefer not to treat fish unless I know what the problem is. Treatments for ich, especially copper, do damage to the fish and I'd like to avoid if possible.

Hypo or TTM does no damage to the fish. IMO the only way to keep your display totally ich free is to treat every fish before they go in.

 

[Fletch7]

Hypo or TTM does no damage to the fish. IMO the only way to keep your display totally ich free is to treat every fish before they go in.

**if done right, LOL. I've never done either so confidence is low. From what I've read, both are difficult as far as maintaining stable parameters.

Back to my main question though. Are spots like what is in the photos ever just nothing or is it always a sign of a disease that needs to be addressed?

 

[pfan151]

Can't see much in he first pic but the second would concern me for being the beginning stages of ich. If it's not brook you could wait a few days to see if it gets worse though. Have you done a formalin dip?

 

[Fletch7]

No formalin. I've only done prazi/metro for intestinal parasites. Formalin is for brook and velvet right? I doubt it is either since like I said it's been about 5 days and no change. I think they would be in bad shape or gone by now if either of those.

I think my plan is to observe for a few more days to see if the spots disappear and then reappear later. If so, it's likely ich and I will probably do copper.

How difficult really is hypo? I'm not a beginner but certainly no expert. I don't have the ability to constantly monitor pH. I've seen guides that say pH should be adjusted 2 or 3 times a day. I don't have that option.