What is it...ID Please

[CT Reefer]

My new PBT has developed white spots above one of his eyes. He has had them for two weeks. They started as spots and have progressed to what you see in the photo below. I thought initially it was ICH, but now I am not so sure. I've tried an initial in tank treatment of increasing meals, adding Garlic and Selcon to food and ensuring there is always seaweed in the clip. No improvement. He is eating and is active. I want to put him in QT, but not sure what to treat him with without a positive ID. I did have an ICH out break in the DT, so I know I'll really have to move all my fish and go the fallow route, but for now, this guy is the only one that looks ill. Recommendations would be appreciated.

Kathy

 

[DanK13]

From what I can tell in the photos it appears to be Crypt. You should treat it as soon as possible. If it gets to the gills and starts scratching it will further its stress.

Your best approach to this is a two month copper treatment in a quarantine tank since copper will wipe out any invert it comes in contact with. You could also do a formalin treatment in replace of the copper but in my experience its not quite as effective but will work. Just make sure to isolate the fish since many inverts can have adverse reactions to formaldehyde. There are a number of products that will kill both Ich and Crypt so if you have a freshwater system you get the bonus of using it for both

Unfortunately the system is effected as well so you are going to need to do a couple things. First slow the flow through the UV sterilizer slightly. Not so much that it will put it to critical heat of manufacturer specs, but enough to increase the dwell time to kill unwanted "bad guys" in the water. You can also perform more than frequent partial water changes. Not so frequent as to stress fish and inverts but often enough to rid these guys from the water column. Crypt is a parasite so it will be cruising the tank looking for a host. Your goal is to rid the majority of them before they find a home.

Good Luck.

 

[MrTuskfish]

The scarring over the eyes isn't crypt (Ich); but the white spots on the fins sure look like it. I've never seen anything quite like the eye/face problems; maybe a form of HLLE or infection from a previous parasite attack, but that's pure guess. IMO & IME; the only cure for ich is to put all fish in a QT and leave the DT fishless for 8+weeks. Then, treat fish in the QT with copper, hypo, or tank-transfer. the stickies at the top of the disease forum will give you a lot of info. This is a PITA, I know; but, assuming your tank has ich, sooner or later it will become a disaster. Ich cannot be "managed' indefinitely . When you're done with this; QT all new fish and never face this again. A QT is vital, not just something nice to have.