Confused if my fish has Ich

[ronmorales]

Hey everyone,

I have had my tank up and running for 1 yr and finally decided to put 3 Tangs in 120 gallon tank. Everything was fine for about week then the Tangs (Gold Rim, Powder Blue and Yellow) all started to have bumpy skin yesterday morning. No white spots in the morning. Then by early evening all 3 had white spots on face body and fins.

I set up an emergency QT tank last night. Took out all 3 tangs which was a freaking hassle to catch. Put them in the QT tank. Now this morning all the white spots disappear for the most part. At least 90%.

Is this Ich or not?
Any suggestion?

 

[khushtram]

Thought I would share my experience. I bought my first tangs about 4 months ago. (Purple & bristle tooth) for the first few days they seemed stressed and skiddish. On day 3 they both developed ich. I kept calm and decided to feed more to build a better immune system for them. I also went out and bought a cleaner wrasse which helped a lot. The cleaner wrasse became best buds with my tangs and picks them clean all day long. After day 7 all the ich was gone. Knock on wood 4 months later I have yet to see a white spot.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Thought I would share my experience. I bought my first tangs about 4 months ago. (Purple & bristle tooth) for the first few days they seemed stressed and skiddish. On day 3 they both developed ich. I kept calm and decided to feed more to build a better immune system for them. I also went out and bought a cleaner wrasse which helped a lot. The cleaner wrasse became best buds with my tangs and picks them clean all day long. After day 7 all the ich was gone. Knock on wood 4 months later I have yet to see a white spot.

Great advice. May I ask what you fed, frequency and amount so the OP can follow suit.

 

[khushtram]

Frozen mysis once a day and the occasional brine shrimp enriched with spirulina for diversity. Also fed dried seaweed enriched with garlic to help improve the tang and wrasses immune system. I have to tell you my fish have never looked healthier and happier since I started this new feeding regime. Color, coat and sails look amazing !!!

 

[bluprntguy]

Thought I would share my experience. I bought my first tangs about 4 months ago. (Purple & bristle tooth) for the first few days they seemed stressed and skiddish. On day 3 they both developed ich. I kept calm and decided to feed more to build a better immune system for them. I also went out and bought a cleaner wrasse which helped a lot. The cleaner wrasse became best buds with my tangs and picks them clean all day long. After day 7 all the ich was gone. Knock on wood 4 months later I have yet to see a white spot.

"Wrasses do pick certain ectoparasites off fish, but Cryptocaryon irritans (marine ich) isn’t one of them. Even if it were, these wrasses couldn’t make any headway against the infective trophont stage of the parasite. At this point in its lifecycle, the ich parasite isn’t clambering over the surface of the fish’s body as one might imagine. Rather, it actually penetrates beneath the skin where it can feed with impunity and cannot be reached by cleaner organisms."

 

[khushtram]

"Wrasses do pick certain ectoparasites off fish, but Cryptocaryon irritans (marine ich) isn’t one of them. Even if it were, these wrasses couldn’t make any headway against the infective trophont stage of the parasite. At this point in its lifecycle, the ich parasite isn’t clambering over the surface of the fish’s body as one might imagine. Rather, it actually penetrates beneath the skin where it can feed with impunity and cannot be reached by cleaner organisms."

Well... if the wrasse didn’t help I believe the feeding regime did .

 

[bluprntguy]

Well... if the wrasse didn’t help I believe the feeding regime did .

There are four ways to cure ich, all require moving all the fish from the display tank to a hospital tank:

1. Hyposalinity
2. Copper
3. Chloroquine Phosphate
4. Tank Transfer

 

[infinite0180]

One day when i own my own house and have the extra time i will have an ich free system! In the meantime i feed heavy and try to reduce as much stressors on my tank as possible. So far so good living with ich... i do realize im playing with fire but i dont really have a choice in the matter.

 

[khushtram]

One day when i own my own house and have the extra time i will have an ich free system! In the meantime i feed heavy and try to reduce as much stressors on my tank as possible. So far so good living with ich... i do realize im playing with fire but i dont really have a choice in the matter.

I do the same I personally don’t believe in qt systems because I don’t want my inhabitants depending on treatment to fight diseases. Imo a fish that battles diseases and sickness on its own only makes his immune system much stronger and hardier. Just my 2 cents

 

[bluprntguy]

I do the same I personally don’t believe in qt systems because I don’t want my inhabitants depending on treatment to fight diseases. Imo a fish that battles diseases and sickness on its own only makes his immune system much stronger and hardier. Just my 2 cents

Our aquariums are captive systems. It’s actually not that difficult to observe and/or treat every fish you put in to avoid subjecting fish to easily avoidable diseases.

I get that you “believe” that fighting diseases make fish stronger, but I know of no reputable research that proves this. Do you?

 

[khushtram]

“Imo” trial and error my friend . When Mother Nature sets up a qt for sick fish I’ll do the same. I am in no shape or form an expert on this I just gave my input to fellow reefer. This is not a debate on who’s wrong or right. Just sharing my experience on what helped my fish stay healthy and thrive.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Ich management works ok for ich, not so much for velvet, brook, and uronema however [emoji15]

OP, the coming and going of “spots” is part of the parasites natural life-cycle. The spots themselves are not parasites, but an excess mucous production at the insertion sites.

Once the parasites “burrows” through the skin and settles in to feed, the spots will fade. After they have eaten their fill, the parasites drop off of the fish and settle in your substrate to reproduce. For ich, this cycle can take several days to a week, velvet is much faster and more numerous and symptoms will generally return within 12-48 hours.

Fish don’t become “immune” to parasites, they just begin to have less of a visual reaction (no mucous spots) but the parasites are still there, and often aim for the gills, eyes, and other easy access points.

 

[khushtram]

Ich management works ok for ich, not so much for velvet, brook, and uronema however [emoji15]

OP, the coming and going of “spots” is part of the parasites natural life-cycle. The spots themselves are not parasites, but an excess mucous production at the insertion sites.

Once the parasites “burrows” through the skin and settles in to feed, the spots will fade. After they have eaten their fill, the parasites drop off of the fish and settle in your substrate to reproduce. For ich, this cycle can take several days to a week, velvet is much faster and more numerous and symptoms will generally return within 12-48 hours.

Fish don’t become “immune” to parasites, they just begin to have less of a visual reaction (no mucous spots) but the parasites are still there, and often aim for the gills, eyes, and other easy access points.

Again I am no expert but I never stated fish become “immune” to sickness or parasites. I clearly stated I want to build a better “immune system”. Paul b has a great post on his 47+ years of reefing and helping to build a better immune system for his fish .I’m just sharing what has helped me through my own experience of reef keeping. The op should follow whatever he thinks is convenient for his own setup as every reef tank is different. Again this is not a thread on debates on who is right or wrong it is a thread from a fellow reefer asking for help and or suggestions.

 

[bluprntguy]

Again I am no expert but I never stated fish become “immune” to sickness or parasites. I clearly stated I want to build a better “immune system”. Paul b has a great post on his 47+ years of reefing and helping to build a better immune system for his fish .I’m just sharing what has helped me through my own experience of reef keeping. The op should follow whatever he thinks is convenient for his own setup as every reef tank is different. Again this is not a thread on debates on who is right or wrong it is a thread from a fellow reefer asking for help and or suggestions.

Yes. The OP asked if it was ich. Which it most likely is. Your very first post included false information about ich that simply isn’t true. Fish don’t “build up an immunity” to ich, they simply stop displaying the symptoms. Cleaner fish, don’t remove ich from infected fish.

As hobbyists, we actually do have scientific information about fish and diseases now. There is no reason to listen to old wives tales about ich when we know exactly how to treat it and how long it persists in captive systems.

And for the record, the OP had already done the “right” thing by removing the fish from his display tank and moving them to a quarantine tank, presumably for treatment. You were the one advocating for him to dump them back in and just let them live with it.

 

[khushtram]

Yes. The OP asked if it was ich. Which it most likely is. Your very first post included false information about ich that simply isn’t true. Fish don’t “build up an immunity” to ich, they simply stop displaying the symptoms. Cleaner fish, don’t remove ich from infected fish.

As hobbyists, we actually do have scientific information about fish and diseases now. There is no reason to listen to old wives tales about ich when we know exactly how to treat it and how long it persists in captive systems.

And for the record, the OP had already done the “right” thing by removing the fish from his display tank and moving them to a quarantine tank, presumably for treatment. You were the one advocating for him to dump them back in and just let them live with it.

#Salty

 

[cancun]

Hey everyone,

I have had my tank up and running for 1 yr and finally decided to put 3 Tangs in 120 gallon tank. Everything was fine for about week then the Tangs (Gold Rim, Powder Blue and Yellow) all started to have bumpy skin yesterday morning. No white spots in the morning. Then by early evening all 3 had white spots on face body and fins.

I set up an emergency QT tank last night. Took out all 3 tangs which was a freaking hassle to catch. Put them in the QT tank. Now this morning all the white spots disappear for the most part. At least 90%.

Is this Ich or not?
Any suggestion?

I was following along....I am sorry about your fish.....do you have pics of your fish for us? That might help verify for sure. Also how are they doing today?