Diagnosis please - Blue hippo tang

[Blakjax]

I have this fish in qt. Using copper power steady at 1.75 for 3 weeks. Did a water change yesterday. The water was pretty stirred up and it’s only a 30 Gallon tank. Premixed copper in new water prior to filling the tank. Today I notice an outbreak. I also have a smaller blue tang and yellow tang in the tank. Neither of them are showing any signs. Is this hlle? The white spots have me concerned.

 

[MetaKnight101]

Some white spots appear to bulge, while some are flat. This could be a combination of both ich and flukes. Since you said you kept your copper power at 1.75 it is perhaps possible that during your water change your copper levels dropped and that you measured your premixed copper water levels wrong. This drop-in copper level would allow ich to ressurface.

This is a severe HLLE on a fish for your reference, which is something entirely different.

 

[Blakjax]

I checked copper levels before and after with Hannah checker. Pretty sure they didn’t change. At this point I hope it is ich because he’s still in qt. But I find it odd that ich was still present after 3 weeks of copper.

 

[MetaKnight101]

I checked copper levels before and after with Hannah checker. Pretty sure they didn’t change. At this point I hope it is ich because he’s still in qt. But I find it odd that ich was still present after 3 weeks of copper.

It takes 30 days for Copper to kill ich, though alternatively, you could have moved your fish out of the tank into an observation tank after the two-week mark. You're able to do this because the copper keeps ich in a dormant state and it allows you to transfer your fish into a different tank, ich free. At this point, you should just continue what you're doing, just restart the 30 days cycle or two-week cycle over again.

 

[Blakjax]

It takes 30 days for Copper to kill ich, though alternatively, you could have moved your fish out of the tank into an observation tank after the two-week mark. You're able to do this because the copper keeps ich in a dormant state and it allows you to transfer your fish into a different tank, ich free. At this point, you should just continue what you're doing, just restart the 30 days cycle or two-week cycle over again.

So just leave him there? And restart the timer? The spots should go away again?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It’s difficult to see, but I think you should do a 5 minute diagnostic FW dip to rule out flukes...let me know if you haven’t done that before and I can walk you through it.
Jay

 

[Blakjax]

It’s difficult to see, but I think you should do a 5 minute diagnostic FW dip to rule out flukes...let me know if you haven’t done that before and I can walk you through it.
Jay

I thought about doing a dip. He’s currently in 1.75 copper. If I do a fresh water dip, can I put him back in the 1.75 copper? Or do I need to ramp back up again?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

You can put the fish immediately back into copper. Try dipping it in a dark container, and the examine the bottom of the container afterwards for flukes- they will look like gray sesame seeds, or fish scales.
Jay

 

[Lokmar]

If it's ick, tank transfer is the best way I've found to get rid of it. Every 3rd day, you move the fish into a different quarantine tank and then clean and disinfect the old one. I usually do no less than 3 cycles of this but I think the recommended number is 4. What you're doing is interrupting the life cycle of the parasite by moving the fish out of the infected water before the parasite cysts can hatch new parasites. You usually wee a dramatic decrease in white spots after the second transfer.

 

[IKD]

If it's ick, tank transfer is the best way I've found to get rid of it. Every 3rd day, you move the fish into a different quarantine tank and then clean and disinfect the old one. I usually do no less than 3 cycles of this but I think the recommended number is 4. What you're doing is interrupting the life cycle of the parasite by moving the fish out of the infected water before the parasite cysts can hatch new parasites. You usually wee a dramatic decrease in white spots after the second transfer.

I’ve done the same method and works great. The drawback is needing extra equipment and salt.

 

[Jax15]

There's probably no harm in a 5 min freshwater dip at this point, then back in the copper. Agree with the other poster's suggestion to use a dark container, with lots of bubbles/airstone, and check what's left in the container after. The "spots" might just jump off in the fresh h2o.

Tank transfer people have had success with, but not everyone has the equipment. I've never had a tang perish from a freshwater dip personally.

 

[Lokmar]

To do tank transfer, I use 2, 10-15gal rubbermaid tubs, and for each- a small heater, and a biowheel filter. I trim the tub lid for the biowheel filter and heater cable and use it to cover the tub and prevent fish jumping out. I feed the fish right before transferring so as not to foul the new water. The initial investment is under $100.