Fish ich or something else?

Gsparker71 · Jul 15, 2013

Hi all,

I am relatively new to this hobby, and have a question. I have a humu rectangle, Spanish Hogfish, and snowflake eel (the first two are juveniles, about 2 1/2 long). The humu and Spanish have spots that appear to be ich (the humu in particular), but I am not positive. Other than the spots in question, I see no other issues. They both eat normal (the humu is always a pig), are very active, do not seem to have any respiratory distress, don't rub on rocks or substrate, or display any unusual behavior. I am attaching A couple pics where you can see some of it. The little buggers won't sit still for a photo. ;-) I just want to do everything I can to verify before I go through the whole quarantine process with them. Any thoughts, questions, or observations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

fraggingfish · Jul 15, 2013

It's definitely ich, it'll start off in the gills of the fish then you'll notice it on the exterior.
At that point, it may be too late but your best bet is to QT the fish.

If you have a fish only in your system, I recommend you utilize Cupramine, since it's a bit too late to QT anything now.
There's also Hyposalinity, but it is very risky to run both Cupramine and Hypo. It'll damage your fish's bladder and they'll perish in a weeks time under dual treatment.

For future reference I recommend using Prazipro for new fish introduction.
Dipping them like you dip corals in Revive or CoralRx will help the fish, and leave your system happy.

Reefing Madness · Jul 15, 2013

I don't see any on its body. If there isn't any, I'd not say its ICH then.

Gsparker71 · Jul 15, 2013

Thanks for the info. What do you mean by too late? Survival? Why not move to a quarantine tank?

Reefing Madness · Jul 15, 2013

you still have the option to move him to a QT, but if he's got it, that doens't neccesarily mean you will save him. Depends on how infected he is. But by the looks of it, I'd say your safe either way, because it just looks like a fungus on his fins. Do you see any on his body?? You'd have to look closely as he is white.