Fowler display tank has ich

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

Three tangs now have cloudy eyes today. Eyes also look a bit like they are bulging. What could this be, how can I treat it and what happens if left untreated?

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

I think it is bacterial because it happened as soon as I started copper. Before copper they ich but eyes were normal.

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

I also believe gem tang is showing signs of hlle and purple tang showing early signs.

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

On closer look the eyes don't seem to be bulging that much. They could be inflamed from the excess ich they had. Believe it or not purple tang had a lot more yesterday

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

Let me know what you all think @Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

payrawsa · Feb 27, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Can you postpone the shipment? It is never a good idea to add new fish to a group of currently sick fish - too many things can go wrong, no treatment is 100% certain or totally without risk.
Of the fish you listed the cowfish and flame angel are two that can be sensitive to copper. I’ve put them into 100% copper right away, but both species do better if you can ramp them up over 24 hours.
Jay

I am not really able to postpone the shipment

Jay Hemdal · Feb 27, 2023

payrawsa said:
I think it is bacterial because it happened as soon as I started copper. Before copper they ich but eyes were normal.

Copper does not cause bacterial issues. Uncontrolled ich can cause secondary bacterial infections though.
Jay

Jay Hemdal · Feb 27, 2023

payrawsa said:
Let me know what you all think @Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

Some of the spots on the purple tang may be mucus plugs, a short term reaction to stressors, including ich or copper. The fish may also still have ich.
Jay

vetteguy53081 · Feb 27, 2023

I too see mucus plugs and with size of dots - Marine ich

That does look like marine ich, Cryptocaryon. Purple tangs also get benign mucus plugs, but see how some spots are on the fins? That is more a sign of ich, so is the rapid changing number of spots.

Your course going forward is going to be complicated. You won't be able to treat with copper or hyposalinity in that tank (I can see that one Zoa at least). That means you would need to move all of the fish to a treatment tank - no small task!

The number of spots may put you beyond the "ich management" stage, where if you keep the stress really low, and use really powerful UV, and siphon off the sand early every morning, you might be able to get this to go into remission. What people don't realize is that the ich trophonts themselves are stressors and something called propagule pressure comes into play - where no matter what preventative steps you take, the disease progresses to the acute stage; the spots increase, the fish stop feeding, develop secondary bacterial infections and then die.

payrawsa · Mar 1, 2023

I've maintained therapeutic levels of copper. Achilles tang looks almost like there's powder on him. Nothing fuzzy or bacterial. Just a powdered look. He is swimming into powerhead at times which makes me suspect velvet. Appreciate any feedback @Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

payrawsa · Mar 1, 2023

Here are some images

Jay Hemdal · Mar 1, 2023

payrawsa said:
Here are some images

That isn’t velvet, the spots are too large. With velvet you get rapid breathing and sort of a glassy look, you won’t see discrete spots. This is either ich and/or mucus plugs.
What copper are you using, what is the concentration and how long has it been at that level?
Jay

payrawsa · Mar 1, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
That isn’t velvet, the spots are too large. With velvet you get rapid breathing and sort of a glassy look, you won’t see discrete spots. This is either ich and/or mucus plugs.
What copper are you using, what is the concentration and how long has it been at that level?
Jay

Started Saturday. So 4 days ago. Coppersafe started at 2.13 ppm. I added some more now its at 2.3.