help!

aisha16als · Mar 26, 2017

hello ,I was refered to you to find some help for my fish... I have been having trouble with ich. I have a 150 gal talk.
a snowflake eel, a huma trigger, bursa trigger ,undulated trigger , 2 tobi puffers , a dogface puffer , and a boxfish, . I've heard hyposalinity was a good thing to do. also life gaurd.. idk what to do ,can anyone help?

jsker · Mar 26, 2017

Hopefully this reading will be helpful link.

I use metroplex with focus to bind the med to the frozen food, so that the fish ingest the med. I also add vitijmarn m, and c to the mix to best the immune system.

I am going to call in the #reefsquad for more help

#mods you might want to move this one over to disease and treatment

melypr1985 · Mar 27, 2017

Can you post some pictures of the fish with ich? It's best to confirm that it's actually ich and not velvet.

JaimeAdams · Mar 27, 2017

@Humblefish @melypr1985 would know if all of those fish tolerate specific treatments

Maritimer · Mar 27, 2017

Hi, Aisha16als - and welcome to Reef2Reef!

Hyposalinity (maintaining your salt water at a concentration of 1.009) can work, but _only_ against ich - that's why Melypr1985 (one of the best folks I know to help you out with a fish health problem!) asked if you could post a photo of one (or several) of the fish who are having trouble.

There's another disease out there, called "velvet" - and it makes ich look like a spring day filled with daffodils and birdsong. _Velvet_is_curable_, but requires a slightly different approach than you would use for ich.

~Bruce

aisha16als · Mar 27, 2017

okay thank you guys so much im will post pics in the morning so that y'all can help me verify that. and omg I am praying its not velvet.. if it makes ich that delightful lol but they have been itching..darting up against LR to scratch.. bright white spots all over fins, loss of appetite has not happend and I have garlic gaurd already here just in case.

Maritimer · Mar 27, 2017

Garlic is a wonderful appetite stimulant, so it may be helpful - but it won't kill the parasites, and likely won't even make them very uncomfortable. You'll want something stronger - and not reef-safe - and it's likely to have copper or Chloroquine Phosphate in it.

Exactly which medicine or form of copper you use - and how you use it - will vary slightly, based on whether you've got ich or velvet. (Velvet also does its dirty work _fast_, so the quicker you can get those photos the better!)

~Bruce

aisha16als · Mar 27, 2017

Maritimer said:
Garlic is a wonderful appetite stimulant, so it may be helpful - but it won't kill the parasites, and likely won't even make them very uncomfortable. You'll want something stronger - and not reef-safe - and it's likely to have copper or Chloroquine Phosphate in it.

Exactly which medicine or form of copper you use - and how you use it - will vary slightly, based on whether you've got ich or velvet. (Velvet also does its dirty work _fast_, so the quicker you can get those photos the better!)

~Bruce

I have not used anything with copper just lifeguard.

Maritimer · Mar 27, 2017

Lifeguard makes no claim of being useful in salt water - and I suspect that it isn't.

(Given that Lifeguard is available from Petco and I don't know where you shop for aquatic supplies, I'll just let you know now that the only copper product I've seen at Petco, Kordon's "Safe Copper Aid" is diluted by about 75%, and nearly useless. I found that I needed three and a half bottles to raise my copper to therapeutic levels.)

Were you able to snap a photo or grab a video yet?

~Bruce

4FordFamily · Mar 27, 2017

Photos would be immensely helpful. My personal advice is coppersafe in a quarantinr tank and running your display tank fallow 76 days

Zack K · Mar 27, 2017

Welcome to R2R! Looks like you have all the right people in here to help. Do you quarantine before you dump them in the DT? I wish you luck!

melypr1985 · Mar 27, 2017

the biggest problem is that the eel, boxfish and possibly the puffers will have issues with copper. That's why we want to verify that this is ich and not velvet. Quick action is needed until we know more. Chlorquine Phosphate should be fine to use on all of those fish if you are able to get a vet to prescribe it (depending on where you live). We want to confirm the diagnosis first though.

aisha16als · Mar 27, 2017

aisha16als · Mar 27, 2017

Humblefish · Mar 27, 2017

@aisha16als I can't see anything on him. Do the white dots look like this (ich - larger white dots on the body)?

Or like this (velvet - tiny white specks on the fin)?

Maritimer · Mar 27, 2017

melypr1985 said:
the biggest problem is that the eel, boxfish and possibly the puffers will have issues with copper. That's why we want to verify that this is ich and not velvet. Quick action is needed until we know more. Chlorquine Phosphate should be fine to use on all of those fish if you are able to get a vet to prescribe it (depending on where you live). We want to confirm the diagnosis first though.

Good catch, Meredith!! I hadn't noticed the eel, and didn't realize that about boxfish. (You'd think plectognaths would be more resistant to this stuff, but even triggers can be so susceptible . . . ) . . . @aisha16als, please listen to Humblefish and Melypr1985 - they've helped my fish out of several unpleasant situations, and they _know_ what they're doing. They - and I - would love to see your fish happy and healthy, and your tank making you smile the way it should.

~Bruce