Horned Nose Boxfish

Reefer_Hector · May 30, 2024

Hey All!!!
I have this Horned nosed boxfish. I've had him for 2 months. He was quarantined and up to now I've had no issues. I recently added a Starry Blenny and noticed that he would take all the nory and stressed him out. He now developed ich. Needless to say that I had to take the Blenny out.
I'm now dealing with his ich(see pics)
Any suggestions?!

This is what we are doing...
-I'm dosing Poly Lab Medic twice a day.
-Raised the temp to 83° gradually
Parameters are
•PH-8.2
•NH4-.05
•PO4- .03
•NO3-2.5
•KH-8.8
•I have a protein skimmer and UV Sterilizer.

It's been 3 weeks with no end of the ich in sight. His appetite has not change and is eating nory and brine shrimp 2-3 times a day

Lavey29 · May 30, 2024

He needs to be treated in QT tank with copper for 30 days. The other fish to and your DT needs to fallow for 45 to 76 days.

Jekyl · May 30, 2024

Agree with above. Copper power at 2.25 for 30 days measured reliably. Here are some relevant stickies.

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

45 Day Fallow periods

I've been doing some research into the "76 day fallow period". I never heard of that prior to coming to Reef2Reef this past summer. I had always used 32 days as the maximum time for a tomont to remain viable under tropical conditions, and then I would round up to 45 days to help ensure that...

www.reef2reef.com

vetteguy53081 · May 30, 2024

Reefer_Hector said:
Hey All!!!
I have this Horned nosed boxfish. I've had him for 2 months. He was quarantined and up to now I've had no issues. I recently added a Starry Blenny and noticed that he would take all the nory and stressed him out. He now developed ich. Needless to say that I had to take the Blenny out.
I'm now dealing with his ich(see pics)
Any suggestions?!

This is what we are doing...
-I'm dosing Poly Lab Medic twice a day.
-Raised the temp to 83° gradually
Parameters are
•PH-8.2
•NH4-.05
•PO4- .03
•NO3-2.5
•KH-8.8
•I have a protein skimmer and UV Sterilizer.

It's been 3 weeks with no end of the ich in sight. His appetite has not change and is eating nory and brine shrimp 2-3 times a day

This fish prone to flukes and ich is best treated with hyposalinity at 1.009, however they are toleratnt of copper at full dose for them at 2.25 for a full 30 days. Other tankmates may not show signs but are exposed and should also be treated. Add aeration during treatment with air stone.
Leave display without fish for 6-8 weeks to allow parasites to die off without a host fish

Jay Hemdal · May 30, 2024

Don't raise the temperature! That is bad advice for marine ich. It is something that works with freshwater ich, but marine ich's best temperature is 82 degrees - so raising it to that point just helps the ich parasite grow! I wish that bit of bad advice would stop, but it is too firmly entrenched to ever go away.

Polyp Lab Medic usually fails to cure moderate cases of ich like this.

Hyposalinity might be an option if you don't have invertebrates in the tank.

Copper is tough to use because you can't have invertebrates present AND the copper tends to bind with any calcium-based material like coral sand and rocks.

Jay

Reefer_Hector · May 30, 2024

Hey Jay and Vette,
Thanks for the advice. I am a little conflicted because most of what I read is that boxfish cannot tolerate copper.
I will bring down the temp.

Jay Hemdal · May 30, 2024

Reefer_Hector said:
Hey Jay and Vette,
Thanks for the advice. I am a little conflicted because most of what I read is that boxfish cannot tolerate copper.
I will bring down the temp.

Amine-based copper products (coppersafe or copper power) are much safer than ionic copper products, you don’t want to use ionic copper on boxfish/cowfish.

Reefer_Hector · Jun 1, 2024

I placed my bixfix in the qt tank and used Copper power. I will keep you guys posted . Thank you all.

laughing tang · Jul 20, 2024

Reefer_Hector said:
I placed my bixfix in the qt tank and used Copper power. I will keep you guys posted . Thank you all.

Hi there, how did he do? We also have a horned nose boxfish with ich, has been in hyposalinity for 43 days now ...

Jay Hemdal · Jul 20, 2024

laughing tang said:
Hi there, how did he do? We also have a horned nose boxfish with ich, has been in hyposalinity for 43 days now ...

Has the boxfish been in full hypo for that time (a specific gravity of 1.009)? That works virtually 100% of the time, so you may not be seeing actual ich.