Ich diagnosis

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

Okay...so I've noticed some white spots on my Bellus angel. She's not itching at all and seems to be eating fine. I don't notice spots on any other fish. Can anyone confirm ich? Could it be something else? I notice the spots the most on her fins.

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

Mike J. · Apr 28, 2013

Yup, I'd say your diagnosis is correct. Sometimes angels will combat it on their own if they're otherwise healthy. A cleaner shrimp or wrasse would help also.

mike007 · Apr 28, 2013

Looks like ich. How long have you had the fish? Can you quaratine fish and medicate? Sometimes if the fish is strong they will die off and fish will survive. Worst thing that could happen is this parasite infects others. Be best if you could remove and treat.

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

I've had her for about 2 months. I'd have to set up a quarantine, but it wouldn't be too difficult. Our skunk cleaner is obsessed with her...could he be picking at her too much?

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

florida reef · Apr 28, 2013

If the shrimp is picking too much the fish will let the shrimp know. In my experience with ich, or ich related symptoms, I just feed heavily and make sure the fish is getting plenty of food so it's strong enough to do what he needs to do to fight the ich. Quarantine would be even better..target feeding, medication and any other proven method to combat the ich.

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

florida reef said:
If the shrimp is picking too much the fish will let the shrimp know. In my experience with ich, or ich related symptoms, I just feed heavily and make sure the fish is getting plenty of food so it's strong enough to do what he needs to do to fight the ich. Quarantine would be even better..target feeding, medication and any other proven method to combat the ich.

I'm in the process of setting up a 10 gallon quarantine... is that large enough? (Its what I have spare) I'm planning on medicating...how long should I quarantine for?

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

KingOfPain86 · Apr 28, 2013

10gallon is fine. The cleaner shrimp won't do much for ich unfortunately. Get him in the QT then medicate him. Maybe a freshwater dip. You keep him in the QT till the ich is gone and he is healthy. Also keep an eye on your other fish. If he has it the tank has it. You other fish might be strong enough to fend off the ich.

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

KingOfPain86 said:
10gallon is fine. The cleaner shrimp won't do much for ich unfortunately. Get him in the QT then medicate him. Maybe a freshwater dip. You keep him in the QT till the ich is gone and he is healthy. Also keep an eye on your other fish. If he has it the tank has it. You other fish might be strong enough to fend off the ich.

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

Thanks! I'm heading to the LFS tomorrow after work. I'm planning on doing 25% water changes every other day. I have a regular hob filter and an air stone. Do I need anything else?

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

Oops...I have a heater too. :screwy:

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

mike007 · Apr 28, 2013

Get some cupermine it works great. Keep him in there untill all the ich is gone. If you are doing a reef ditch the hob filter. You need a skimmer, powerheads and good cured live rock.

stunreefer · Apr 28, 2013

Do some research on proper QT before moving forward... if you remove the angel and toss into a newly set up tank you'll be hard pressed for success.

FWIW, HOB filters are absolutely acceptable in a QT system, but they should be seasoned prior to introducing fish. I'm in the habit of using Dr. Tim's beneficial bacteria in my QT tanks as I break them down and nuke them (bleach) every time I cycle a fish through them.

Ich is now in your main display system, but honestly it probably already was (is in most, potentially all). Just something to keep in mind. Keep water quality high and feed often to ensure your other existing fish don't get infected as well... only way to be 100% sure ich is not present in display would be pull all of your fish and let display run fallow for minimum of six weeks.

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

stunreefer said:
Do some research on proper QT before moving forward... if you remove the angel and toss into a newly set up tank you'll be hard pressed for success.

FWIW, HOB filters are absolutely acceptable in a QT system, but they should be seasoned prior to introducing fish. I'm in the habit of using Dr. Tim's beneficial bacteria in my QT tanks as I break them down and nuke them (bleach) every time I cycle a fish through them.

Ich is now in your main display system, but honestly it probably already was (is in most, potentially all). Just something to keep in mind. Keep water quality high and feed often to ensure your other existing fish don't get infected as well... only way to be 100% sure ich is not present in display would be pull all of your fish and let display run fallow for minimum of six weeks.

Thanks for the tips. I'm planning on using water from my DT for the quarantine. I do weekly water changes and have had very consistent parameters, so it seemed odd that this fish showed signs of ich . I've read that some folks put baggies of substrate from the DT into the quarantine tank...in a filter sock or similar. thoughts? What if I remove the standard filter cartridge and put some kind of nitrogen/ammonia removing agent in instead?

We're planning on pulling the fish eventually, but I don't have a large enough tank to house everyone right now, so I'd like to at least treat the Bellus until I can get the bigger tank set up.

Thanks again!

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

rebecky45 · Apr 28, 2013

mike007 said:
Get some cupermine it works great. Keep him in there untill all the ich is gone. If you are doing a reef ditch the hob filter. You need a skimmer, powerheads and good cured live rock.

I have all that stuff in my DT.. I was referring to the QT tank.

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

navila06 · Apr 28, 2013

beautiful fish, I had a blue tang get ich I cannot QT, it has been a little over a month and the spots are gone and all the fish seem fine (knock on wood), I fed a little extra and raised the temp in the tank to 81Â°. hope yours makes it.

rebecky45 said:
Okay...so I've noticed some white spots on my Bellus angel. She's not itching at all and seems to be eating fine. I don't notice spots on any other fish. Can anyone confirm ich? Could it be something else? I notice the spots the most on her fins.

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

Mike J. · Apr 28, 2013

I use a HOB filter and water change water for my quarantine tank. Season the filter in my sump. Then throw it away and bleach everything between fish. But like stunreefer said "if you remove the angel and toss into a newly set up tank you'll be hard pressed for success." One reason is you'll really stress it out more. I've had angels recover from ich before, just keep it happy and well fed. If you've had the fish for two months the ich is already in your tank. I guess what's important is can you catch the fish in a trap or some way not to induce a lot of stress? Google cryptocaryon. Freshwater baths are effective. Almost every wild caught fish has dormant cryptocaryon cysts present in it's gills. The fish build an immunity to it.

KingOfPain86 · Apr 29, 2013

How long have you had your display tank up?

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

rebecky45 · Apr 29, 2013

KingOfPain86 said:
How long have you had your display tank up?

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

About 4 months, but we bought it as an established tank of at least 5 years.

Update on the fish: this morning, almost all spots are gone. Is it normal foe the spots to heal overnight? That seems quick...

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

jedimasterben · Apr 29, 2013

rebecky45 said:
About 4 months, but we bought it as an established tank of at least 5 years.

Update on the fish: this morning, almost all spots are gone. Is it normal foe the spots to heal overnight? That seems quick...

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

Yep. A bit of light reading on marine ich: Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

Mike J. · Apr 29, 2013

Well, that's good news. A couple of us on here were trying to tell you it might fight it off on it's own.

rebecky45 said:
About 4 months, but we bought it as an established tank of at least 5 years.

Update on the fish: this morning, almost all spots are gone. Is it normal foe the spots to heal overnight? That seems quick...

Sent from my XT907 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

Mike J. · Apr 29, 2013

Well, that was a refresher course. I read the thread. It's been awhile since I had to deal with MI. About five years ago I had a yellow tang die from it. I've always quarantined since then. I guess I'm just lucky and my aquarium is way past the 11 months that it takes for MI to complete it's life stage.