Ich in my tank

[Lacieja]

I recently treated my fish for ich with ich x. Now my juvenile emperor is very pale and hiding, not eating and I noticed my sleeper banded govie is not swimming. I have been lowering the salinity slowly each day to get to hyposalinity state. What is going on and how can I help them?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Pics and info on the tank/inhabitants? #fishmedic

 

[Lacieja]

125 gallon tank, 1 maroon clown, 1 sleeper banded gobie, 1 blue powder tang, 1 cleaner wrasse, 1 six line wrasse, 1 juvenile emporer

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

125 gallon tank, 1 maroon clown, 1 sleeper banded gobie, 1 blue powder tang, 1 cleaner wrasse, 1 six line wrasse, 1 juvenile emporer

The pictures are not up close enough for me to tell if the fish have active ich or not. The ingredients in Ich-X really don't work for marine ich (it does work for freshwater ich, but that's a different parasite).

Are the fish breathing normally and still eating?
What is the ammonia level in the tank?

Hyposalinity is probably your best option. Here are my instructions for that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Ross]

It looks like you have some HOB filters on there and I don’t see any ATO sensors. That will make it difficult to pull off hypo in my opinion.

The good news is I don’t see any corals and not much live rock, so you could remove whatever inverts you have and run copper straight in the display without removing all the fish.

 

[Lacieja]

The pictures are not up close enough for me to tell if the fish have active ich or not. The ingredients in Ich-X really don't work for marine ich (it does work for freshwater ich, but that's a different parasite).

Are the fish breathing normally and still eating?
What is the ammonia level in the tank?

Hyposalinity is probably your best option. Here are my instructions for that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

The blue tang is the only one who looks like she has ich. I took pictures of the emporer and tang. The tang is eating and swimming acting normal...it is the goby and emporer I am worried about as they are not eating or swimming.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The blue tang is the only one who looks like she has ich. I took pictures of the emporer and tang. The tang is eating and swimming acting normal...it is the goby and emporer I am worried about as they are not eating or swimming.

I don't see distinct pinhead white spots which is the hallmark of ich. However, when fish have had ich for over a week, the spots tend to fade into a generalized skin cloudiness. Trouble is, other diseases can cause cloudy skin and not eating.

If you can't tell if the fish are breathing fast or not, you can post a video here and I can evaluate them. The reason that this is vital is that another disease, Velvet can cause cloudy skin, but hyposalinity doesn't work for that, so I need to rule that out.

Also, what is the ammonia level?

Jay

 

[Lacieja]

I don't see distinct pinhead white spots which is the hallmark of ich. However, when fish have had ich for over a week, the spots tend to fade into a generalized skin cloudiness. Trouble is, other diseases can cause cloudy skin and not eating.

If you can't tell if the fish are breathing fast or not, you can post a video here and I can evaluate them. The reason that this is vital is that another disease, Velvet can cause cloudy skin, but hyposalinity doesn't work for that, so I need to rule that out.

Also, what is the ammonia level?

Jay

Ammonia is at 0

 

[Lacieja]

Ammonia is at 0

Did those videos come through? It was best I could do with fish hiding.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Did those videos come through? It was best I could do with fish hiding.

Yes they did. I’m not reaching a concrete diagnosis those - sometimes gross visual symptoms just aren’t enough for a definitive diagnosis. The powder blue has a few random white spots that could be ich, but not enough to make it act sick (yet). The goby wasn’t breathing too fast, but I couldn’t tell much else from that video.
As you’re aware, the emperor angel is in a bad way. The smooth mucus peeling off in little bits looks like Brooklnella to me. Since that fish is the worse, you need to treat for that. Trouble is, the best treatment is formalin. That is tough to find, cannot be used with invertebrates present and is toxic to people, I don’t use it in my home.

That leaves Ruby Reef Rally Pro - you can start by using it as a dip for the angel. Then you can dose the whole tank with it. It is mostly invertebrate-safe, but it just is not always effective, especially in advanced cases like this.

 

[Lacieja]

Yes they did. I’m not reaching a concrete diagnosis those - sometimes gross visual symptoms just aren’t enough for a definitive diagnosis. The powder blue has a few random white spots that could be ich, but not enough to make it act sick (yet). The goby wasn’t breathing too fast, but I couldn’t tell much else from that video.
As you’re aware, the emperor angel is in a bad way. The smooth mucus peeling off in little bits looks like Brooklnella to me. Since that fish is the worse, you need to treat for that. Trouble is, the best treatment is formalin. That is tough to find, cannot be used with invertebrates present and is toxic to people, I don’t use it in my home.

That leaves Ruby Reef Rally Pro - you can start by using it as a dip for the angel. Then you can dose the whole tank with it. It is mostly invertebrate-safe, but it just is not always effective, especially in advanced cases like this.

It didn't work out but thanks for your help.