Ich or velvet?

Sarah1990 · Sep 4, 2020

I've noticed my midas blenny looking like its biting its side on a few occasions but couldnt see any white spots on any of the fish. Today though I think these spots on the blenny face are new and I'm sure I can see just one white spot on one of the clowns.
Is this ich or velvet do you think?
I started using polyp lab medic yesterday, should I continue this or should I take all fish out to treat with copper?
My only issue with this is my QT is only 38l so this may cause them to fight? 2 clowns, a midas blenny, a watchman goby and a firefish

Jay Hemdal · Sep 4, 2020

The blenny is biting its side? I wonder if it is doing that because it can, rather than scratching?

The spots I see on the blenny's face are enlarged pores, not ich, but I see what might be a hint of head and lateral line erosion (not fatal, so ignore that for now). I see one possible spot on the clown. I don't see any hints that this is velvet. I would watch the spots to see if they remain in one location more than 36-48 hours, if so, they aren't ich (if the number of spots increase though, don't wait!). The 38l QT is very small, but I'd be more worried about if you can maintain good water quality than the fighting of the fish.

I'm not a fan of "reef safe" medications - most of the tonics simply won't cure acute infections, and from what I can tell, this product is a peroxide, possibly sodium percarbonate. While that might have some benefit against protozoans (hydrogen peroxide can) the worry that I have is that they keep the dose low so it will be "reef safe", but it is too low to cure ich.

I use copper to cure active ich infections. It has its risks, but the track record is there and it is a proven medication.

Jay

Sarah1990 · Sep 4, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
The blenny is biting its side? I wonder if it is doing that because it can, rather than scratching?

The spots I see on the blenny's face are enlarged pores, not ich, but I see what might be a hint of head and lateral line erosion (not fatal, so ignore that for now). I see one possible spot on the clown. I don't see any hints that this is velvet. I would watch the spots to see if they remain in one location more than 36-48 hours, if so, they aren't ich (if the number of spots increase though, don't wait!). The 38l QT is very small, but I'd be more worried about if you can maintain good water quality than the fighting of the fish.

I'm not a fan of "reef safe" medications - most of the tonics simply won't cure acute infections, and from what I can tell, this product is a peroxide, possibly sodium percarbonate. While that might have some benefit against protozoans (hydrogen peroxide can) the worry that I have is that they keep the dose low so it will be "reef safe", but it is too low to cure ich.

I use copper to cure active ich infections. It has its risks, but the track record is there and it is a proven medication.

Jay

Oh wow I didn't even know fish had pores, I cant find any information about this but I hope that's what it is.
I will look into lateral line erosion too.
Thank you

Jay Hemdal · Sep 4, 2020

look at the 2 o'clock position behind the blenny's eye - that looks like it could be the start of HLLE. Then, below the jaw are two holes, and further back, 3 more. Those are normal pores. One way to tell - if there are spots/holes roughly in an identical position on the other side of the blenny's face, then they are symmetrical and normal. Ich will show up in random places, not in a pattern.

Jay