ICH

[Jjo]

Hello! I just started up my 20 gallon nuvo aquarium around march 3rd. I have marcos dry rock and caribsea liferock, and carib sea arag alive sand. Filtration: marinepure spheres, seachem denitrate media, refugium with chaeto and red ogo, filter sock on one side of the tank, media basket on the other side with sera filter floss and the denitrate/marinepure media, protein skimmer (not running at the moment), also took all chemical filtration out. I have an Auriga butterflyfish, coral hogfish, 2 clowns, 1 diamond goby, and one neon dottyback.

Parameters today: Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate: all zero, phosphate 1 ppm, pH 7.8 (API test kit). Red Sea Coral Pro Salt 1.025 specific gravity/35 ppt.

I dipped all my new arrivals when I added them to the tank with Ruby Reef Hydroplex for 10 mins 30mL in one quart, then transferred them over to a 1 gallon fish bowl and treated with seachem paraguard for 1 hour dip/ 3ml.

I have been noticing one or 2 tiny white spots on one of my clownfish, he doesn’t have an appetite, is getting a little skinnier, and is flashing against the back of the tank like itching. I noticed my butterflyfish scratching against rock, rapid breathing, but I don’t see white spots other than a white spot on his underside fin that is too big to be ICH. Gills are not red, I am not sure if I am dealing with ICH or another parasite.

I treated the tank with prazipro and seachem paraguard today, raising the tank temp to 80 degrees, I am wondering if I should raise it to 84 or 86 degrees per some forums I read but I think that might be too high. I plan to treat the tank for 28 days with paraguard, but I am looking for advice on the temperature and if there is a better method for ICH eradication other than QT and leaving display fallow for a few months, I don’t have a separate tank on hand at this time for QT and I would rather not rush to put one up properly. If the ICH is still present after 28 days I will consider the QT. I also want ideas on other things my fish could be experiencing other than ich.

 

[fishguy242]

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081 ??

 

[Jjo]

Idk why it attached multiple same pictures but here are pics of the butterflyfish

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don’t see ich but do see what what appears as lymphocystis. Lympho is viral and generally associated with poor water quality and/or diet. It can be water quality from the place of purchase as well.
I would start with a water test focusing on levels: ammonia-nitrate-nitrite-ph and salinity
If you’re using API Test kits- you may be getting false readings with levels higher than the results show.
What foods are you feeding?

 

[Jjo]

I just took the clownfish into a net and looked at him closer, the white spot I removed with a Qtip and it left behind a faded skin color, he has some faded color around his mouth and on his side, he is skinny, he also won’t eat. I have tried feeding the following frozen foods: reef plankton, mysis, calanus, vitamin enriched brine shrimp, spirulina brine shrimp, the krill is too big for him to eat, and he won’t eat frozen bloodworms. I also tried feeding flake food ocean nutrition prime reef flakes, and pellet food: new life spectrum thera-A with garlic small pellets, the smallest they have, and also imagitarium pellets which are just a tad bigger. I also tried feeding him separately in a specimen container, he won’t eat. Earlier his poop was long and clear with some white, not normal brown. So I started thinking he might have worms so I medicated the tank with prazi Pro.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes on by prazi pro
Do not expect it to eat right away during treatment as it curbs its diet

 

[Jjo]

Yes on by prazi pro
Do not expect it to eat right away during treatment as it curbs its diet

Ok, I tested my water again and it is showing .25 ammonia and ph 7.8, everything else is 0 so I did a 50% water change and put my chemical filtration back in. I am going to stop the medication until my fish are breathing better, I think O2 dropped after adding both meds, I also dosed chloram-x to handle the ammonia at the moment.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok, I tested my water again and it is showing .25 ammonia and ph 7.8, everything else is 0 so I did a 50% water change and put my chemical filtration back in. I am going to stop the medication until my fish are breathing better, I think O2 dropped after adding both meds, I also dosed chloram-x to handle the ammonia at the moment.

The low pH indicates high carbon dioxide. so definitely ensure there is good aeration going on in the tank.

Some basic observations - using dips instead of quarantine is always a mistake. Dips remove a percentage of parasites (depending on what their ingredients are) but they never remove 100% of them, so all they do is buy you some time. Never raise the temperature in a marine tank that high - that is old school advice for treating freshwater ich, all it will do is make the oxygen issue worse.

The clownfish and butterfly are breathing fast, are the other fish breathing that fast as well? If that doesn't improve after increased aeration, you need to assume it is parasites of some sort. The Prazipro will help if the issue is gill flukes, but not if it is velvet. The latter would require a copper treatment.

Jay

 

[Jjo]

Thanj

The low pH indicates high carbon dioxide. so definitely ensure there is good aeration going on in the tank.

Some basic observations - using dips instead of quarantine is always a mistake. Dips remove a percentage of parasites (depending on what their ingredients are) but they never remove 100% of them, so all they do is buy you some time. Never raise the temperature in a marine tank that high - that is old school advice for treating freshwater ich, all it will do is make the oxygen issue worse.

The clownfish and butterfly are breathing fast, are the other fish breathing that fast as well? If that doesn't improve after increased aeration, you need to assume it is parasites of some sort. The Prazipro will help if the issue is gill flukes, but not if it is velvet. The latter would require a copper treatment.

Ja

 

[Jjo]

Thank you, that is helpful. I lowered the temp back down to 77-78 last night when my fish were swimming at the surface trying to breathe, I had it increased up to 80 degrees. and opened the patio door all night for O2. I put chemical filtration back in to take out the medication as I had 2 different meds in there probably lowering O2 as well. I plan to put more bacteria in tonight since I had an ammonia spike and I am going to work to improve the water quality this week, then try prazi pro alone with nothing else and an air stone/air pump since it seems like I am dealing with internal worms. Both clownfish were pooping long white stringy poop last night so I am thinking worms or bacterial infection. There are no velvet dots on them. The dots that I thought were ich came off with a Qtip and probably was lymphocystis.