Not sure if ich

[luckbox7]

Hey guys just setup a new 220 gallon reef tank with a 75 gallon sump about 3 months ago. Well from the get go I did not quarantine my fish and I know it's not a popular choice. Now I guess I wish I did go that route as I just lost my powder blue Tang. My pbt and powder brown both seem to have had ich since I got them about 2 months ago and the ICU never got better or worse.

All of a sudden my powder blue does within a day and my brown looks really awful and even my Darwin clown looks to have what my pbt has. None of my other fish seen to have anything which includes Ruby fairy wrasse, 2 shsp Tang, firefish, diamond goby, Bartlett anthias. Here are some pics of the powder brown and clown.

They look like they have cobwebs on the body... Please someone help me on what I should do.

 

[Brooks Ross]

Def Ich. the powder blue tang is one of the most common to have it too, so doesn't suprise me.


I would quarantine your fish....its going to be an on going pain if you try to work around it... just quarantine your fish in a copper solution and leave the tank fishless for awhile

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/

I followed this a few months ago when i had the problem and everything has been great ever since... trust me. its worth it to quarantine

 

[Humblefish]

That's not ich. It's either velvet and/or brook.

I recommend this treatment plan for all of your fish: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/#post-2499437

However, once all the fish are in QT you'll need to dose copper + metro to address the possibility of both velvet & brook.

 

[Smo]

As an aside—not a good match to house both a powder blue and powder brown tang in the same tank together. Too aggressive.

 

[Oldsalt01]

That's not ich. It's either velvet and/or brook.

I recommend this treatment plan for all of your fish: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/#post-2499437

However, once all the fish are in QT you'll need to dose copper + metro to address the possibility of both velvet & brook.

Act now. Looks like you have a pretty bad infestation, and either Brook or Velvet can take out a fish extremely fast. Once the fish are quarantined you'll need to leave your tank fishless for 75 days to ensure the parasites have died from lack of hosts.

 

[luckbox7]

Act now. Looks like you have a pretty bad infestation, and either Brook or Velvet can take out a fish extremely fast. Once the fish are quarantined you'll need to leave your tank fishless for 75 days to ensure the parasites have died from lack of hosts.

Well I dont know what happened as it just all of a sudden appeared...just yesterday it only looked like an ich problem which never got worse since 2 months ago...then I find this this morning which was definitely not here yesterday.

all the fish were eating fine and still eating fine except the dead powder blue tang

As an aside—not a good match to house both a powder blue and powder brown tang in the same tank together. Too aggressive.

I dont know why you say this as there are many others with those 2 together in a single tank...also mine had no problems except for the first 2 days i had them in there...but since day 2 they have not fought at all and actually swin together often and go in the same rocks...they even eat the same nori together without any problems.

again there is no problems in my tank with any of the tangs fighting...only fish that fights are the 3 firefish...the 2 beat up on the third one and thats about it.

 

[luckbox7]

oh and by the way nothing in my tank has been changed since 2 months ago...so I dont get where this disease came from out of nowhere.

 

[deedubz]

It's believed a lot of fish can build temporary immunity to even some of the nastier parasites. Ultimately, especially with velvet, they just become too many and start overrunning a tank. Certain fish like clowns, wrasses, and dragonets also have thick slime coats and seem to be "the last man standing" after the outbreak.

I'd highly recommend setting up a qt and, as @Humblefish said, start ramping up copper and adding metroplex to cover velvet and brook

 

[deedubz]

You'll also want to pickup some furan-2, kanaplex, and acriflavine(acriflavine-ms or preferably Ruby reef rally), as the risk of bacterial infections are insanely high

 

[luckbox7]

Thanks guys... However is there anyway I can treat the tank without taking the fish out? I have corals... And it would be a pain in the butt trying to get there fish out.

 

[Oldsalt01]

As we don't have a definitive diagnosis (Brook vs Velvet) you almost have to treat for both which means Copper and Metroplex. Copper and coral +inverts definitely do not mix. But you have a choice. Pull them and qt, and hope you beat it, or leave them in the tank and know you won't.

 

[deedubz]

Unfortunately there's no reef safe cure for any of the really nasty parasites/infections. Prazipro can be used in a reef for flukes, but it doesn't even kill all strains and becomes less effective with every use.

On top of copper and metro not being reef safe, the antibiotics you'll likely need won't be either. Time really is of the essence here. I know how badly tearing apart a tank sucks. I just had to do this myself a couple months ago because of prazipro resistant flukes and velvet from some inverts that didn't get qt'd

 

[luckbox7]

so the weirdest thing has just happened...i couldnt for the life of me find my powder brown yesterday so i just assumed he died somewhere in my rocks and this morning i find him dried up on the floor...didnt know tangs were jumpers or maybe the disease just made him kill himself.

also my clowns are looking a little rough...i really cant tell what it is but i did go to my lfs and they said it is most likely ich that has spread so bad. the cobwebs are the slime from fighting off the fish he says

 

[deedubz]

Cobwebs?

If they have white stuff hanging off of them then that's their slime coat and you're likely dealing with brooklynella. They aren't going to be able to "fight it off"

These fish need to get into a quarantine tank ASAP.

 

[Oldsalt01]

As most marine parasites infest the gills to one degree or another because of readily available blood flow, the tang probably jumped because it was having increasing difficulty breathing. As you are apparently going topless on your tank, I would expect more of the same. Time to pull them out and start treating. I'm still skeptical it's a simple Ich infestation, but regardless, you need to be proactive ASAP if you want to save your critters.

 

[Oldsalt01]

The best way I've found to capture fish in an established system is to catch them a few hours after lights out. They tend to be a bit disoriented by the darkness and you can surprise them while they are "sleeping". Slow gentle movements are best when netting and you may be able to catch more than one during a session. Yes. It's a PIA, but from your pics and description of the disease progress I see no other choice than to QT. They're not going to fight this off on their own. That tank needs to go fishless for 75 days to break the parasite cycle.

 

[luckbox7]

Thanks guys... I'll see what I can do... This does suck though... Wish this happened a few weeks ago when I had so much now time.

 

[deedubz]

In post #3 @Humblefish gave you an excellent co

The best way I've found to capture fish in an established system is to catch them a few hours after lights out. They tend to be a bit disoriented by the darkness and you can surprise them while they are "sleeping". Slow gentle movements are best when netting and you may be able to catch more than one during a session. Yes. It's a PIA, but from your pics and description of the disease progress I see no other choice than to QT. They're not going to fight this off on their own. That tank needs to go fishless for 75 days to break the parasite cycle.

+100. Substantially easier

 

[deedubz]

Not sure what happened to my post^..
Was supposed to say he gave you an excellent course of action.