Oh no! Ich fish in my tank

[nuxx Verified Sponsor]

Honestly, it could be that they were grains of sand stuck on the fish due to the mucous coating.
Also, a flasher species is the last fish I’d expect to see get ich, in fact even the hardest of wrasses tend to get ich and other diseases last.

What I first thought based off of it being a wrasse.

I'd just watch for a few days and see if any other fish start to show signs. If they do it's either one of those things where you try to reduce stress and feed well to live with it, or let the tank sit fallow and treat everything.

 

[Dave-T]

I've never seen him go in the sand, but maybe. I'm also thinking it could have been microbubbles, but they were on him for hours. Thanks everyone! Let's hope it was a false alarm. Good thing I didn't catch him after all!

 

[i cant think]

I've never seen him go in the sand, but maybe. I'm also thinking it could have been microbubbles, but they were on him for hours. Thanks everyone! Let's hope it was a false alarm. Good thing I didn't catch him after all!

These guys don’t sleep in the sand but I know I’ve seen my fairies with grains of sand because they have slept on it but tucked under a rock

 

[SaltyT]

It's also a possibility that this is just the eye of the ich storm, so to speak. The ich trophonts may have just detached from the wrasse and the wrasse could be reinfected in greater numbers once the new ich theronts hatch.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok, this is weird. Today, the white spots are gone. It’s a miracle!

That may not be a miracle! The initial life cycle of marine ich in a tank means that the trophonts on the fish are all basically on the same schedule - they often all fall off at the same time and make the fish appear clean. Meanwhile, those trophonts rest on the bottom and form tomonts, which then release theronts that come back and reinfect the fish, creating new trophonts (spots). It is very common, when ich first gets going to have all the spots drop off, but then 36 to 48 hours later, new spots return, often in greater numbers. Keep a close eye on this fish!

Jay

 

[Lavey29]

I would be feeding high quality food and vitamins to the fish with selcon to boost their immune systems and keep the ich at bay if possible if you are leaving all in the tank.