Patchy Dottyback and possible spots on Scopas Tang

[SudoJustin]

Tank is a 75gallon + 30 gallon sump about 1.5 months old. A week ago, I noticed the Strawberry Dottyback had a bulging eye. Reading about it, it seemed like it was likely a physical injury and would get better with time. I also noticed it's skin looked kind of patchy and have kept an eye on that.

Fast forward to this week, the eye looks almost 100% better, but the skin looks worse. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but it also looks like my Scopas has tiny white spots. Can anyone give me any insight on what I'm dealing with or what I need to do?

I'll try and get better pictures of the Dottyback.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Your scopas tang pretty clearly has Cryptocaryon, saltwater ich. Difficult to say about the dottyback, but since they are in the same tank, it is exposed also.

What other fish are in the tank? I see one LPS, so I presume there are other invertebrates. That means you aren't going to be able to treat them in that tank. Do you have a second quarantine tank you could use? My preferred treatment for ich is 30 days of a proper copper treatment. Trouble is, ich can remain viable in your display tank for 45 to 75 days, so if you treat these fish and move them back right away, they stand a good chance of getting sick again.

Tough situation, I know. There are some "reef safe" ich medications out there, but my experience has been they are also "ich safe". People use them out of desperation.

Jay

 

[SudoJustin]

I have a 20 gallon I can use, but would that small of a tank be okay for that long? What about pulling my coral (one torch on a plug and 3 zoa frags and putting them in the small tank and treating the display? Would the medication dilute or filter out after the fish recover and then be safe to bring the coral back?

The other fish in the display are a Coral Beauty, a Transparent Cave Goby, and two Ocellaris clownfish.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Copper is difficult to completely remove after a treatment, and even if you pull the corals, some ich parasites would carry with them, so they could still be infective for up to 75 days. I see two options, neither of them real good: pull the corals and treat your display with copper for 30 days, then pull the copper out with water changes and polyfilter. After another 45 days, move the corals back. OR cross your fingers and dose your tank with ruby reef rally pro. It shouldn’t kill your corals, and does work in some cases.
Jay

 

[SudoJustin]

I would be fine with moving the corals out for 70-80 days, but removing the copper sounds terrible now that I read about it.

Think I may try and throw together a better sized qt and go that route and keep my display chemistry safe instead of medicating copper in the display. If I can't get a decent qt together in a few days, I'll dose ruby reef rally pro like you said.

Are there any qt medications that you rely on more than others in case I get a qt tank up quick?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I would be fine with moving the corals out for 70-80 days, but removing the copper sounds terrible now that I read about it.

Think I may try and throw together a better sized qt and go that route and keep my display chemistry safe instead of medicating copper in the display. If I can't get a decent qt together in a few days, I'll dose ruby reef rally pro like you said.

Are there any qt medications that you rely on more than others in case I get a qt tank up quick?

There are some basic copper medications. You should also get a copper test kit. Cupramine and Copper Power are pretty popular. I use Coppersafe, but it is better for treating light infections(it is truly safe though).
Jay

 

[SudoJustin]

There are some basic copper medications. You should also get a copper test kit. Cupramine and Copper Power are pretty popular. I use Coppersafe, but it is better for treating light infections(it is truly safe though).
Jay

Awesome. Thank you for the guidance and all your help so far. I'll try and check back in with the direction I go and a progress report.

Thanks again.