Possible ich breakout??!

[Jpiotro]

Good evening. i just noticed a little bit ago some of what i thought was bubbles stuck to my fish but i now think that they’re white spots which i know could possibly be ich. i’ve never dealt with ich before or seen it so i wanted to see if it really is ich and if so what treatment i can do. any input is appreciated.

 

[blaxsun]

#fishmedic

 

[JPG Corals]

It does look like ich to me. Suggest keeping them well fed, hopefully they will fight it off. Good luck.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Good evening. i just noticed a little bit ago some of what i thought was bubbles stuck to my fish but i now think that they’re white spots which i know could possibly be ich. i’ve never dealt with ich before or seen it so i wanted to see if it really is ich and if so what treatment i can do. any input is appreciated.

It does look like ich, however, you called it "bubbles"... Indeed, bubbles can stick to the fish, as can sand grains. Fish also get random white spots (mucus). However, in looking at these fish, I can see some spots on the fins (that rules out mucus). The spots are fairly numerous, on multiple species, so that rules out sand.

You'll need to watch this carefully. If it is ich, the spots will come and go, change in number, but there will be a general trend of the numbers going up over the next few days. Since we are coming up on the holidays, I would strongly urge you to set up a treatment tank now, just in case. To treat this properly, you will need to have the fish in a tank by themselves and treat with either copper or hyposalinity. In some cases, if you have just a few invertebrates, it is easier to just remove them and do hypo right in your display.

Jay

 

[Jpiotro]

Thank you. i have just a couple corals in my tank so i can remove those and then do the treatment in the tank that the fish are in right now. when would be the point of where i should for sure start treatment? or should i start it now? i have copper power on hand i’ve never used it before though. im not familar with hyposalinity. Im more or less wondering if I should Just try and let them fight it off and keep them well fed or do a treatment. Fish in the tank are: 2 Clownfish, pintail fairy wrasse, african flameback angel, and flame angel. The coral beauty that is in the pictures above was very close to dead when I woke up this morning and she is no longer with us.

 

[nereefpat]

I would start treatment now with the Copper Power in a new tank. You can likely get a 20 Long at Petco for very cheap. Start with full strength Copper Power. 23 mLs in a 20 gallon will get you to 2.0 ppm.

 

[Jpiotro]

I would start treatment now with the Copper Power in a new tank. You can likely get a 20 Long at Petco for very cheap. Start with full strength Copper Power. 23 mLs in a 20 gallon will get you to 2.0 ppm.

My Only concern is that I've heard that wrasses are not very good with copper and Id hate to kill him with the treatment.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Copper power is less harsh than other copper medications on the market. 2.0 is typically suggested for wrasse as some species can be more sensitive than others.

 

[Jpiotro]

Copper power is less harsh than other copper medications on the market. 2.0 is typically suggested for wrasse as some species can be more sensitive than others.

Okay thank you. So how would I go about the treatment? Ive never done it before. and what do I do with my display tank? Do I just leave it until the treatment is done and then put the fish back into the tank?

 

[Bucs20fan]

Your display tank will have to go fallow for 70-80 days, this will kill any remaining ich cysts in the water, as they will have no host.

 

[Jpiotro]

It does look like ich, however, you called it "bubbles"... Indeed, bubbles can stick to the fish, as can sand grains. Fish also get random white spots (mucus). However, in looking at these fish, I can see some spots on the fins (that rules out mucus). The spots are fairly numerous, on multiple species, so that rules out sand.

You'll need to watch this carefully. If it is ich, the spots will come and go, change in number, but there will be a general trend of the numbers going up over the next few days. Since we are coming up on the holidays, I would strongly urge you to set up a treatment tank now, just in case. To treat this properly, you will need to have the fish in a tank by themselves and treat with either copper or hyposalinity. In some cases, if you have just a few invertebrates, it is easier to just remove them and do hypo right in your display.

Jay

Thank you. i have just a couple corals in my tank so i can remove those and then do the treatment in the tank that the fish are in right now. when would be the point of where i should for sure start treatment? or should i start it now? i have copper power on hand i’ve never used it before though. im not familar with hyposalinity. Im more or less wondering if I should Just try and let them fight it off and keep them well fed or do a treatment. Fish in the tank are: 2 Clownfish, pintail fairy wrasse, african flameback angel, and flame angel. The coral beauty that is in the pictures above was very close to dead when I woke up this morning and she is no longer with us.

 

[Bucs20fan]

DO NOT TREAT IN THE TANK. Your sand and rock will absorb the copper. It is much harder to remove copper from the water that has rock leaching it. Buy a small tank and any HOB filter and a cheap heater, trust me, this route is worth it.

 

[Jpiotro]

DO NOT TREAT IN THE TANK. Your sand and rock will absorb the copper. It is much harder to remove copper from the water that has rock leaching it. Buy a small tank and any HOB filter and a cheap heater, trust me, this route is worth it.

Alright thank you. How do I go about the treatment?

 

[Thor2j]

You realize you can never add coral or invertebrates to that tank if you treat it with copper.

 

[Jpiotro]

You realize you can never add coral or invertebrates to that tank if you treat it with copper.

Yes I do.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you. i have just a couple corals in my tank so i can remove those and then do the treatment in the tank that the fish are in right now. when would be the point of where i should for sure start treatment? or should i start it now? i have copper power on hand i’ve never used it before though. im not familar with hyposalinity. Im more or less wondering if I should Just try and let them fight it off and keep them well fed or do a treatment. Fish in the tank are: 2 Clownfish, pintail fairy wrasse, african flameback angel, and flame angel. The coral beauty that is in the pictures above was very close to dead when I woke up this morning and she is no longer with us.

Once you've lost fish to a disease, it is very difficult to stop the progression in time to save all of the remaining fish. The coral beauty does not have enough white spots on it to be fatal, so there must be multiple issues here.

Was the coral beauty breathing rapidly before it died?

As said, no not treat your main display with copper. Hyposalinity is o.k., but not if the fish are breathing fast (as that might be velvet in conjunction with ich and velvet is NOT controlled by hypo - you need to use copper in a treatment tank).

Jay

 

[Jpiotro]

Once you've lost fish to a disease, it is very difficult to stop the progression in time to save all of the remaining fish. The coral beauty does not have enough white spots on it to be fatal, so there must be multiple issues here.

Was the coral beauty breathing rapidly before it died?

As said, no not treat your main display with copper. Hyposalinity is o.k., but not if the fish are breathing fast (as that might be velvet in conjunction with ich and velvet is NOT controlled by hypo - you need to use copper in a treatment tank).

Jay

The coral beauty did seem to be breathing quickly she was stuck to the side of the powerhead so I shut it off and she seemed to be breathing heavy

 

[joefishtank]

You realize you can never add coral or invertebrates to that tank if you treat it with copper.

Do copepods count as invertebrates? I have a dragonet and I need to treat him and I don't know how to feed him during treatment because I've never seen him eat pellets or mysis.

 

[Jpiotro]

The coral beauty did seem to be breathing quickly she was stuck to the side of the powerhead so I shut it off and she seemed to be breathing heavy

The fish that have the spots that are alive are not breathing fast they are breathing normally.

 

[nuxx Verified Sponsor]

Know a lot of people that have basically lived with ich in the tank forever. Just low stress tanks.

Not suggesting that by any means, just the thought of having a fallow tank for months seems super defeating to me.

I'd probably go FOWLR and run a lower gravity and possibly low level of copper.