Possible Ich on clownfish?

[nanoreefnewb]

I added two clown fish to my nano reef aquarium about one and a half weeks ago(only livestock in tank). Today I woke up and noticed some small white spots on one of my clown fishes, he has also started rubbing himself on rocks and sand. I live in Canada so most medications are difficult to get here due to regulations (If any Canadian reefers know where I can get some please let me know). Can anyone confirm that this is ich and offer some solutions. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[muzikalmatt]

It definitely looks like ich and the rubbing on the rocks ("flashing") is another good indicator of ich.

If you can't get medications (namely copper) in Canada, you can try doing the tank transfer method which typically doesn't require any medications to treat the fish. It is quite labor intensive, but it is a proven method of treatment for ich specifically.

Since this is your first fish, it would be a good idea to use this approach and let your display tank go fallow for a minimum of 76 days to make sure the ich that's now in your tank gets starved out. Otherwise if you treat the fish and put it back in your tank before the 76-day mark, it will likely just get reinfected.

If you're not willing to go through all of that effort you can try going the ich management route. This approach typically involves using a UV sterilizer to try and reduce the amount of parasites in the water column, coupled with boosting your fish's immune system with proper nutrition and tank husbandry. However, you have to be aware that ich will still be in your tank and you'll need to avoid "ich magnet" fish like tangs and stick to heartier fish that aren't as prone to succumbing to the parasite.

Definitely take a look at some of the stickied threads in this sub-forum for more information. Hope this helps!

 

[nanoreefnewb]

Hi thanks for your reply. I was able to find a brand of copper medication available in Canada. Since I have no inverts and corals can I just treat the fish directly in my display tank?

 

[muzikalmatt]

To quote Humblefish:

"Technically yes; but it will not be easy. For starters, you will struggle to maintain a stable Cu level in the very beginning due to the rocks/sand absorbing most of the copper. Then even once it stabilizes, you will need to test it daily to ensure therapeutic levels are being maintained. And then post treatment, getting it all out so you can safely put corals/inverts back in your system is a long, tedious task."