Potential Ich?

TheWackyWiz · May 25, 2021

Hi All,

This morning I noticed my Orange Striped Cardinal has some white spots that I don't remember being there before. They are mainly on his fins.

Just wanted to confirm that I am lookin at Ich here? I don't currently have a QT set up but I could throw one together in a pinch. Are there any in-tank solutions I can look at before going all the way with Cupermine in a QT?

Thanks!

RedReefer · May 25, 2021

You need to pull all fish out the display and treat the fish for at least 30 days in copper and let the display sit fallow for 90 days. Really sucks. Looks like ich...

NeonRabbit221B · May 25, 2021

RedReefer said:
You need to pull all fish out the display and treat the fish for at least 30 days in copper and let the display sit fallow for 90 days. Really sucks. Looks like ich...

90 days? I thought it was 45.

What else is in your tank?

TheWackyWiz · May 25, 2021

NeonRabbit221B said:
90 days? I thought it was 45.

What else is in your tank?

Two firefish, One two spot goby, a bunch of snails/hermits and a tiger pistol shrimp.... I don't know what I can do for the inverts but I can get all the fish into a QT for the 30ish days. What do you mean by letting the tank go fallow?

NeonRabbit221B · May 25, 2021

Inverts wouldn’t be impacted but ich can stay in the water column for up to 45 days (or 90 is you believe one article for the 80s) fallow just means fishless

Sharkbait19 · May 25, 2021

lol when I went fallow I went for 90 days. Only after that painful process did I learn that 45 is acceptable.

I'd still probably recommend at least 76 days, just to be safe. You'll want to pull all the fish and treat to effectively eliminate the ich. The toromonts are likely in the sandbed and rocks, and the longer you wait to remove the fish, the worse things will get. I used cupramine to treat my fish. Just make sure you also use a copper test kit, so that you don't overdose and kill everything.

TheWackyWiz · May 25, 2021

Sharkbait19 said:
lol when I went fallow I went for 90 days. Only after that painful process did I learn that 45 is acceptable.

I'd still probably recommend at least 76 days, just to be safe. You'll want to pull all the fish and treat to effectively eliminate the ich. The toromonts are likely in the sandbed and rocks, and the longer you wait to remove the fish, the worse things will get. I used cupramine to treat my fish. Just make sure you also use a copper test kit, so that you don't overdose and kill everything.

Yeah I've got Cupramine and a Hanna High Range copper test kit so I'm going to go that route.

Jay Hemdal · May 25, 2021

NeonRabbit221B said:
90 days? I thought it was 45.

What else is in your tank?

The fallow period can be as short as 45 days in warmer water, but 76 days is the longest survivorship of a ich tomont in laboratory conditions (70 degrees, in a petri dish with no bacteria). Most people opt for 76 days because their corals don't like the 81+ degrees required for the shorter period. 90 days is overkill (pardon the pun).

jay

Jay Hemdal · May 25, 2021

TheWackyWiz said:
Hi All,

This morning I noticed my Orange Striped Cardinal has some white spots that I don't remember being there before. They are mainly on his fins.

Just wanted to confirm that I am lookin at Ich here? I don't currently have a QT set up but I could throw one together in a pinch. Are there any in-tank solutions I can look at before going all the way with Cupermine in a QT?

Thanks!

It does appear to be Cryptocaryon, ich. What other fish do you have in the tank? There are no good in-tank solutions. Beware that ich trophonts will come and go at first, giving you the false impression that the disease is abating, but then the spots almost always return, in greater numbers. I would treat in quarantine for 30 days, using Coppersafe.

Jay

TheWackyWiz · May 26, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
The fallow period can be as short as 45 days in warmer water, but 76 days is the longest survivorship of a ich tomont in laboratory conditions (70 degrees, in a petri dish with no bacteria). Most people opt for 76 days because their corals don't like the 81+ degrees required for the shorter period. 90 days is overkill (pardon the pun).

jay

Hi Jay,

The other fish in there are 1 firefish and 1 Two spot goby.
What do you recommend to for the PPM I should hit using Coppersafe? There seems to be a big variance depending on the source.

Jay Hemdal · May 26, 2021

I ran some tests and coppersafe dosed as per label directions tested at around 2.25 ppm on a Hanna checker. I haven’t had a chance yet to confirm that number on my spectrophotometer, so I’m not 100% confident of that value yet. I ran a sample in RODI water and it tested at 2.54 ppm.
Jay

TheWackyWiz · Jun 3, 2021

Hi @Jay Hemdal,

Hoping to get one more piece of advice. While I have my QT set up, I thought it might be a good time to acquire the last fish or two I plan to add to my DT. I figure since I'm leaving my DT fallow for atleast 76 days I have time to put the new additions through QT as well.

My question is, is there any risk to this approach? I would assume that even if the new fish are infected they would receive a full course of treatment with coppersafe before going into the DT.

Thanks in advance!

Jay Hemdal · Jun 3, 2021

TheWackyWiz said:
Hi @Jay Hemdal,

Hoping to get one more piece of advice. While I have my QT set up, I thought it might be a good time to acquire the last fish or two I plan to add to my DT. I figure since I'm leaving my DT fallow for atleast 76 days I have time to put the new additions through QT as well.

My question is, is there any risk to this approach? I would assume that even if the new fish are infected they would receive a full course of treatment with coppersafe before going into the DT.

Thanks in advance!

My policy is if I add fish on top of fish existing in quarantine, the process starts over again from day one. These is some increased risk in that you are mixing fish from two different "acquisition events" and may have come from different dealer's tanks, etc. This of courses increases the risk of *something* being brought in to the QT. Still, I have done this fairly often....

Jay

Uncle99 · Jun 3, 2021

I think the benefit outweighs the risk.
I have done this twice before.
What I liked was when transferring all from QT back to DT, there was almost no aggression towards one another.
Some territory marking, but much, much less than introducing new members sometimes.