Was it ich?

[Aquavaj]

So about 3 days ago I notice a white speck on the pectoral fin and 1 or 2 on the side of my Powder Blue Tang in QT. When I checked again 2 days later they were gone. It eats and behaves just the same. I'm not seeing any new specks appearing either.

So was it really ich? I don't think the specks disappear that quickly do they?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Are you running any treatments in your qt?

 

[Aquavaj]

No treatment but this was a running 40g with sand and live rock that I had to use in order to make it more comfortable. It was just miserable in the bare bottom 20GL with only pvc.

I was about to start hyposalinity treatment but held off. I guess I should just to be sure.

 

[Crabs McJones]

No treatment but this was a running 40g with sand and live rock that I had to use in order to make it more comfortable. It was just miserable in the bare bottom 20GL with only pvc.

I was about to start hyposalinity treatment but held off. I guess I should just to be sure.

Could it have been sand particles possibly?

 

[4FordFamily]

It’s very likely to be ich, given the fish and the fact that it’s not being treated. There’s nearly a 100% chance of a PBT having ich or velvet.

Because of the prevalence of velvet, and the fact that hypo-resistant strains of ich have been documented, more so recently, I’d use copper. I’d use Copper Power, as it’s more a more stable chelated copper (less the quality control issues we have seen with CopperSafe as of late). Cupramine (ionic copper) is OK but chelated copper is a bit more gentle IME.

I’d recommend the Hanna Copper checker for accurate readings. I would keep it at 1.75PPM for chelated copper such as Copper Power.

Powder blues handle copper very well.

 

[Aquavaj]

Can I treat with copper power in a tank with live sand and rocks? I don't want it to linger and leech back out later on.

 

[HB AL]

Can I treat with copper power in a tank with live sand and rocks? I don't want it to linger and leech back out later on.

As long as you don’t use any of the rocks and sand in your dt then it’s ok, they will leech out copper in low levels for a bit but just keep them in the qt tank, even very low amounts of copper is toxic to corals.