Wrasse and clown scratching no visible ich

[RMS18]

Picked up a radiant wrasse 3 weeks ago about, he was at my lfs for 2 or 3 weeks. Full grown, thick body eats almost anything. I hit him with 2 rounds of prazi and he would continue to scratch on pvc and the sand box, only targeting his gills / face/head. No visible dots of ich. Picked up a clown 5 days ago added him to the qt and noticed him scratching today same areas gills/head. No visible dots. The wrasse does this twitching motion here and there. They both swim normal, not hanging at the surface and both eating live blackworms, brine and frozen mysis. I will admit the water quality gets a bit dirty by the end of the week as far as cloudy with lots of detritus but ammonia badge reads good. It's a cycled qt tank. HOB filter and a power head no airstone. I am hesitant to put them in the dt. Any ideas?

 

[Humblefish]

I'm assuming you haven't treated for ich yet? Only prazi? Ich will sometimes only be found in the gills, especially with fish protected by a thick slime coat over their skin. Both a wrasse and clownfish would fall into this category. The other possibility is the wrasse (and now clown) is being afflicted by a prazi resistant strain of flukes.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

well the detritus may be irritating their gills too.

 

[RMS18]

I'm assuming you haven't treated for ich yet? Only prazi? Ich will sometimes only be found in the gills, especially with fish protected by a thick slime coat over their skin. Both a wrasse and clownfish would fall into this category. The other possibility is the wrasse (and now clown) is being afflicted by a prazi resistant strain of flukes.

Correct no treatment for ich yet as I don't want to use a copper product yet unless I'm 100% sure. Trying to figure out what bothering them is a pia. I examine them with a flash light multiple times a day. Can't see anything, which leads me to believe it's something in the gills. If it is a prazi resistant fluke then what is used to kill them?

 

[Adamwheel]

Tank transfer works 100% of the time. This is the drum I will continually beat.

Good luck

 

[Humblefish]

If it is a prazi resistant fluke then what is used to kill them?

Formalin or hyposalinity. Hypo will sometimes also eradicate ich. TTM (as mentioned above) is ideal for treating ich.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

May I also add something. I'm "lucky" in that my fish shed their cuticle due to their sedentary nature. It comes off in sheets that I can capture and put under the microscope. One of my lions were acting Ichy, and low and behold, I could see the ich spinning. I could not see it anywhere on the fish.

 

[RMS18]

May I also add something. I'm "lucky" in that my fish shed their cuticle due to their sedentary nature. It comes off in sheets that I can capture and put under the microscope. One of my lions were acting Ichy, and low and behold, I could see the ich spinning. I could not see it anywhere on the fish.

Interesting... maybe I'll pick up some cupramine.