yasha goby ick

obee2732 · Apr 16, 2023

Hi,
I am new to reef keeping.
I have a yasha goby and pistol shrimp.
I was away from home for 1 week and I returned on Monday April 10 to find the goby opening & closing its mouth continuously, not swimming much, not being afraid of me, and most worrisome, not eating.
I have tried spot feeding without success.
There were no spots on the goby. The shrimp is behaving normally.

Today, April 16, I noticed around the left eye a white spot. I have attached a photo.
Is this ich?
I also notice that the goby is struggling to stay upright. It seems to be tilting to its right, and then it tries to upright itself.

If it is ich, what next steps would you suggest? QT with copper?
I have no other livestock in this 5gallon tank.
Stay in this tank but try to lower salinity? how would this affect pistol shrimp?

My first step will be to increase water temperature from 76 and increase to 82.

Water parameters were:
ammonia zero
nitrite zero
nitrate 1.2

Thank you
John

Lavey29 · Apr 16, 2023

Did the fish get fed for the week you were gone? What is your salinity? What filtration are you usually and do you have sufficient surface ripple?

obee2732 · Apr 16, 2023

Filtration is Tidal Seachem 35 which has a surface skimmer.
They did get fed twice over the 7 days I was away. However, they were by my parents who don't know anything about this hobby but I had set aside the frozen brine shrimp so quantity should have been appropriate. I doubt they would've put anything else or put their hands in the tank.
Salinity when I returned was 1.025 and is still 1.025

Thank you so much for the reply

The WaterSide Fishing · Apr 16, 2023

How big is the tank and what do you have in the tank

obee2732 · Apr 16, 2023

The WaterSide Fishing said:
How big is the tank and what do you have in the tank

5 gallon tank and only yasha goby and pistol shrimp.

obee2732 · Apr 16, 2023

I wonder because it is a small tank (5 gallon) and I was using an ATO while I was away.
The ATO is the hydor and has preset sensors, and so I wonder if the salinity fluctuated to drastically?
For example, I can the salinity going from 1.025 to 1.027 before the ATO refilling with RODI.
Plus the RODI would be at room temperature which was around 65F so I wonder if that volume of cold water shocked/stressed the goby's physiology/immune system, which then predisposed it to ich.

Curious to hear opinions on this idea.
Thanks

Lavey29 · Apr 16, 2023

obee2732 said:
I wonder because it is a small tank (5 gallon) and I was using an ATO while I was away.
The ATO is the hydor and has preset sensors, and so I wonder if the salinity fluctuated to drastically?
For example, I can the salinity going from 1.025 to 1.027 before the ATO refilling with RODI.
Plus the RODI would be at room temperature which was around 65F so I wonder if that volume of cold water shocked/stressed the goby's physiology/immune system, which then predisposed it to ich.

Curious to hear opinions on this idea.
Thanks

I doubt this is an issue as long as sensor worked properly and RODI top off was used. Temp is irrelevant.

Lavey29 · Apr 16, 2023

How long after properly cycling the tank was the fish added? One dot does not mean ich. My fish scrape scales here and there and give themselves a blemish for a week to. Sometimes they get an external parasite but doesn't always mean ich

The WaterSide Fishing · Apr 16, 2023

65 degrees! My tank is 78, you should definitely raise the temp, also try doing a 70 percent water change

Lavey29 · Apr 16, 2023

The WaterSide Fishing said:
65 degrees! My tank is 78, you should definitely raise the temp, also try doing a 70 percent water change

His tank is not 65. He said his ATO reservoir is probably room temp which is 65. I don't think hardly anyone heats their ATO reservoir to tank temp before the top off is added because it's small amounts that get added throughout.

Although if your fish looks sick a water change is always a good first step.

Sharkbait19 · Apr 16, 2023

Doesn’t really look like ich to me at this stage. If If a few days pass and the spots have multiplied, then it is.
To me it looks more like it got injured, probably while digging.

obee2732 · Apr 16, 2023

Wow thank you so much for all the insights and support.
Ok I will watch carefully over next few days.

obee2732 · Apr 16, 2023

obee2732 said:
Wow thank you so much for all the insights and support.
Ok I will watch carefully over next few days.

I will also do a large water change

obee2732 · Apr 18, 2023

My yasha goby has died. I think flukes was the cause.
At this point, I have a pistol shrimp. I assume I cannot place another fish in the tank immediately because there will be flukes still in the tank. Therefore should I place the pistol shrimp in a new tank and clean out this contaminated tank?
Is there anything from this tank that I can re-use?
Thank you

Tamberav · Apr 18, 2023

obee2732 said:
My yasha goby has died. I think flukes was the cause.
At this point, I have a pistol shrimp. I assume I cannot place another fish in the tank immediately because there will be flukes still in the tank. Therefore should I place the pistol shrimp in a new tank and clean out this contaminated tank?
Is there anything from this tank that I can re-use?
Thank you

Just go fallow (no fish) for 45 days at 81 for disease to die off. No need to stress the shrimp out by moving it into a new tank.