clowns and ich

[fishman]

I recently lost a blenny after only 4 days of having him. I chalked it up to maybe ich although I didnt see any signs of ick on him. What makes me think it might have been, was the next day after he died one of my clowns had about 7-8 white spots on him. However, I came home that evening and the spots were gone. I have 2 clowns, a yellow tailed damsel, and 1 yellow wrasse. All of them are ok.
I get up this morning and the same clown has about 7 white spots again. Im thinking it might have something to do with being in the dark all night? Thats the only difference from all day yesterday (in being in the light) and last night. Anyone else have any other theories?? If I go home today and the spots are gone again, Im going to go nuts!!
Thanks

 

[fishman]

Just fyi in the event someone still wants to reply to this, I came home this afternoon and as I thought.....NO white spots. Im beginning to think this is a weird fish!! I know in the past ick just doesnt go away when the lights come on for a period of time. I guess it must be something to do with his makeup....He and everyone else is eating well and acting ok.

 

[steve-s]

If the fish does have C. irritans, this quite normal. The parasite has "on again off again" stages of developement in where the parasite leaves the fish to reproduce. Once the cysts hatch and release new parasites, the fish are again plagued by the protazoan.

Best suggestion is to remove all the fish and treat in a seperate >>quarantine<< with >>hyposalinity<<. Once the main tank is fallow, the parasite will die on it's own after about 4 weeks which is the time it will take to treat the other fish. They can then be >>re-acclimated<< back to the main tank after being sure they are parasite free and should remain so as long as all new fish are introduced to the QT before the main tank and allowed to "wait it out" for about 3-4 weeks.

Cheers
Steve

 

[AgeOfEgos]

Assume the worst

After a recent, nasty battle with Ich, I have told myself that I will always assume the worst from henceforth.

As to your fish having spots in the morning, none at night....I recently learned this is indeed the normal cycle for Ich. The cysts will release at various times during the day, but have a great tendency to actually burrow on your fish during the evening hours. This is why you see the spots in the morning. The eggs on your bedrock release during the evening, attach, and start forming their cysts on your fish. During the day they release and repeat their cycle that night.

From what I've read, this is due to little fish inactivity at night, fish laying on the floor, etc. Basically it's just easier for the little suckers to attach when the fish is right there when they hatch and not moving.

As to treatment, I basically did exactly what Steve suggested..except I didn't use a QT tank. Having the tank I do with an aggressive trigger I wasn't too worried about throwing Copper in there, and let me tell you Hyposalin + CopperSafe = dead ich. With your fish though, don't know how well they stand up to copper. Good luck to you.

Ryan

 

[Xenos]

I just wanted to share with you my experiance... I miss diagnosed a butterfly and thought she had crypto. but she ended up having a virus that looks like crypto (the name illudes me) and I dosed her with iodine for three days and cysted have been gone for a week now. I also read over doses of copper can lead to this virus. Formilin and malachite green are effective treatments for both the virus and crypto but watch out for inverts.