ich?

[lilismom1]

i just noticed 4 little white spots on my tang. they weren't there yesterday. can it be ich even though i haven't introduced anything new into my tank except saltwater from the lfs when i did a water change? this might sound crazy but is there any possibility it could be those little spiral things that usually stick to the glass. i've got them everywhere including on my snails. i think i may be getting them from the ready to use saltwater because they definatley get worse after a water change.

 

[mrmarine]

those spiral things are pods i think if i were you id watch out and get your qt ready

Mr. Marine

 

[kreach]

Actually, those spiral things are called spirorbidae worms. They are a filter feeding worm that lives in a spiral shaped calcareous tube.

Pods look like little shrimp...

Spirorbidae worms are completely harmless... and they don't attach to fish. The white spots on your tang could be ich or some other type of disease/parasite. Keep a close watch and have a QT ready just in case.

 

[snowdude]

I have experienced that having your temperature @ 80 or above can cause the fish to get white spots on them. After i got my temp down, they spots dissaperaed.

 

[quarryshark]

Yes keep a close watch, even if they disappear. Ich works in a cycle, they may disappear and show up a couple days later in greater numbers. If this happens, get ready to treat is a separate qt tanks with hyposalinity or with a copper compound like cupramine. Keep us posted. many of us have been through a parasitic outbreak.

 

[Salty Dog]

I went to Wal-Mart the other day and I saw something that was called "ich-away"or "ick-gone" or something along those lines...it was like a seltzer type pill you put in the tank and it said it takes care of ich fast...does it really work? That seems too easy, if it does work why doesn't everybody get it!?

 

[quarryshark]

Don't bother. The only effective treatments are to treat with hyposalinity or a good copper compound in a separate qt tank. Any medicine that is advertised to be used in the main is worthless.
A lot of people buy it because they don't know at the time that it doesn't work.
Lets put it this way. Any med that is strong enough to kill ich, will kill all your inverts, live rock and sand.
Good luck

 

[Salty Dog]

Well, I would probably agree with you on that one, especially for the more difficult to kill diseases...but Melafix and Greenex can both be used in the main tank. Although Melafix has a wide variety of uses, Greenex prevents and treats parasties without harming your inverts.

 

[RubixCube]

Greenex works well, i have used that before. I have heard alot of people using it with success.

 

[snowdude]

just got some "kick ich" hope it works

 

[SquishyFish]

My wife and I just went through a pretty bad bout with ick. Even with the research I had done on it in the past and how to treat it, we still lost over 120.00 worth of fish.

The bottom line is that nothing CAUSES ick...it is either in the tank or it isnt. Stress will not give a fish ick. Temperature will not give a fish ick. Shock will not give a fish ick. These may lower its immunity and give the parasite the oportunity to attatch to the host, but a fish cannot contract a disease or parasite that is not already present in the water. You would not tell your doctor "the temperature in the house dropped to 50 last night and I caught malaria." Why...Because we know temperature does not cause the disease and we know that it must be present in some form for it to be contrated in the first place. Same with fish.......

There is an old myth that ick is always present in the tank. This CAN be true..but isnt always. If the first fish you bring into the tank has ick, and you never fallow the tank, then yes....ick will always be present. But, if you take steps to ensure that ick never makes it into the tank OR wipe it out if ick is found to be present...then the myth is false. The life cycle from cyst to visible parasite reproduction is about 4 weeks. It must have a host to survive. Fallow the tank (meaning fishless) and QT any and ALL current and future fish for 5-6weeks and you can be sure that the parasite is no longer present in the tank.

As always...I have an article on the subject if anyone would like to read it.

Squishy

 

[lilismom1]

well the spots came and left in one day so i'm not quite sure what's up. what snowdude said is interesting because i just got a heater and brought my temp up to 81. i guess i'll just keep an eye on everything. he's acting fine though no darting or scratching.

 

[lilismom1]

i forgot to mention that i went through an ich outbreak about 4 months ago when i didn't qt the tang long enough before introducing him into the main tank. i removed everyone for 6 weeks and treated them with copper in qt tank. main tank sat fallow.

 

[snowdude]

used "kick ich."... after the second day the spots faded significantly. It says to tread everyother day for 14 days.. so i still have a ways to go.. wish me luck. Also added some water conditioner for the fish to produce a better slime coat.

 

[kreach]

just got some "kick ich" hope it works

I hope it works for you... it certainly didn't for me.

 

[snowdude]

seems good so far .. "kick ich" The spots are fadding.

 

[quarryshark]

As several have noted, the fallow period is the key. I went 8 weeks fallow after a bout with velvet(also a parasite). We are fine now.

 

[snowdude]

excuse my ignorance.. but what do you mean by FALLOW??

 

[RubixCube]

it means to run the tank without fish.

 

[quarryshark]

Should also be noted, inverts are not hosts to parasitic diseases. The can and should be left in the main tank during the fallow period.
Also raising the temp to the low to mid 80s during the fallow period will speed up the life cycle of the parasites. This helps to make the fallow period more effective.