Sick Damsel

[bmb4516]

I finally was able to catch my sick domino damsel (the only fish in my aquarium) and get it into a QT. I would like hel diagnosing what it has. It has one eye that is somewhat greyed over, the color on the front of its head is somewhat whitish, and her fins seem frayed. I checked for normal symtoms of Ick, but i couldn't find any sugarspots. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Terry B]

If the fish has ich then you should have been able to see salt like spots on the fish at one time or another. How long have you had the fish? Cloudy eyes, faded color and frayed fins can all be caused by a parasite infection. If the fish is scratching violently and breathing rapidly then it may be Amyloodinium rather than ich. The first thing that I would do is give the fish a FW dip for a few minutes in water of the same pH and temp. Make sure you don't have chlorine in the dip water. If the fish has Amyloodinium (this usually kills within a couple of days from noticing an infection) then you should see a fine white or biege powder at the bottom of the dip after you shake the dip in a circular motion. FW dips don't help ich much. If the fish has ich then the best treatment is hyposalinity. If the fish has velvet (amyloodinium) then you will probably need some copper. Cupramine by Seachem is the best copper, test it twice a day with a Seachem or RedSea copper test kit.
Terry B