White Spot On Chromis - Aquarium Advice

kmacc99 · 06-23-2008, 07:00 PM

I recently bought 3 blue/green chromis from my LFS. I have bought all of my fish from this one location and have had great success. When I added the fish to my tank, I noticed that 2 of the chromis had a white spot on their back tailfin. (I used the drip method of acclimation which took approx. 2 hours) I wasn't concerned because I saw no spots anywhere else. I checked the tank 2 hours later and noticed that the 2 chromis with the spot on their tail were dead, but the chromis without the spot was still living. I immediately removed these fish and rechecked my water:0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate, 1.024 specific gravity. I did a 30% pwc as a preventive measure. Today the living chromis appears to be thriving in my tank. Is there anything else I should do??

ryshark · 06-23-2008, 07:29 PM

Sounds like you have Ich in your tank now. Next time you want to add a fish you may want to look into quarantining ALL of your fish new and old and keeping the main tank fallow for 8-weeks. That is the only way you will get it out of your main tank unless you have no LR or LS then you can treat your main tank. Otherwise you are going to have to treat your quarantine tank when you get it set up. If you don't you will be dealing with whitespots again sooner or later. I am sure others will post the links on ich / crypt. In the mean time just search this forum you will find those links and plenty of other people who experienced the same problem. Including myself. As far as treatment, hyposalinity in a QT and main tank fallow for 8+ weeks worked for me.

cmor1701d · 06-23-2008, 08:01 PM

Did the white spots look like grains of rice? If so then you probably introduces Ich into your tank. Another great example of you should QT all livestock before adding it to the main tank. QT allows you to eheck your livestock in a more controlled environment. PWC's are easier to do in a smaller QT tank. You do not intoroduces pathogens/parasites into your display tank.

The fish may very have died for some other reason. If you do suspect Ich I would follow the advice to QT all fish and use a hyposalinity treatment.

kmacc99 · 06-23-2008, 09:10 PM

The spot did not resemble rice in any way. It was one white dot on the back fin of each fish. Is it possible that it was not ich, just an abnormality of the fin? The fish died within 2 hours of introduction into the tank. The other fish are not acting abnormally, appetite good, swimming freely. If it is ich, what will I start to notice.
Does ich only effect new fish or is it possible to have a fish for years and then get ich? Will the QT totally reduce my chances of affecting my whole tank with ich?

ryshark · 06-23-2008, 09:26 PM

How big is the white spot? Yes QT does reduce risk by a lot.

JoshsReef · 06-23-2008, 09:27 PM

Do you soak your food in selcon, zoe, and garlic ? If not, doing the mentioned greatly improves the health of your specimens imo. Small cases of ich can be reversed using viatems and garlic. It may not be a cure but imo it does work make a difference. I Introduced a hippo tang to my brand new tank 1 year ago that was covered in ich along with a yellow tang and 2 clowns. I never took my fish out of the tank and for the past year I have seen not a single sign of ich and not a single death in my tank. Qt is the best option, however garlic and viatamens can make a real difference !

kmacc99 · 06-23-2008, 09:51 PM

The white spot was very small, but visible with the naked eye. There were no other spots on either fish except for the one spot on each of the back fins. The fish didn't last long in the aquarium, they both died within 2 hours of introduction into the aquarium. The remaining chromis appears to be doing well and does not have any white spots on him.
I feed my fish "formula one marine pellets." This is the food that was recommended by my LFS. It contains garlic and spirulina(??). I will buy a 10 gallon aquarium tomorrow and set it up as a QT. Should 10 gallons be enough, my display tank is 30 gallons..Thanks

JoshsReef · 06-23-2008, 10:00 PM

As far as nutrition I would branch out a little from the formula one pellets. At the very least I would get some frozen mysis, maybe some spirulina flakes. Also I have included some links to some commonly used viatamens and garlic additivies. I cant stress the importance of a varied diet including the use of garlic and selcon. I soak all my food in both products. Maintaing a healthy tank is alot easier when your making sure your fish have the best nutrition possible !

Reef Aquarium Fish Foods & Vitamins: Selcon

Search Results for garlic guard

Kent Marine Zoe Marine

ryshark · 06-23-2008, 11:54 PM

10-gallons is big enough for a QT, especially for a chromis. Get a hang on the back filter with some sort of bio filtration. Then keep an eye on the water parameters...you will need to do a lot of pwc because the QT is not cycled. However, Ich looks like the fish was sprinkled with salt. As far as I know it is not typically just one single spot. I would give it a week or more and see what happens. It may not even have ich. I also use the nutritional supplements mentioned...Selcon and Garlic Xtreme.

Kurt_Nelson · 06-24-2008, 12:46 AM

Impossible to say without pictures, but I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably not ich. Ich normally isn't just a single spot. Sounds like it was a bacterial or fungal infection, but either way (even if it was ich) it shouldn't have died within a couple hours. You might've just gotten a couple bad fish. It happens.

I won't disagree though about the QT. In my opinion, it's a "must" in this hobby to protect having to deal with introducing new diseases to an established tank.

If it was my tank, I'd just keep the water as pristine as possible, and keep an eye on everyone like a hawk. If it was ich, you should see more spot show up on the existing fish in a week or two. In the mean time, I'd get a QT up and running, and seed it with a cocktail shrimp to get it cycled. Better yet, you could put a HOB filter on your main, or a sponge filter in your main, and after a couple weeks transfer over the seeded filter to your QT. That way you'll have the QT up and ready in case you need it.

06-23-2008, 07:00 PM	#1
kmacc99 Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 42	White Spot On Chromis I recently bought 3 blue/green chromis from my LFS. I have bought all of my fish from this one location and have had great success. When I added the fish to my tank, I noticed that 2 of the chromis had a white spot on their back tailfin. (I used the drip method of acclimation which took approx. 2 hours) I wasn't concerned because I saw no spots anywhere else. I checked the tank 2 hours later and noticed that the 2 chromis with the spot on their tail were dead, but the chromis without the spot was still living. I immediately removed these fish and rechecked my water:0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate, 1.024 specific gravity. I did a 30% pwc as a preventive measure. Today the living chromis appears to be thriving in my tank. Is there anything else I should do??

06-23-2008, 08:01 PM	#3
cmor1701d Aquarium Advice Addict Community Mentor Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Belle Mead, NJ Posts: 3,894 Images: 43	Did the white spots look like grains of rice? If so then you probably introduces Ich into your tank. Another great example of you should QT all livestock before adding it to the main tank. QT allows you to eheck your livestock in a more controlled environment. PWC's are easier to do in a smaller QT tank. You do not intoroduces pathogens/parasites into your display tank. The fish may very have died for some other reason. If you do suspect Ich I would follow the advice to QT all fish and use a hyposalinity treatment. __________________ Click here to Vote for Aquarium Advice on AquaRank . Vote EVERY day! Click Here for a list of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations. ____ Cmor

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06-23-2008, 07:29 PM	#2
ryshark Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Southern California Posts: 511	Sounds like you have Ich in your tank now. Next time you want to add a fish you may want to look into quarantining ALL of your fish new and old and keeping the main tank fallow for 8-weeks. That is the only way you will get it out of your main tank unless you have no LR or LS then you can treat your main tank. Otherwise you are going to have to treat your quarantine tank when you get it set up. If you don't you will be dealing with whitespots again sooner or later. I am sure others will post the links on ich / crypt. In the mean time just search this forum you will find those links and plenty of other people who experienced the same problem. Including myself. As far as treatment, hyposalinity in a QT and main tank fallow for 8+ weeks worked for me.

06-23-2008, 09:10 PM	#4
kmacc99 Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 42	The spot did not resemble rice in any way. It was one white dot on the back fin of each fish. Is it possible that it was not ich, just an abnormality of the fin? The fish died within 2 hours of introduction into the tank. The other fish are not acting abnormally, appetite good, swimming freely. If it is ich, what will I start to notice. Does ich only effect new fish or is it possible to have a fish for years and then get ich? Will the QT totally reduce my chances of affecting my whole tank with ich?

06-23-2008, 09:26 PM	#5
ryshark Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Southern California Posts: 511	How big is the white spot? Yes QT does reduce risk by a lot.

06-23-2008, 09:27 PM	#6
JoshsReef Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Northern Kentucky Posts: 225	Do you soak your food in selcon, zoe, and garlic ? If not, doing the mentioned greatly improves the health of your specimens imo. Small cases of ich can be reversed using viatems and garlic. It may not be a cure but imo it does work make a difference. I Introduced a hippo tang to my brand new tank 1 year ago that was covered in ich along with a yellow tang and 2 clowns. I never took my fish out of the tank and for the past year I have seen not a single sign of ich and not a single death in my tank. Qt is the best option, however garlic and viatamens can make a real difference !

06-23-2008, 09:51 PM	#7
kmacc99 Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 42	The white spot was very small, but visible with the naked eye. There were no other spots on either fish except for the one spot on each of the back fins. The fish didn't last long in the aquarium, they both died within 2 hours of introduction into the aquarium. The remaining chromis appears to be doing well and does not have any white spots on him. I feed my fish "formula one marine pellets." This is the food that was recommended by my LFS. It contains garlic and spirulina(??). I will buy a 10 gallon aquarium tomorrow and set it up as a QT. Should 10 gallons be enough, my display tank is 30 gallons..Thanks

06-23-2008, 10:00 PM	#8
JoshsReef Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Northern Kentucky Posts: 225	As far as nutrition I would branch out a little from the formula one pellets. At the very least I would get some frozen mysis, maybe some spirulina flakes. Also I have included some links to some commonly used viatamens and garlic additivies. I cant stress the importance of a varied diet including the use of garlic and selcon. I soak all my food in both products. Maintaing a healthy tank is alot easier when your making sure your fish have the best nutrition possible ! Reef Aquarium Fish Foods & Vitamins: Selcon Search Results for garlic guard Kent Marine Zoe Marine

06-23-2008, 11:54 PM	#9
ryshark Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Southern California Posts: 511	10-gallons is big enough for a QT, especially for a chromis. Get a hang on the back filter with some sort of bio filtration. Then keep an eye on the water parameters...you will need to do a lot of pwc because the QT is not cycled. However, Ich looks like the fish was sprinkled with salt. As far as I know it is not typically just one single spot. I would give it a week or more and see what happens. It may not even have ich. I also use the nutritional supplements mentioned...Selcon and Garlic Xtreme.

06-24-2008, 12:46 AM	#10
Kurt_Nelson Aquarium Advice Addict Community Mentor Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: WA Posts: 2,429 Images: 28	Impossible to say without pictures, but I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably not ich. Ich normally isn't just a single spot. Sounds like it was a bacterial or fungal infection, but either way (even if it was ich) it shouldn't have died within a couple hours. You might've just gotten a couple bad fish. It happens. I won't disagree though about the QT. In my opinion, it's a "must" in this hobby to protect having to deal with introducing new diseases to an established tank. If it was my tank, I'd just keep the water as pristine as possible, and keep an eye on everyone like a hawk. If it was ich, you should see more spot show up on the existing fish in a week or two. In the mean time, I'd get a QT up and running, and seed it with a cocktail shrimp to get it cycled. Better yet, you could put a HOB filter on your main, or a sponge filter in your main, and after a couple weeks transfer over the seeded filter to your QT. That way you'll have the QT up and ready in case you need it.