I'm Really Not Sure if Guy Has Ich After All

[Twoapennything]

I posted on 2-23-10 about my velvet black molly possibly having Ich. The consensus was that it was Ich.

I'm at a loss at this point. I quarantined all the fish in the tank, did the whole high temperature/ Rid Ich/ vacuum daily/ frequent PWCs treatment regime as recommended in the Ich treatment article. I completely emptied my 40 gal. tank and disinfected it and everything in it. I changed the substrate from pebbles to sand. I'm letting it do a fishless cycle while the fish are in the 10 gal. quarantine tank. However, Guy still has white spots. Not a single one of the other fish have shown any signs of Ich and it's probably been six weeks since Guy showed his first spot. It would seem that at least one of the other fish would have gotten Ich by now, don't you think? I have 11 fish in the 10 gal. quarantine tank right now (I've lost 12 fish since my original Ich post ), and I have even gone so far as to examine each fish thoroughly with a good magnifying glass. I can't see any evidence of Ich on any of the fish except for Guy. Guy is acting normally - he seems healthy and active, and is eating normally. There are no signs of lethargy or overt illness.

Last night when I was examining Guy through the magnifying glass, I noticed that the spots are turning iridescent - like the color of a peacock feather. It's really subtle. Is this normal for Ich? Could it be something other than Ich? It's almost like he's turning into a dalmatian molly.

As the spots are not responding to any of the Ich treatments, I don't know how I should proceed.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[dkpate]

Are they raised spots? If not, then it's probably not ich. Can you get a pic? Here is an article that might help with a different diagnosis and pics:
JBL - Online Hospital

 

[Twoapennything]

Are they raised spots? If not, then it's probably not ich. Can you get a pic? Here is an article that might help with a different diagnosis and pics: JBL - Online Hospital

Thanks so much for this link! I'm bookmarking it - I'm sure it'll come in handy again some day.

I found a picture of a parasitic condition that looks pretty close to Guy's, and interestingly enough, the example fish is a black molly.

I have some anti-parasitic tablets on hand, but I have misplaced the box they came in with the instructions :| I will go and try to hunt the box down. The hospital site is really cool for visual identification, but obviously it's hawking its own products, and I can't wait for an order from the UK to come in, LOL! Do you have any suggestions for an equivalent treatment? I will Google-fu, too.

 

[dkpate]

The site is more of a picture reference lol, not to order their products. It's the only site I have ever been able to find that actually has some GOOD close-up pics to see. What is the brand of tablets you have? I am sure your google hunt will turn something up.

 

[Twoapennything]

It really does have excellent pictures, I agree. I feel bad now because I lost my powder blue dwarf gourami a few weeks ago, and I found a picture that showed skin ulcers, and I think that's what she had. Obviously, I wish I had caught it earlier. Anyhow, I found the directions to my parasite tablets online - they're Jungle Parasite Clear Tank Buddies. I'm going to go take out the carbon filter and give it a try.

Thanks for always taking the time to answer my questions!

 

[dkpate]

Good luck! I hope it clears them up!

 

[jessibell]

you'll have to let us know what happens