White Ich or not

[alco1]

White Ich or not- Mr X? Carey? any mods help?

hey all,

I have a dilemma. I kinda know what white ich looks like but a just recently purchased a flame angel. Hes eating fine swims fine and not scratching, ive had him for about a week or so but ive noticed these white spots on him, been watching him closely and they haven't spread nor has any other fish got signs of this.

The spot don't look attached to the flame angel as such, the spots look like they've been just caught onto his back fin. but these spots look like the same coloration as white ich and same size.

The big question is... does white ich generally attach itself to the fish and never let go or does white ich sometimes semi attach itself to the fish and could potentially fall off without treatment.

The reason im asking, ive got the flame angel in QT and im holding a bottle of copper treatment wondering if I should do it or not.

Thanks guys.

 

[alco1]

unfortunately I cant post a photo to show because im at work for the next several hours at the moment

 

[lstimpy]

Is there sand in the qt? I have a coral beauty that roots around and gets sand stuck on her all the time, looks exactly like ick till she swims it off...

 

[alco1]

originally I kinda risked it and put the flame angel straight into the DP.... then noticed the spots and put it straight into QT.... I did a bit of the opposite when introducing fish to the tank lol

I was thinking it could be sand from when he sleeps under the LR although the spots look whiter than the sand

 

[lstimpy]

If she's in the qt I'd just keep an eye on her, if she's not breathing rapidly and eating well it may be nothing to worry about. I see spots and other things on my fish because I love them and I'm so paranoid that any little thing looks like a horrible disease, then it goes away... Hope she ends up ok!

 

[alco1]

hmmm yea I guess ill just keep watching it.... its been like that for the last 3-4 days....

although there is another symptom ive noticed .... there are a couple of little areas where scales are missing as well.

I've never seen him scratch so I don't know if hes been scratching when I haven't seen it or another fish has been teaching him whos boss.

white spot... missing scales.... no other symptoms. if I was to copper treat him do you think it would cause any big harm?

 

[lstimpy]

Maybe you could put a photo up before u medicate to get a better diagnosis. I'm no fish doctor, so I wouldn't advise you either way. Perhaps mr x knows, he seems to be the most experienced advisor here.

 

[alco1]

with white ich is it physically attached the skin/fins of the fish? just wondering that when I get home.... if I take out the flame angel and try to gently swipe off those white spots with my fingers and they come off, would that mean its not ich?

 

[lstimpy]

I think you might do more harm than good.

 

[navaljonf]

Why don't you treat the fish with a hypo-salinity treatment if your worried? Less harsh than copper and just as effective. However, if you already put the fish in the DT you probably contaminated your DT with ich. What size tank do you have? I tend to believe in allowing the fish's immune system to fight these thing naturally but this gets tough when stressed in a small tank or poor water conditions. Just because your other fish don't show signs doesn't mean they don't carry ich

 

[alco1]

running a 265g tank 10 ft long.... had all the fish in there for a number of years and all healthy with good parameters so they would be able to fight it off I would think..... but again that's if the flame angel actually has ich.

never tried hypo before.... whats involved in setting this up??? what salinity does this have to be?

 

[Jtisle506]

Slowly lowering the salinity in the QT till the ich cannot live in the water but the fish can. Its a very slow process. Honestly i like to copper treat my fish than hypo b/c by the time the water gets down to where the salinity is low enough to kill the ich, sometimes it takes so long the fish dies b4 it can work. Copper automatically kills ich. After you copper dose i would honestly dip the fish in some separated tank water B4 introducing it back into the display so that no copper can really be on her to go back in your tank, also use seperate nets. Im a precaution freak lol.

 

[alco1]

lol hmmm..... well I do have copper already and have used it before with good results. I just really want to know though with that description ive given does that sounds like ich.... just want to make sure coz the copper would stress the crap out of the fish. the flame would survive, doesn't look like hes affected by the symptoms.

I guess ill keep a close watch on him over the next couple of days and if it progresses then I have my answer....

then if it does then its copper time!!

 

[alco1]

UPDATE!!!

It's ich, came home and my hippo tang has it

Oh well, somehow got to fit 7 large tangs and a few gobies into a 50g QT tank..... should be interesting

 

[alco1]

hey all.... big question.... so the 50g QT i have is pretty much my fresh salt water mixing tank. just wanting to know if i put all my fish in there and start copper treating them... once this outbreak is gone in about 6-8weeks how do i clean up the 50g tank so i can re-use it for salt mix again without the copper going back into my DT??

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[navaljonf]

Any thought on allowing the fish to fight it naturally? I'd think a 50 gal QT would turn bad with that many large fish.