Could this be ich?

[SkinnyPete]

My new Heni has been swimming strangely today. I noticed two white spots on one of his black bars. They aren't bright white, and they are not round so I'm not sure if this could be ich.

He's been eating fine he hasn't been scratching against rocks or sand. My other fish are yellow tang, 2 clowns, and a yellow watchman goby. They all seem fine right now. Exactly what would the white ich spots look like? Would they be bright white? Round or just look like dull blemishes? Also, if it turns out to be ich, do I need to QT ALL my fish even if he's the only one showing signs, or just the heni?

Here's a pic - not great, but he wouldn't hold still long enough for me to snap a good one off. The top blemish is much more noticable than in this picture. I think its being slightly covered by his fin.

 

[StripesTheEel]

A little blurry, may be ich.. the scratching gives me the feeling it may be.. as long as it is eating that is a good thing.. when they stop eating u know they are in trouble..

Also, if it turns out to be ich, do I need to QT ALL my fish even if he's the only one showing signs, or just the heni?

yes, although none are infected they have all been exposed to the parasite..

 

[SkinnyPete]

So, do I just play it cool and hope for the best until more symptoms pop up or more white spots show themselves?

 

[StripesTheEel]

i'd qt immediately..and monitor

 

[adacaro]

qt is the rule of the day

 

[oceandelight]

i have a heni that i though had ich but really it was just the way the light was hitting off a few of his black scales i would watch him for a few days and your other fish and if anything else appears on him or on your other fish QT them.

 

[melosu58]

Need more conclusive evidence

 

[SkinnyPete]

Well, he STILL hasn't been scratching. He goes after food like its his last meal and he's NOT breathing heavy, he's not behaving any differently - but still has some tiny white spots on him. So, I removed him and QT him. I've been floating two large sponge filters at the top of the tank for about 6 days and they are now in my 20 gallon QT tank in a hang on back filter along with a 5lb rock from my main tank. Hopefully that will be enough to handle his bioload. I'm not sure. I'll just have to watch the ammonia over the next couple days and stay on top of it.

Now, my other tankmates seem fine at the moment - yellow tang, 2 clowns, and a watchman goby. But, I'm assuming if it IS ich that they will all eventually get it and I should QT them as well? The watchman is gonna be a pain to catch with all my rock work and I'm afraid my little 20 gallon won't be able to handle the bioload. I guess I just do daily water changes?

Could this maybe NOT be ich and perhaps its something else? The only symptom he has are the spots.

 

[StripesTheEel]

if it is ich you will need to QT all..

i'd just monitor your other fish for symptoms..

i had tomato clowns that i thought had ich..but it seemed to be little oxygen bubbles under their scales..

 

[SkinnyPete]

So, its been over 2 weeks. My Heni definitely had ich. I did remove him and have been treating with hypo in my 20 gal QT, but it wasn't very successful. I don't expect him to get through the day, unfortunately.

Anyway, I didn't QT the rest of my fish - just kept an eye on them and haven't seen ANY signs of ich in my other fish. Should I still QT the rest of my fish and leave the main tank empty for a 6-8 weeks? If not, at what point if my remaining fish stay symptom free could I assume the ich is gone without removing them - or is the only cure to keep the tank fish free?

I'm grabbing Kick Ich today - I know people have had mixed results but its better than nothing.

- Skins

 

[steve-s]

If the fish has been at treatment level for two weeks without improvement, there is either something wrong with your methodology or it's not C. irritans. You should have at the very least seen an improvemnet in activity and feeding response. The trophonts on the fish should have seen some releif after the first 7-10 days especially the highly visible ones prior to treatment.

What makes you believe the fish will not last ie.. symptoms? What are the QT water parameters (NH3/NO2NO3) including salinity and pH?

Cheers
Steve

 

[SkinnyPete]

Well, the spots disappeared but he never really wanted to eat anything after QT. Probably more due to stress than the ich. He was very skinny, his first two white lines were gray. When I left for work early this morning he was basically blowing around in the current of the tank breathing very quickly, then would all of a sudden start swimming, then stop and blow in the current.

I just couldn't keep the QT water parameters reasonable. I've been working crazy long hours lately and just could not keep up with daily water changes to keep the ammo low. There's no doubt in my mind that it was my inability to QT correctly that eventually led to the heni's death. It was just really bad timing.

Although I learned a lesson here - my QT tank was cracked so I didn't bother QT this one fish out of the 5 so far that I have. I'll never introduce a fish without QT again - I don't care how long I have to wait.

Thanks all.

 

[steve-s]

The biggest concern with any QT situation will most commonly be nitrogens, treatment depending. Under better circumstances I am quite sure things would be on a more possitive note. There is still a good chance the fish may yet recover albeit slowly if you can improve on the living conditions. Stress, whether that be from outside influences or the water itself can often play a role in feeding problems. The hypo will actually help with that but ammonia must be dealt with first but as you already know, water changes is the main solution. Be sure as well you are checking pH/alk daily. These will play a major role in your success as well. You should also try to keep the lights off and the room dim as much as possible. This will also help reduce some addtional stress.

As far as your current fish, you can play "wait and see" monitoring for new outbreaks if any. There is a reasonabley high chance though if you forgo the treatment of all the fish and proper fallow time for the main that any new fish aquisitions will spur on a new infestation even if the new fish were properly QT'd first. Depending on the time frame, it's more than possible for the current stock to go month living in "unison" if you will with the pest. Very little stress or the upset of the community is needed for that to change.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Phyl]

If ich is in your main it is in your main, I'm afraid. I have a purple tang that I treated with hypo. He did really well (sorry your Heni isn't doing so well) and at the end of 8 long weeks he moved to the main. Once in the main he got ich again, which had obviously been in my main for the 5 months prior without my knowledge. I started feeding garlic and selcon and haven't seen any ich on any of my fish since (he was the only one that was ever symptomatic to begin with). That was about 3 months ago. So I know that the right conditions may bring about an outbreak and if that happens I'll treat the tank then.

What about the hypo wasn't successful? Did it not rid him of the ich? Did he not handle the lowered salinity well? Did you use a refractometer? Constantly monitor the PH and Alk? How is he doing today?

 

[SkinnyPete]

Thanks for the help. I believe it was my inablity to keep up with water params, and my ammo was pretty high. He just stopped eating, got really thin, and died a few days ago. If the QT had happened a month ago or a month later, I would have been available to do daily water changes and I'm sure the results would have been different. As I said before, it was just bad timing and I wasn't able to QT correctly.

As it is - I'm out of town again for about a week, so if one of my other fish shows symptoms in the next week I'm in trouble.

I'm just gonna have to get through the next week and then I'll hypo all the fish when I'll be able to do it properly and leave the main empty to rid the ich.

- Skins