White spots on butterflies and brown spots on yellow tang

[kwan]

My Auriga butterfly and raccoon butterfly have developed white spots over their bodies and the yellow tang has developed brown spots on his. And they are scratching their bodies over the rocks. Am I correct to think they are ick?

Mine is a FOWLR tank. What is the best way of treating them if I don't have a QT? Is it possible to apply medication to my main tank with LR? And what is the best treatment and duration?

[cmor1701d]

Do the white spots look like rice?
It does sound like Ich.

The best treatment is hyposalinity in QT. It doesn't take much to set up a QT if you're willing to monitor the water chemistry and do water changes.

At the same site this article offers more information on the parasite.

Maybe Steve or one of the other advisors will chime in with more.

[kwan]

The funny thing is that this morning the white spots on the butterflies and black/brown spots on the yellow tang had almost disappeared. However, after about 6 hours of lights, the spots are coming again. I was going to perform a fresh water dip, but I was unable to catch the fishes after many attempts. This is due to the LR

I am actually thinking of hyposalinity in my main tank, since all of my fishes are infected. Do you think my LR will be okay if I start lowering the salinity?

The black/brown spots on my yellow tang, are they also ich similar to the white? And can they be treated the same way?

I was also looking at a white spot treatment Octozin by Waterlife which claims to be harmless to invertebrates and alage. Could I use this?

[cmor1701d]

The 'spots' will come and go if it is Ich. There are 4 stages to the life of the parasite. The only way to get rid of it is to keep the tank without fish for 4-6 weeks or to treat the tank with hyposalinity, AFAIK.

A FW dip will not cure the fish. They will only become re-infected again.

I would not medicate the tank if I could avoid it. I'm not sure about the LR. I think the coralline might perish along with other beneficial organisms. If you can't QT the fish, QT the rock. Get a tupperware or other container to keep the rock in along with a small powerhead for circulation and and a small heater to keep the temp up. That should serve the same purpose.

[kwan]

Thanks for that. I think I'll move the LR out into a tub. The reason why I can't set up a QT is because I work away during the week. Only my wife is at home during the week and it would be very difficult for her to manage a QT as well as looking after a toddler. Therefore I want to keep things simple.

[Xenos]

Here is a fact I just learned about, butterflies are known for having a virus that manifests itself in the form of spots and is often mistaken for marine ick. It is resistant to copper treatments but has excellent results from iodine, malachite green, or formalin. I would recommend iodine in your aquarium and maybe a 1-2 hour bathe in quick cure daily for three days if it doesn't show any response to a marine ick treatment then try this. The black spots sound like a parasite, once I find my book I'll write you back with more info and maybe pictures so you can tell me if they look like my book's example

[Xenos]

Lymphocysitis is the virus, my book recommended iodine to me and my butterfly hasn't shown symptoms in a week and I only treated with iodine.

[kwan]

I am not aware of this Lymphocysitis virus. I am using Bactocide as a marine ich treatment and the butterflies have improve quite a bit. Having used this for a couple of days, I have not seen anymore white spots on my Auriga, but there is still a couple on the Raccon.

The black spots on my yellow tang has reduced down to about two. I still don't know what this is. Could it be just another type of ich?

I have been wondering why my two clowns had not been infected with white spots. Now that you mentioned Lymphocysitis, there is a possibility that this is the virus. Do you know if this virus has similar symptoms as ich, such as iching, and rapid breathing.

I have not come across iodine. Could you tell where I can find out more on this product?

Many Thanks!

[Terry B]

You could have two types of parasites at the same time, especially if you don't properly quarantine your fish BEFORE placing them into the display tank for the first time. Hyposalnity will definately get rid of the white ich and it will probably help with the black ich as well. Otherwise you should treat the fish with hyposalinity for 3+ weeks and you may have to use a series of formalin dips for the black spot or black ich.
Terry B

[kwan]

Will my LR be okay if I start hyposalinity in my display tank?

[Xenos]

The black spots are a tiny worm, I'm trying to get more info. You should be about to buy iodine at a lfs. SeaChem, Coral Life, Kent Marine each make an iodine additive for reef tanks. It helps to cure the cysts caused by Lympho and its good for inverts too.