New Neon Goby with ICH

[mrg02d]

Hello all,
I am having my first battle with ich. I got a neon goby for my new pico tank today and while acclimating saw what looks like ich. I cant get a clear picture, but would bet it to be ich. It looks like raised white bumps all over him. Hes not flashing, but did go carpet surfing while I was out getting another small tank for QT. (Hes still alive)

He didnt have ich at the LFS, but its showing up in the bag on him. QUICK huh? Good thing I saw it BEFORE putting him into the pico. (Hed be the only fish in there anyways, but still)

Now I know the usual treatment is copper, but also know people like to use hyposalinity. Hypo sounds a bit complex for me. I do have a refractometer, but heard hypo requires CAREFUL pH matching and whatnot. I cannot do anything other than control salinity.

Might a copper treatment be fine? Id hate to lose a fish during QT. Id also hate to screw up hypo and kill him!

The drawback to copper seems to be needing to constantly do water changes to keep ammonia out.

What would the pros suggest a newbie (to treating ich) do? I am surprised he has ich. Kinda ironic that a neon goby has ich and no one to clean him.

BTW-Is it me, or is my refractometer a POS? I have to calibrate it EVERY DANG TIME despite tightening down the set screw. I paid $50 for it too! I use the calibration fluid and adjust the calibration. I then tighten the set screw to keep the calibration set. I check it a few days later (when whipping up some salt water) only to find its deviated a bit.

Thanks guys!
Matt

 

[mrg02d]

UPDATE:
Fish is still alive and seems to be doing better today after a Quick Cure (formallin and malachite green) treatment. Yesterday he looked to be dying (colors going milky white) and not swimming at all. TOday his color is coming back and hes coming to see me when I look in at him!

He still has white spots scattered on his body and fins, so I will keep up with the meds.

The directions say to put in 1 drop per gallon each day, but doesnt say If I should run carbon or what. I figured I should do a 40% PWC to account for any ammonia, so I am running some carbon before putting more meds in.

Ill keep you guys updated.
Matt

 

[mrg02d]

UPDATE: Looks like it might have been body fungus. I treated with Maracyn (along with Quick Cure which is a malachite and formallin combo) and the stuff vanished after 3 days. I treated him for about 7 days total and put him into his 2.5g pico. He is now very active and has taken to eating all the pods in the tank. Poor pods...He seems to have fun doing it too.

He seems to violently attack mysis shrimp offered to him as well...Cute but deadly!

Oh well, he seems to be healed now!

Matt

 

[Bige]

I hate to say it but I have tried three times to get neon gobies and no success. I have heard they are easily stressed. I also tried a shark nose goby, and same result. But they were with two agressive clowns. But I qt the last one for a month. The tank was clear for 120 days. Who knows.

 

[dannyb]

Its not ich. If he didnt have ich at the LFS its not possible for him to have the parasite attached to he/she within a couple of hours.

 

[mrg02d]

To me it looked like ICH as it looked like tiny white specs on him. (No sand or substrate in the LFS tanks). These specs remained for a few days and left after I began using Quick Cure (Formallin and malachine green). I then saw what looked to be cloudy white irregularly shaped patches on him and suspected fungus. 7 days of Maracyn and hes spotless so I added him to his final home. Still no spots on him of any kind and he eats well. Murdered all my poor pods (man there used to be alot of them). He wont touch pellets but will attack frozen mysis shrimp (thawed and rinsed well).

He seems to get excited when I come to look at him as he comes out of hiding and flutters about.

SO far so good. I added two sexy shrimp today. Did a two hour drip for them and put them in. Funny thing is, is that they are keeping their distance from each other.

Both kinda hanging out and doing their butt wriggle.
Matt

 

[thincat]

Sounds like alot of good things happening in your tank. Great job Matt...

 

[mrg02d]

Yeap, the pico is looking good. Ill need to take some pictures soon. The other tank just needs to be rid of the strange biofilm junk. At least my acans are multiplying rapidly in there!

Matt

 

[melosu58]

.Check these out for ich.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com


Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com