ich :(

[Jeremiah]

I'm pretty sure my clowns have ich.

I was wondering if anyone near me Pierce and Coal Mine (littleton). Would mind coming over and confirming that I am right? Then chatting w/ me about what I should do.

I am starting to read everything I can right now about it, but i see so many different things and am not sure what direction to go.

Thanks for your help in advance....

 

[Cake_Boss]

Re: ich

May I suggest this thread, http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17203

There's many different ways treat ich; copper, hypo, tank change method, UV, and cp/cs are some ways to treat.

Feel free to ask questions. There's loads of info on it, and it can be overwhelming. No worries though, there's always a few of us going through it at any given time.

 

[Jeremiah]

Well, I think I'm going to go with the QT tank and dose copper. I've read a ton and even woke up in the middle of the night not able to sleep so i read a ton more.

As far as I can tell it is ich, but they only have a few spots on them right now...wish I was 100% sure because my friend who is also new to salt said he thought he had ich and it ended up not being ich at all. He can't remember what it was called, but it had a different treatment.

Since I've not gotten any volunteers that live close to come look at the fish i think my only plan of action is catch and haul them into one of the LFS and see if they can confirm for me.


Thanks for your reply...

 

[FinsUp]

can you post pics?

 

[Jeremiah]

tried, but camera phone and ipad can't get clear enough shot to see anything...fish won't stay still long enough to get a shot. When I zoom in they just lose 2 much resolution to see anything.

I'll see if I can borrow a camera...my son in law's wife has a decent one I just don't think she has the lense for close ups like this.

 

[jahmic]

Yea, try to get a definite ID. Clowns are also susceptible to brooklynella, which from what I've read is often misidentified as ich.

Good luck! Do a search on the forums for brooklynella...someone recently fought an outbreak and had a lfs ID it for them...I wanna say it was Neptunes, but not sure on that.

 

[Robbiekrause33]

aquamart had some ich treatment that has no copper you can put it right in the display tank i'd call them and see what if they have it maybe it'll help but the qt process is a good idea

 

[daverf]

Yea, try to get a definite ID. Clowns are also susceptible to brooklynella, which from what I've read is often misidentified as ich.

Good luck! Do a search on the forums for brooklynella...someone recently fought an outbreak and had a lfs ID it for them...I wanna say it was Neptunes, but not sure on that.

+1000, Neptunes, Patrick.

First you need a positive ID. Read this http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisart.htm. Also look at as many linked articles/FAQs as you can on the top of the page.

If you can't get a confident ID, take the fish in the worst shape to Neptunes. Patrick will take a scrape and look at it under a microscope for no charge. Make sure you give them repeat business as a thanks.

You could post more details and get more help on what it may be. When did you get fish, was it QT'd (by you or store), when did symptoms start, be as descriptive as possible on explaining what you see on their skin and their behavior.

It could also be amyloodinium. And QT now is a good idea - chances are your tank is infested, and that you need to let it run fallow before adding more fish.

Lot's of us have been down that path...good luck and you'll get help here...You're going to have to take evasive action as you get going if they are diseased/progressing...and can't wait/ruminate...

 

[TexSun]

Re: ich

+1000, Neptunes, Patrick.

First you need a positive ID. Read this http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisart.htm. Also look at as many linked articles/FAQs as you can on the top of the page.

If you can't get a confident ID, take the fish in the worst shape to Neptunes. Patrick will take a scrape and look at it under a microscope for no charge. Make sure you give them repeat business as a thanks.

Is this a normal service they offer?

 

[daverf]

Is this a normal service they offer?

It is something they typically do without charge for their customers.

 

[ReefCheif]

Are the clowns eating? Are they white spots or leisons? Whats in the tank with the clowns? Any corals? What temp is the tank? I could be a wealth of info on this topic, just need some more info to try and help.

 

[Cabby]

what fish do you have? how many have spots? I am at Coalmine and Peirce. Let me know. been dealing with that stupid parasite for, well every since I started this hobby. have some thing I have tried and had success. Specially Tangs

 

[Jeremiah]

They have a pretty good appetite. Looks like white spots, the larger one had 1 spot on him for around 4 days or so then it was done and noticed other dots on the smaller clown. Today when I got back from work can't hardly see the dots on smaller one and larger one now looks clear. They did have little white dots on the pectoral fins, but they were gone this morning when the lights came on.

No other fish just them two.

yes corals, but I can easily remove them...also have live rock and sand. I keep the tank at 78 degrees.

My nitrates have been around 10 to 20 through out the week till water changes at end of week. I just installed a skimmer to help but now I have ridiculous amount of bubbles so can't see anything in the tank now.

So hopefully the bubbles clear up so I can monitor them....

Are the clowns eating? Are they white spots or leisons? Whats in the tank with the clowns? Any corals? What temp is the tank? I could be a wealth of info on this topic, just need some more info to try and help.

 

[daverf]

My vote is do nothing and keep watching. Either they did have something (ich etc) that they easily shook off...or could have been sand/substrate (especially if they don't have an anenome to rub against)...or the skimmer bubbles stuck on their skin...etc.

More spots, erratic behavior or scratching, rapid breathing, feeding change - see these in some combination, you need to worry and act.

Is your skimmer discharging directly into the display? You do want to avoid microbubbles in the display especially.

 

[Jeremiah]

The spots are before the skimmer...added the skimmer tonight. I have a Nuvo 16 so skimmer discharges into the rear chamber...just a ton of micro bubbles, instructions say that it will have them till broken in. Just didn't expect to have the display to be completely filled...looks super saturated with them.

 

[Cake_Boss]

Re: ich

I'd put some filter floss to control the bubbles. Too many micro bubbles can be problematic

 

[xxHLTxx]

IMO best thing is to leave it alone. dosing in the tank is kinda dumb personally... but realistically if they do have any disease and it is affecting them, why stress them more by removing and putting into an empty QT tank away from their cave/home? I have a QT tank that i put my fish in when i first get them for about 3 weeks to make sure they eat, aren't holding any diseases and are acting normal, then in they go. I NEVER take fish out to put in the QT. My solution to Ich is to bump the temp to nearly 86. Wake up when the lights are starting to turn on (i run blues for 2 hours then a dim white onto the bright white for 4 hours, back to dim white then off to blues for another 2.5 then moonlights... Raise the temp in the morning and by "high noon" the tank should be around 84-86... turn the thermo back to normal and let it "cool off" and for feeding, dose the crap out of their food with garlic. Garlic and the raised temp will help the fish immune system and the temp spike will kill Ich, ich can't survive above 84 degrees.

 

[Jeremiah]

Corals fine at 86?

 

[Andrew_bram]

ich

Saltwater ich is not the same as freshwater ich. It is a misnomer that elevated temp speeds the process. Crypocarin in saltwater is a whole other beast than freshwater ich.

 

[xxHLTxx]

for one day and at that being a period of less than 24 hours, corals might not like it but it won't kill anything. and what Andrew_bram said is true, freshwater ich is a p***y compared to saltwater ich, but ich is still ich and parasites in general, most cannot survive in temperatures above 84 degrees. If your concerned, i would remove all inverts possible, i.e.. snails hermits crabs shrimp.... leave the fish. raise it, let it drop... and see how everything is.