Ich Symptoms - has to be multiple white spots?

G

glocklt4

Premium Member
Unfortunately I have begun to notice a white spot on the Naso tang I got from DNA on their big sale day. I have never had a tank with ich before and haven't really seen any fish with it, so I am not 100% sure what I'm looking for. All the pictures online that I'm finding aren't helping me definitively diagnoss him as having Ich. He hasn't displayed any other symptoms of ich, just this one white spot on the side that sticks out away from him maybe 1mm or 2mm ... and then some lighter patches of grey on him in weird spots, but he seems to show those when nervous since the day i got him.

This doesn't sound like it from what I've read, but just trying to be sure. Sounds like an outbreak of ich is no fun at all!
 
Well, judging by this picture of a regal with Ich, it does appear he has it :(

http://bp0.blogger.com/_2iVbB9CQugE/R8TgQGU6RWI/AAAAAAAAANw/drG-5LgZ8_A/s1600-h/IMG_5928_1.JPG

With only 1 spot on him, any suggestions?? I have noticed it for the past 3-4 days, so maybe a freshwater dip would keep the pod from releasing and starting an outbreak?
 
No, a fresh water dip may knock of any ick that haven't burrowed under the skin, but that's about it. The actual white bumps you see are the sores that are a response to the parasite burrowing under the skin.
 
Grreeeeaattt...

I'll have a pic posted tonight, but all it takes is one of these sores then and you know you're about to have an outbreak?
 
Some fish have a natural or acquired partial immunity, and may never get to a full blown 'outbreak'. Were it me, I'd consider setting up a QT tank that I could run hypo and keep the fish there for 6 weeks.
 
yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking of doing. Do I need to do this for all of the fish, or just this one then? None of the other fish have any spots or signs at all.
 
Do you want the "real" answer, or the easy answer?

You now have ich in your tank, and always will until you remove all the fish and let the tank sit fallow for 6 weeks. Realistically, some folks get by with just treating the affected fish. You may or may not see it again in that case, but that's got to be compared to the effort / time / expense of setting up one of rmore qt tanks, potentially having to tear the tank apart to get the last fish who runs from you, etc.
 
Thanks for the feedback. In reading the suggested lists that Matt and others have posted, I agree with what you have said. It seems like the best way to treat this is going hypo. I'm just not too excited about doing it with all of my fish...

First I'll get a confirmation that the fish actually has ich (picture tonight). I'll go ahead and stop by Pets Mart on the way home and get started making a QT tank.

From what I've read doing hypo, you are supposed to put your main tank water in the QT, bare with no rock, but with a HOT filter so that the tank still have bacteria to avoid cycling again and Ammonia spike. Correct?

Any other requirements for setting up a QT tank for doing hypo?
 
That's basically it. I include old freshwater tank decorations to give the fish a place to hide.

Stick a piece of filter floss in your sump for a couple of days and that'll let bacteria colonize it and then stick that in the HOB filter as a boost to the cycle.

Keep an eye on the ammonia, ph, and temp. If you're going with hypo, make sure you have a refractometer that's been calibrated.
 
Well, I got home and the Naso was already gone at the bottom of the tank. When I took him out he didn't have any spots on him, but then again the crabs were eating him so they probably ate anything that was stuck to him.

I went ahead and fed the rest of the fish with two drops of Garlic Xtreme, and then added 8 drops directly to the tank.

Sooo... no idea what really killed the Naso, but just incase the garlic should help if the others are infected but not showing any symptoms yet.

Water tests are all good.
 
Thanks for the info. I had noticed a little bit of redness in the area around his mouth/gills where I could see through that was unusual, so that is probably the case.

Is there anything I should continue to do now? The rest of the fish are still fine with no signs.
 
I have been considering setting up another tank in August, so I think my plan will be to get that setup and in hypo salinity and move the fish over to it for the 4-6 weeks, then move them back. The new tank will be either fish only or FWLR, so hypo wouldn't hurt it too badly.
 
Matt is correct. One of the main early symptons is rapid gill movements, indicating irritation of the gills. It affects gill function and the fish can sufficate.
 
Ok, thanks. It was hard to tell if he had rapid gill movement. He was a smaller fish and it was not that easy to see.
 
This is an excellent read on marine ick.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23132-marine-ich-myths-facts.html
 
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