yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Hey, I just noticed today that there were white spots on all the fins of my clown goby and blue-green chromis!! i dont know what it is.. but they seem to be there all over the fins and a few on the head of the goby as well!! Does anyone have an idea as to what this might be? Rev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 do they look like spots of sugar? if so might be ich, can wipe your tank out. there are other diseases that leave white spots, but i think ich is most common. copper power can kill it, but also kills coral so have to run a quarantine tank. need to make sure what it is before trying treatment. not trying to sound ridiculous, but could possibly be pieces of sand, too. how long have they been there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Oh shucks!!! Mine is a reef aquarium... :( I think I Will have to start a quarantine tank!! but the things is this: 2 days ago everyone seemed fine, except for my clown goby, he had a couple spots on him (white spots) on his fins, i just thought it might be some particles in the water, but now, I just noticed that almost all the fish have some sort of spots on them and that they are all over their bodies.. not just restricted to fins and tail.. I dont know what elst to look for or how else to diagonize it... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsz3 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 it may be ich or velvet they both present about the same at first, if you have a uv sterilizer I would run that and soak they're food in a garlic extract, I had a blue hipp get ich I thought but three days later all my fish where gone so I think velvet was the culprit. good luckwith it tho I hope it turns out ok for ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Man!!! I dont know what to do!! I dont even have a quarantine tank!! need to start one as soon as possible... have a spare 20G tank, which I will convert into one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Dog Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Sorry to hear that Rev, I haven't had any fish diseases yet, so I can't help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Now that you have an idea of what it could be I wouldn't stress about it now. It's already in the tank so scaring you about what it could be isn't going to help. The best thing to do is to make sure it's eating. Consider using garlic extreme or something to that sort. Once the virus is in the tank putting the fish into a Quarantine tank isn't going to change anything for the rest of your tank. I have rolled the dice and lost many fish but personally feel that it's not worth the hassle of doing a QT. Up to you but I would just make sure it's fed good. Others on here will disagree with me but ultimately it's up to you. How long have you had that fish? If it's been in the tank for awhile it very well could just be a carrier of the virus. Also what are your water parameters? This could cause extra stress on the fish and cause ich to show up on the fish as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Sounds like ick to me. How many/what kind of fish do you, what size tank? Ick is a parasite, it burrows into the flesh of your fish and drinks their blood. :( The white spots are actually a cyst which forms where the parasite entered the fish. After the parasite is done feeding it and the cyst fall off. The parasite then lays on the substrate and multiplies, when it reemerges several days later there will be hundreds more all hungry and in search of a host. :( It is only in this last phase before it has found a host that it can be killed, this necessitates a vigilant treatment well past the last signs of the parasite. Personally I choose not to treat for Ick because the stress of moving your fish into a QT which has been setup quickly can be the death of your fish and in my experience marine fish can fight of the parasite on there own. You may loose some or all of your fish if you let the parasite run it's course but you very well might kill some or all of them in a QT. I suggest you read as much as you can about Ick before you make a decision on how to act, you will find that there are many many differing opinions on what you should. In the end I think there is no "one" solution instead the specific tank and it's particular inhabitants will determine the "best" course of action. Good luck and know that your not the only one dealing with this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Thanks for the support everyone!!! I think I will go with your advice and go ahead and feed them food which is garlic enriched... I dont have a UV sterilizer, but will try to see if I can get one... Also, would you recommend water changes? My other question is, will my corals be alright? i haven seen any signs of distress on them... but just want to confirm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 My water parameters are these: Ph 8.2 Alk between 10 and 11 Calc 400 ppm Mg 1200 ppm Temp 77 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Thanks for the support everyone!!! I think I will go with your advice and go ahead and feed them food which is garlic enriched... I dont have a UV sterilizer, but will try to see if I can get one... Also, would you recommend water changes? My other question is, will my corals be alright? i haven seen any signs of distress on them... but just want to confirm... Your corals will be fine. without knowing if it's Ich or not I wouldn't add anything else to the tank or remove anything for at least a few weeks. I doubt that it could be transfered to another tank but you can never be too careful. Ok saw your water parameters. Should be fine. What are your nitrates and nitrites at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 just added water parameters... please let me know if this is sufficient!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 My water parameters are these: Ph 8.2 Alk between 10 and 11 Calc 400 ppm Mg 1200 ppm Temp 77 Parameters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Ok saw your water parameters. Should be fine. What are your nitrates and nitrites at? What are your nitrates and nitrites at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Nitrates and Nitrites are at 0 I dont have ammonia test kit... but have some phosphates: 0.025 i think... i dont remember the number of 0's, but it is the second color on the standard test kit.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I would just make sure it's fed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Ok.. all the fish are showing some spots... not as much as my goby though.. so, I will just keep feeding them garlic enriched food... thanks for the help Jesse!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I agree with just leaving the fish in the tank. The other thing you have to think about which I didn't is you can treat the fish and then you put it back in the tank and it's likely going to get the ich again. Here's a good article from reef frontiers about ich: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/marine-ich-myths-facts-27003/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Thanks Kim! But, after reading the post, I am more confused!!! dont know what to do!! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Can you add a uv sterilizer? That helps. Maybe borrow one if not. You gotta decide fast because the next 48 or so hours the parasites are dropping off the fish to reproduce. You said your goby cleared up. That can be the calm before the storm. The parasite drops off, reproduces and comes back with a vengence. I play it by situation. If one fish has a spot or 2, I leave them alone. If one fish breaks out, I keep watching and see, maybe try to take them out depending on what kind of fish it is, as well as the tankmates (how suceptible they are), if all fish break out, I personally think you have a situation to deal with. I would have a qt tank ready to go. It is stressful to move them no doubt, but a fish covered in ich untreated doesnt stand a chance, better to do it sooner than later for best success. Only you know how dire it is, maybe post a pic. And if you do make a qt dont think because you use tank water you wont have a cycle. So many times I hear that someone sets up a small qt tank (usually 10-30 gal) and fill it with tank water and think they wont have a cycle and cram a bunch of fish in. Usually the copper kills the bacteria and starts a small cycle, then the fish further it. Ideally you would want to have like a sponge filter or plastic media of some sort (bioballs) and have them seasoned in your main tank. Then add them to qt and them them adjust to copper (different bacteria will adjust to copper) if you dont have them maybe you can borrow. I have often given away sponge filters if someone has a replacement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 My Clown goby is full of spots and the others are starting to have them too... :( Six line wrasse, 2 false perculas 2 purple chromis 1 blue green chromis!! :( All have spots and my nitrates and nitrites are 0, so i think it should be ich... I have read up a lot of material and I think i will go ahead with a QT and reduce salinity to 1.010 for a month or so and maintain fish in the tank!! Also, Does any one have a UV sterilizer that I can borrow for a week or so? so that I can treat my main tank ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I dont think that low of salinity is needed....maybe 1.018. And raise the temp slightly a few degrees, copper power is a good safe copper to use to treat ich in a QT tank. I would also advise if you are going through the trouble to remove fish you might as well do them all, one could harbor the parasite and moving the fish around could just allow them to give it back to the fish in QT once returned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 if you going to go the low salinity route, not a good idea to do them both. one or the other. as you can tell by the previous posts, there is no set answer to this prob. so many ideas out there, hard to pick the best one. here is mine, when i ran my quarantine tank using copper, the ick was gone in 2 weeks. kept the fish in the qt tank for a month after to try to make sure the cysts were dead. once you take the fish out of the display tank, the cysts will die off, since they need a host (fish) to live off of. another reason for the 6 week quarantine . luck to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 There is only one way to go about this to give your fish the best chance of survival and a full and healthy life: Treat them in QT and QT all new livestock as well. If you do not, they will die. Perhaps not this outbreak, maybe not the next, but they will die short of their expected lifespan guaranteed. If you had a disease/parasite you wouldn't just eat garlic and hope it goes away would you? Please don't treat your fish this way either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 There is only one way to go about this to give your fish the best chance of survival and a full and healthy life: Treat them in QT and QT all new livestock as well. If you do not, they will die. Perhaps not this outbreak, maybe not the next, but they will die short of their expected lifespan guaranteed. If you had a disease/parasite you wouldn't just eat garlic and hope it goes away would you? Please don't treat your fish this way either. JEEZ is that meant to be a funny haha or a mean post...I cant really read any other tones. "IF you do not treat them, they will die" = NOT true, they may or may not, he doesnt know. Also, how do you know they will die short of their expected lifespan? Do you know what that is? aquarium lifespan or wild lifespan? ich rarely takes fish out in the wild, its an aquarium thing, and who is to say in the wild their fish wouldnt be destined to be eaten by a shark, and they actually already has prolonged its life. Be careful with your "guarantees" in this hobby Also, its not very wise to compare fish and humans, not a good comparison. And some people might use garlic, its called holistic healing and has been around for oh, maybe 50,000 years longer than modern medicine/antibiotics etc. We have made it this far without pharmaceuticals, who is to say THEY aren't shortening our lives/existence. Someone forgot their coffee, I know it sucks to have to remind people to QT livestock, but kind of flaming one person for it doesn't help any situation, educating does, and I didnt learn anything from the above post except they are angry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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