Hypo resistant ich?

[beeps4u]

Hi,

I've been treating some fish for ich with hyposalinity for over a month now. Two fish still have spots on them, and the spots have gotten worse over time, rather than better. What are the odds that I have hyposalinity resistant ich? I've kept the salinity at 1.009 (measured with refractometer). It has gotten as high as 1.010 a few times, but did not stay there for long. Is that enough to allow the ich to keep a foothold in the tank?

The spots don't look as much like the ich pictures that I've seen on line. The spots look like white worts on the fish. They are about 1 mm across and 1 mm deep. Some are even bigger than that. Is there anything else that causes white spots like this on fish? The two fish are tangs (sailfin and kole). I'll try to post a pic, but it's hard to get a good picture.

Thanks for the help.

Andrea

 

[sidd129]

Is it possible that your refactometer is broken, what did you calibrate you refratometer with?

 

[beeps4u]

RO/DI water. I'll check it again, but it's only a few months old and was just fine when I checked it then.

 

[beeps4u]

Just checked it. It's spot on.

 

[Meche]

You might want to try getting this thread moved to the fish forum. Steve will be able to answer this. I really hope this is a misdiagnosis. If there really is hypo-resistant ich... that would be bad. :doubt:

 

[beeps4u]

Will do. I went ahead and posted it in the fish forum.

 

[burning2nd]

my clown will get spots if not feed enough........

just a though

 

[Scooterman]

RO/DI water. I'll check it again, but it's only a few months old and was just fine when I checked it then.

You might want to check it, & recalibrate it read this.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=221132#post221132

Also sounds like you may have a parasite on these fish so hypo will not tread them. I'll see If Steve-s has already helped.

 

[ronj]

how often are you doing water changes in the qt tank??? it sounds like they got some sort of infection..i had this happen with 2 hippo tangs..i thought it was ich..i let the water quality get less than par...check your water parameters....also, do the spots look kinda fuzzy, oir does it look like something has burrowed into the skin??? i am going to look for a pic of what happened to mine..i have had so me sort of pod attach to the fish, and i have had a slight infection occur..they were both white at first and i thought they were ich..

 

[ronj]

this is what the spots looked like after a series of formalin baths..they were white to begin with..i thought they were ich trophonts..they started out small and got bigger

 

[Damsel13]

eww, poor fishies ronj. Did they pull through? And how is your other tang doing? The one back in QT? Sorry, mini hijack beeps4u but as you moved to fish forum thought it would be ok.

oops, this is fish forum.

 

[Meche]

yes he did

 

[beeps4u]

Thanks for the article. I'll check the refractometer again using home-made standards when I get home. Maybe I can make them in the lab before I go home so they are very accurate (I work in a molecular bio lab). I'm pretty sure it's relatively accurate, though. Its readings are confirmed by my floating hydrometer.

The spots do not look like the ones in the pictures. They are mostly white and are not fuzzy at all. They actually look a lot like little worts with very clearly defined edges. The edges of each wort rise up steeply, rather than gradually sloping away. It looks like someone just set a little bead on top of the skin. The fish is also not flashing at all. He seems unphased by the white dots.

Water parameters are good. My nitrates get high periodically. They recently got very high during our power outage. I'm lucky the fish are alive at all after that. I try to do water changes once a week at least. More often if the parameters are off (pH, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia).

 

[ronj]

mine looked just like what you are describing..they started as tiny white dots and progressed into big sores...i treated them and they are in my display now..they still have a little scarring, but they are just fine now..until you can talk to Steve, i would start doing 2-3 water changes a week to be sure.

 

[beeps4u]

Thanks for the advice. Do you think I should try a formalin bath as well? Or would another medication be more appropriate?

 

[ronj]

i wouldn't treat it with anything until you are sure what it is...if it is just a bacterial thing, the water changes alone could help

 

[beeps4u]

Here are some pics. The lighting is bad, but you can see the spots. They are quite raised. The fish is about 3.5" long. Sorry about the bad lighting.

 

[Reefreak]

Will tag along here... I have the same problem as Beeps4u
I have a tang at 1.009 SG for 5 weeks and still see Crypt in the morning. I have checked my refractometer a few different ways and its spot on no matter what.
Parameters:
20 Gal. Cycled QT Bare bottom. 5 Gal buffered water change every 3 days
PH 8.2
Alk 3.66
Ammonia 0
Trite 0
Trate < 5
Temp 79
I can get a pic in the AM if needed but I have been doing this for 20 years and thought I knew what Crypt looks like.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated?
Thanks

 

[beeps4u]

Shaun, Do you think that my fish has ich? The spots look kind of big... But I don't have lots of experience with this.

BTW, my refractometer is spot on.

 

[Reefreak]

Shaun, Do you think that my fish has ich? The spots look kind of big... But I don't have lots of experience with this.

BTW, my refractometer is spot on.

Its hard to say without a realy good picture. I have read there are several different types and sizes and some are more resistant than others.
I have always used copper in the past with great results, but I'm concerned about the long term health issues with the Tangs. So thought I would give Hypo a try....So far its not working out so good!

Maybe Steve will chime in soon