Ick?

[GrannyReefer]

Hello all, I am desperate for someone to help with a problem that I am having for the past two weeks. I have lost 2 Tomato Clowns, 2 True Percula Clowns and 1 Coral Angel. I didn't notice anything on any of them until the last one died (the Angel) and it had small white spots all over it. This wasn't noticed until after it was to late due to the fact it stayed behing the live rock ( I thought it was just getting used to the tank, only had it 3 days) and when it came out it was gone within a few hours. Now I am also worried about my corals and invertabrates and the other fish in the aquarium. Please can anyone give me advice as what to do that would be safe and immediate.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

If all of your fish are gone then wait for three weeks before putting any more fish in the tank. The invertrabrates are totally unaffected and unable to carry the disease. A quarantine tank should always be used for new arrivals.

 

[GrannyReefer]

I still have one Six Line Wrasse and two True Percula Clowns(one of which has white spots now also) and I am so scared that I will loose them also. I went to the local pet store today and purchased a bottle of Emergency ICH X-tingisher by Tropcial Science, the choices was slim and I had no idea which one would work best since this is mostly a coral/invertabert tank.
I wish I did have the qurantine tank you mentioned, hind site is always 20/20 they say. I just wish I knew what to use that would be safe for the fish,corals,etc.
Thanks though Dan for the input.

 

[Alice]

Doris;

Triple check that this is a product that can be used with invertebrates; make sure you understand the composition of all the ingredients.

I'm extremely wary of putting any kind of treatment/meds in my tank.

At this point, the best way to save your fish is get them out and treat them in a separate tank. You need to set this up in a hurry and you aren't going to have time to use hyposalinity. IMO, if you're fish are dying that fast, it isn't ich but rather oodlinium (Marine Velvet) or brooklynella (sometimes called clownfish ich) probably introduced by your new addition. Hmm...but you said you've had the problems for two weeks? Did you add the new fish when you already had parasites in your tank?

If you don't have an empty tank sitting around the house, pick up a cheapo 10 gallon at Walmart or where ever. Fill it with water from your current tank. Treat with cupramine (chelated copper) or preferably with a mix of Malachite Green (for SW) and formalin. Be careful to follow all directions and to aerate the tank a LOT. Point a powerhead at the surface and really break up the water surface. Do frequent water changes on the tank to keep nitrates in check or use an ugly piece of LR for dentrification. Just keep in mind a few things; water from yourdisplay tank may carry new parasites into the QT, using a piece of rock in the QT tank means you'll have to throw the rock away and it will also absorb some of the meds. Leave the fish out of the display tank for a month; life cycle on most parasites is 28-34 days.

This was off the top of my head so feel free to jump in with corrections anyone.

Good luck with your fish, Doris.

Alice

 

[GrannyReefer]

Alice let say thank you so much for all those good tips, it really sounds like some good ideas and I will get the little tank and have it ready for fish that I purchase in the future, sadly all but the Six Line Wrasse is gone now :-( the tank looks real empty with only one little fish, but I will wait for several weeks and then try to start over. I didn't know that the ich was in the tank when I got another pair of clowns and the Coral Angel, and unfortunately it was to late for saving any of them by the time I saw it , but I will deffinately get a QT tank in place before I let myself buy any other fish. I wish that I had got your e-mail (my computer has been down for a few days) before I sprayed the "Ich X-tinguisher" into the tank, I hunted deligently through many products to find one that didn't say harmful to corals! or contains copper, I felt this one would be ok since it didn't have this warning on the label and the ingredent list only shows "Active ingredent:3% Hydrogen Proxide and I didn't think this would harm any thing or it would be listed (ignorance is not always bliss) needless to say I have 90% lost the prettiest Finger Leather I have ever seen and of course it was my nicest coral, it stood approx. 6-7" tall and had a span of about 5" and was soooo nice, it would stand tall and wave in the water movement, now it is all limp,darkened in color and the polyps very seldom try to come out and at best when they try it's only for a few minutes. I think it is so very sick and wants so to live, I have done several things at this point to correct the problem and the other pieces seem to be on the right track but the Finger Leather seems doomed.
I want to say thanks again for the helpful tips.

 

[Alice]

You are more than welcome, Doris. I hope your leather pulls through, they're tough. Does it look like it has a waxy coating on it? Leathers go through a "pout" and once they shed the outer waxy layer, they'll snap back good as new. I've had leather where it lasted only a couple of days and others where it lasted more than a week.

Don't give up hope yet! But if it really does look like it's going to die, you might want to cut away some of the healthy tissue and make frag babies.

Alice

 

[GrannyReefer]

Hello Alice,by waxy do you mean a whitish covering over parts in varing sizes on the leather? If so then maybe it does, sometimes there is more than other times. I like your idea of taking frags if it looks like it's just beyond help. I've never been brave enough to cut frags but if it comes down to that I believe I would have to try. It is still siting in a limp heap most of the time but every once in a while it looks as though it is trying to stand up a little and sometimes the little polyps are deffinately out a little, for a short time. I was over looking in the tank again just now and noticed a very small, almost clear piece of something coming loose from the trunk of the leather, I hope it's just some of the peeling process and not beginning to turn to mush. :-( Thanks again for the tip.

 

[Alice]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. The shedding stuff doesn't really look whitish, more waxy and shiny...like leather

If the coral feels mushy, it's falling apart. Take it out of the tank and frag what you can if it's come to that stage.

 

[GrannyReefer]

Hi Alice, I just now got to read your reply, and your not going to believe this but the Finger Leather is actually trying to stand up a little more today and the color is looking a little better, I am so excited, like I said before, this was my nicest coral and I sure didn't want to loose it. I have been trying so hard to get some things in my tank since I lost most of what I had collected before in my other tank when it split at the left front corner. I have been able to accumulate a few frags but I have never had much luck with these small pieces, but I have this tank in such a good condition at this time I actually believe they might make it this time, I am so hopeful, you'll have to overlook my excitement, I just want so for the tank to take off and do well. I want to thank you for all your support and hanging in there with me, it trully did mean a lot just knowing there was someone out there that was understanding and able to help with all the tips that you gave me.You have to wish me luck though that the little frags make it and the Finger Leather continues to do better.

 

[Alice]

Doris,

That's great news!

And I do indeed wish you the best of luck. Aren't reef tanks cool?

 

[GrannyReefer]

Alice,
Ohhhh yes, you are soooo right, there's perfect and then there's one better. It's called reef aquariums.

 

[Terry B]

If the fish are all breathing rapidly and scratching then it is probably amyloodinium. However, the fish usually die within a week of seeing symptoms. Eventually, you can see a fine biege or white powder on the fish. By the time you can see a dusting on the fish it is usually too late. If it is ich then you should be able to easily see white salt-like spots on the fish. Go to www.advancedaquarist.com and read the five part series on Cryptocaryon irritans. Part five is in the March issue.
Terry B

 

[GrannyReefer]

Hello Terry,
Unfortunately the fish didn't come out from behind the live rock for me to get a good look at it until it was to late to help it, from the time I bought it (the Coral Beauty) it stayed behind live rock if any one came up to the tank when it was out, it would scoot back behind the rock again. When it died is when I saw the salt like white spots covering its body and started watching on the smaller fish and started seeing the same thing on them. I feel certain that the others had the same thing but I had never had ick in a tank before and was not observant to watching for this sort of thing. It's so sad that I didn't have the qt to use as suggested earlier, but since then I have found out that my tank could have got ick any time the inhabitants are stressed, or at least that's the way I understood it when explained to me, that sort of scares me in that I'm scared that this could possibly happen again, if I don't know what to watch or do for my tank.
At this time I have not put any other fish in the tank and it is three weeks now since I was loosing the last of the fish, the strange thing is that I still have my Six Line Wrasse in the same tank and it looks perfectly healthy! Could it be that this fish may be carring the parasites that killed my other fish and the same thing will happen if and when I put other fish in with it?

 

[Terry B]

Ich has to be introduced into the system and there are ways of getting rid of it. Quarantining all new fish for 3+ weeks BEFORE they are placed into the display will go a long ways in preventing future problems. If you read the series that I already suggested you may find the answers to all your questions concerning ich. In particular, you should take a look at what I have to say about partial immunity.
Terry B