For Beth

shawna1972

Member
Hi,
Do you think it's safe to start cupramine again? My hippo has what looks to be the start of Ich he is scratching everything in sight his face mostly I can see white by his face where he's scratching,rapid gill movement.
Scopas tang has what looks to be black dots on his dorsal and some thing on his gill not sure? scopas is not scratching,breathing normal
water was just changed out 100% yesterday. my readings are
Ammonia-0 according to ammonia alert badge
nitrites 0
ph -8.4
salinity -1024
nitrates- 2
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Can you post pictures? Please describe what you are seeing in detail and where you are seeing it. Size, shape of spots, location, etc.
 

shawna1972

Member
I wish I could but I dont have a camera I would have to wait until my son get home with his phone and see if we could do it that way somehow.
What Im seeing is what looks tto be white raised bubbles by his mouth
and side,a few black dots on tail also his tail has a v when I got him they told me it was from the kole tang he was in with
He is scratching like crazy! swimming stop scratch swim again
He has no problem eating at all.
Scopas has black tiny dots on his dorsal, he ate the first day but is now not eating,I was not going to get this guy because I seen his stomach was pinched but I felt bad for him and got him.he's not real active just lazily swimming but all they been through this is good
 

shawna1972

Member
Ok I dont think this is going to work,I cant seem to get a good enough pic and Im using my sons camera phone they both were resting in their hiding spots when I took these. and I was right up to the glass. :(
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Those pictures are way too blurry to tell much of anything.
Perhaps the black dots you are seeing is black ich? Look at the fish very closely with a magnifying glass to see if you can see more on the body. There are examples of black ich in the Diseased Fish topic, top of this forum.
Are the "white bubbles" irregular in shape? Take a look at the pictures in the Diseased Topic at lymphocyctis.
 

shawna1972

Member
Ill take a look ,the black dots look like pepper without a lens Ill have to call my mom and see if she can bring one down to me the white spots on hippo look like air bubbles then when he turns I can see they are white a little raised perfect salt specs
Ill try to get a lens though Thanks
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Through the tank. Removing fish is always a risk to the fish. Spend some time looking at the fish with a magnifying glass. Check out the pictures of black ich and even lymphocyctis in the Diseased Fish topic.
The white spots may be the beginning of HLLE. Do the observation. Magnifying glasses are something hobbyists should use daily, looking at fish, other life forms, and the overall tank for problems that you can't always catch with the n a k e d-eye.
 

shawna1972

Member
Ok, looked through disease It's not lymph,the black Ich on tang looks exact but my scopas but scopas is dark on sides so I cant tell if its on his body.
Hippo looks to have Ich it's not much I just checked him he has about 10 white dots and 4 black dots on his tail.
should I still wait to treat until I get a mag lens? Im going to do a water change in the morning maybe Ill wait until then.

ya know one thing that Im shocked about is how well they are getting along they even sleep together and when I feed the hippo nudges the scopas as to say "get up and eat" but he wont :( poor guy) I put some brocolli in their today and he would not touch that either.Im gonna go tomorrow and get some cyclopese this might do it?
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
The treatment for black ich is formalin bathes, not copper. Check out the procedure in the FAQ Thread.
My advise would be overall hyposalinity for all your fish, and treatment of the black ich as detailed in the procedure. Do you have a refractometer?
No copper at this time.
 

shawna1972

Member
Ahhh Ok heres the thing as you know I tried hypo "without refractometer" used glass one"wrong I know" but it was an emergency and "thats all I had" anyway my exp was even using glass one I could not keep my salinity stable due to evap ect...
Believe me when I tell you I will kill my fish doing hypo. I am still to new. Remember I just started my tank back up after 9 months being away and ready to give up. It's like Im learning all over again but during these 9 months I have read and read and everyone is 2 sided on this and myself personally I am not comfortable with this method. Im not saying it's not a great method but for me I'ts not good one
So with that said I am positive Im dealing with black Ich "this is a given" can prazi treat this? I have prazi pro.
or couldn't I start the cupurmine back up and then do fresh water dips until I get the reg Ich out of the way? and then start the formalin dips ? any other option? Im doing my water change today and would like to stat a treatment.
Thank you
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Your choice shawna. I've given you my best advise under the circumstances.
 

shawna1972

Member
K, thanks I guess I mean either way at this point doing anything is risky.
I do have an update though my scopas started eating this morning and he's swimming normal.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
See if you can at least find formalin and treat the black ich, following the procedure exactly as described in the FAQ Topic.
 
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