Bumps on Powder Blue Tang / Ammonia

[pitons]

My powder blue tang, along with all my other fish, are currently undergoing hyposalinity treatment for ich. Most of the salty spots have cleared up, but the powder blue has these strange whitish bumps along both sides. Are these ich related or is this a secondary infection of some sort? I tried taking a few photos - here are the pics:
<a href="http://stader.com/Photos/aquarium/tangweb.jpg" target="_blank">Pic1</a>
<a href="http://stader.com/Photos/aquarium/tangweb3.jpg" target="_blank">Close up shot</a>

 

[beth]

Yes, to what ant said, or it could be burrowing ick. Keep an eye on the liasons for swelling or redness, etc., a secondary infection may develop in which case you'll need to additionally treat that.
Are you feeding your fish garlic soaked food?

 

[pitons]

The tang had stopped eating for a few days, but has just started eating again so I'll resume the garlic treatment.
These 'bumps' have been on the tang for about a week now. If there is a treatment for it, should I start it now?

 

[beth]

I believe the treatment is hyposalinity.
It is not unusual in this particular [trophont] stage for the ick infestation for the parasite to burrow into the fish, feeding on it’s tissues, which can cause damage and even result in a secondary bacterial infection on the infected fish. Once well fed the trophonts stop feeding and develop cystic coverings. This becomes the inactive tomont stage and during this final stage the cysts may stay trapped in the tissues of the fish, or fall off and sit on the bottom of the aquarium, thus beginning the parasitic life cycle again. You are either seeing one of these 2 stages with these bumps on the fish.
As I said, keep an eye on the fish and this area for signs of infection--including any cloudy eyes. Since the fish is beginning to eat again, this is a good sign. Perhaps no further treatment will be necessary. I am not one to recommend antibiotic treatment unless it is necessary as the fish could develop an immunity to antibiotics making the drug, when really needed, less effective, if not useless. Additionally, garlic has a mild antibiotic quality to it, thus, if the fish continues to eat, it will be getting some treatment via the garlic.

 

[pitons]

Thanks Beth.
The fish is eating well again and is quite active in the tank. I'm only about 8 days or so into hypo so hopefully the next 3 weeks of hypo will take care of it.

 

[beth]

Just keep in mind that parasites feed on fish tissue and leave wounds. Hopefully, as the ick dies off, the woounds will heal up on their own. They may heal fine, but leave tiny poc scares, which in time could heal over perfectly fine. If infection develops, then we go to the antibiotic treatment. Keep a daily watch of fish health. Breathing, swiming, eating, gills, body color, etc. In this way, you will become aware if other troubles are brewing and be ready to jump on it. In the meantime, you might want to see if you can find the right kind of antibiotic. Nitrofurzone or Maracyn2 for Saltwaterfish.
Water quality and stability is crutial during this time. Can't emphasize that enough.

 

[pitons]

Speaking of water quality, I have had to battle ammonia in the tank I am doing the hyposalinity on. It doesn't make sense with the amount of water I have been changing since starting the process. I've been changing up to 25% on a daily basis and my ammonia levels are still registering around .2 or .4 at times. So I keep doing water changes again and again. Before removing the live rock to do the hyposalinity, I NEVER had any problems with ammonia.
I was wondering though, could the hyposalinity be killing off some of the bio in the tank thus causing the ammonia problem?

 

[pitons]

Anthem, no, live rock is all I had for bio-load bacteria. But shouldn't I be able to keep the ammonia levels at zero without the live rock?

 

[beth]

You must keep ammonia at zero. Are you feeding too much? Those ammonia levels will kill your fish.
This is why it is better to use a hospital tank with no substrate.

 

[pitons]

I have been removing the substrate gradually during the past week. On the recommendation of a lfs, I had put in crushed aragonite sand/coral which I have since discovered is not a good choice of substrate.
I would really like to get this ammonia problem under control. It's not really feasible for me to do two water changes per day since I'm not home during the day. Should I put in new substrate in my tank WHILE doing hyposalinity treatment, or should I leave things along during this period?

 

[beth]

I would predict that once you remove the CC and not put in any more substrate, the ammonia will resolve itself, as long as you vaccum up any debris on the bottom of tank. Use AmmoLock, or similiar product. There is no substitute for water changes, though, to resolve this problem.
However, is the bottom of your tank reflective? This could become a factor in fish stress.

 

[pitons]

Yes, the bottom of my tank is quite reflective. Any suggestions?

 

[pitons]

One more question... should I remove ALL the substrate? I have a yellow coris wrasse that likes to bury himself in the substrate every night when he sleeps. Can he do without this luxury for 3 weeks?

 

[beth]

Well, the suggestion for the future would be to paint the bottom of your tank [on the outside] black. For now, if you have a hollow stand top, see if you can cover up the hollowed top with a black cloth or painted black carboard. If not, then you'll have to just keep this in mind for future.

 

[pitons]

I just discovered the bottom of my tank is fine after all. When I look at the bottom through the aquarium glass it looks as reflective as a mirror. However, when I look at it directly from above its perfectly black. The aquarium sits on a pure black stand so it shouldn't be any stress for the fish after all.

 

[beth]

Leave the sand for the wrasse.