Disappearing white spots??

[jennlegend]

Yesterday my Volitan Lion had white spots on him--I thought he had Ick. Today there are hardly any spots, they almost all disappeared! Do you think this is Ick? I do have a QT, but have never had to use it. I was reading up on the hyposalinity (sp?) treatment for Ick. Do you think I should treat him? I have a clown and a few damsels in the tank with him and they are all fine, no spots. Thanks!!!

 

[carrie1429]

It probably is ich. Ich goes through different stages where one day you see it and one day you don't, but even though you can't see it doesn't mean its not there. Were these white spots like really small like grains of sand?

 

[jennlegend]

Yes, they are small like grains of sand. They are only on his tail now.

 

[itchy]

well, guys I was battling ich for a couple of weeks. I have a quaranteen tank but not all my fish would fit in it so I finally broke down and treated my display tank. I did have a couple of anemones but my fish were more important than the condi anemones. I read a post on here that Terry B put out on Marex which you can buy at your pet store. If you have inverts then this is not compatible as it will more than like kill them. I have so far done 2 treatments of Marex and there is a major difference now. I only had one fish showing signs and that was my Tang who was covered and now only has a couple of spots. I will have to treat one more time and them wait and retreat in 2 weeks to prevent reinfestation. If you go this route be sure to turn off Protein skimmers and remove carbon from filter. Marex is also sensitive to light so you will need to turn you light off in order to aid treatment. Click on search at the top and AI am sure you will find info from Terry B on this product.
Carrie I think you and I had this problem around the same time or was that not you? If so how is your tank now.

 

[carrie1429]

Itchy,
I did have a big problem with ich in my 84 gal. I lost all my fish because I didn't really know much about treating fish or hospital tanks. But now I just have a 26 gal and a 5 gal with two fish.
jennlegend,
I think the best way of treatment for ich is hyposalinity. Although sometimes meds work they have never worked for me so I always do hypo if my fish get sick. Hypo is lowering the salinity level to where ich cannot live, but it needs to be done in a hospital tank, if you want more info on hypo just ask. Or you can try itchy's way.

 

[itchy]

I agree that hypo is best but sometimes we can't do hypo in our display especially if you have LR. In my case my hospital was not big enough for all my fish so I had no choice and believe me this Marex is the sh*t. Like I said be careful with inverts as it will kill them in most cases. Carrie did you just decide not to set up the 84 gal again? I have been there, my tank crashed on me sevral years ago and until recently I didn't the nerve or patiences I guess to set it back up, wanted to throw it out the door. Now my husband is freaking out over the cost. but it is diffently a hobby I love and will just work out the quirks as I go.
Good Luck Jennlegend!!!!

 

[jennlegend]

Thanks for your help! I have a hospital that has been set up for a month or two...haven't had to use it yet. The lion is the only one with signs of ick. I also have a clown and a few damsels I haven't been able to catch yet. I need to take them all out in order for the ick to die, right? I have a 46gal that just finished cycling...do you think it would be OK to put the clown and damsels in there, or would they possibly contaminate that tank with ick, also?? Is Marex safe for LR? I only have some mushrooms that could easily be put into the new tank.
Question about hospital tank...I suppose this tank needs to remain completely free of any nitrite/nitrate/ammonia during treatment...I suppose that is pretty simple due to the frequent water changes?
Thanks again for your help, you guys are the BEST!!

 

[carrie1429]

I was having a lot of problems with my 84 gal and I got so frusterated with it that I was ready to quit saltwater and turn the tank into a FW (witch I ended up doing later on). But I didn't give up and so I tried to do a smaller tank and it is a lot easier than the larger tank, then after I had my 26 gal up for 7 months with no problems then I decided to start a 5 gal nano reef. And now I'm glad I didn 't give up
Jennlegend,
Yes, you need to hospitalize all your fish because if one fish in your main tank has ich then all the other fish probably have it too. Your hospital tank probably should remain free of nitrite and ammonia, its ok though to have a little nitrate, that shouldn't hurt anything.

 

[itchy]

Terry, I never suggested her to use it rather do a search and read your information on it. I recently used it after all else failed and had great results. I simply made the comment it worked for me, isnt that what this board is all about? Sorry for the confusion!!

 

[jennlegend]

Thank you for all your help!!