Does My Clown Have Ich?

[contraband629]

Yesterday I noticed one of my clowns, that I've had for several weeks now, has one white spot near the back of its body. Upon closer inspection it looks like its a grain of sand attached to its body. As I said, I've had them for several weeks and they have not shown any signs of ich until now and even then its only one spot on one fish. I looked again this morning to see if it was still there and it looks like it's still there but seems smaller if that even makes any sense. Do you all think this is ich? If it is I guess I'll have no choice but to set up a QT tank. Does anyone have a reason to think copper or hypo is better?

 

[contraband629]

I just want to add that it still has a ferocious appetite.

 

[matth2181]

i would give it a few days, one spot just might be a spot he rubbed against a rock or something, when you get more than one id start thinking about qt tank and the use of copper or methylene blue/green, and as long as it is eating, should be okay just keep an eye on it (i know i hate being patient with disease states, you just want to act right away, but it could be nothing, and you could cause ur fish uneeded stress)

 

[contraband629]

Well thats some what welcoming news. I hope it isnt ich and its just a grain of sand or something.

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Contraband629
http:///forum/post/3132482
Well thats some what welcoming news. I hope it isnt ich and its just a grain of sand or something.
Look at the pic in this section of lymphocystis....
If it is that, that is very easily treated with vitamins and good water quality

 

[contraband629]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3132487
Look at the pic in this section of lymphocystis....
If it is that, that is very easily treated with vitamins and good water quality
Honestly ich and lymphocystis look so similar its hard to tell. The white spot on my clown is smaller than that. I'm going to start setting up a QT tonight in case I have to use it in the near future.

 

[meowzer]

Unless the lympho gets bigger, yeah they are kinda similar
It would be good to start vitamins though

 

[contraband629]

What do you suggest? I'll need to stop by my LFS tonight to pick something up to soak the food in.

 

[meowzer]

Selcon is good
I use selcon, vita-chem, zoe, zoecon, vitamarin-c ...of course I alternate
and I soak with garlic extreme daily

 

[deejeff442]

yea i wouldnt worry too much about one spot.
typiclly ich by the time you notice will be more than one spot.
i would do as meowser said and alternate vitamines.i only use zoe myself.dont use more than one kind at a time.you should be adding vitamines all the time anyway.
a qt on hand always is a good idea.
i have two a 55 and a 33 .
my fowleri tang eats sand for some reason and when i walk into the room he gets excited and dumps it out so most of my fish always look like they have a few spots on them.its good to keep an eye on the fish but if we worried about every little spec or color this hobbie wouldnt be worth the stress.

 

[contraband629]

Ok I'll keep an eye on it. Will it be a problem if I do hyposalinity with live rock? I can move my inverts to a friends tank since I only have 2 emeralds and 1 hermit crab. I'm just afraid of killing off all the nitrifying bacteria on the LR if I do end up having to do hypo on my tank.

 

[matth2181]

i wouldnt treat the entire the display tank, as mentioned in other places ich and other bacterial/fungal nasties are present in all home aquariums, it is water quality and good diet that keep fish unstressed and keeps them from contracting the diseases and allows them to fight em off. when you treat in a qt tank, ur just targeting that one fish so it can get back to normal health so it can fight off infection.

 

[contraband629]

Originally Posted by MattH2181
http:///forum/post/3132728
i wouldnt treat the entire the display tank, as mentioned in other places ich and other bacterial/fungal nasties are present in all home aquariums
I have heard that ich is always present although not everyone seems to agree. Even the two owners of one of our LFS have opposing views on this. For now I'm going to take the wait and see approach while feeding them vitamin enriched foods.

 

[contraband629]

Ok so its still only the one spot. Last night when I went to feed them both clowns were jumping at the food before it even came out of the turkey baster. It could just be wishful thinking or my eyes deceiving me but I think it's bigger or getting bigger. I'm gonna keep feeding it with food soaked in Selcon.