How can this be? Beth or Terry i need help

[fishtanker]

i just finished hypo'ing my tank for ich. the salinity (not SG) was at 12-13ppt for a period of 5 weeks. i checked the salinity daily and made sure the refractometer was calibrated properly.
i removed my inverts (3 urchins and a few snails) out of the display for the entire hypo treatment and put them in a QT tank. (i regret to say that the QT did have a fish in there for about a week in the middle of the hypo treatment, so the ich techanically could have survived in the QT for the five weeks)
After bring the saliinity back up to NSW levels i put 2 of the urchins back into the display and nothing else.
now, a week later, my boxfish, hippo and achilles tang appear to have ich again. is this possible?
i knew ich trophonts (sp?) could encrust on LR, sand, equipment but i didn't think they could attach to an urchin.
i'm at a loss on this one...i really didn;t want to hypo again but it looks like the only solution i have.
can you use cupramine in a display tank with rock and sand?
thanks
Brian

 

[beth]

Brian, sorry to hear this. I suppose technically speaking the ich could attach to anything.
What was the specific gravity during the treatment?

 

[fishtanker]

hey Beth,
the SG 1.008-.009...i'm not %100 sure its ich. about 2 weeks into hypo i noticed both tangs got a small (pen point), white, almost fuzzy spot. the spots lasted almost 2 weeks and neither one changed in size until finally disappearing. i shugged them off as either lympho or a bacterial infection from a wound. ich, i don't think, can last that long attached to the fish
i'm thinking now maybe its lympho and perhaps the hypo helped the fish fight it off so now in the NSW its returing
... or infections on the hippo from banging into the rocks trying find a new place to retreat into ( i changed the rockwork a week ago) and trying to "tail whack" my longspined urchin which left welts on him for about 8 hours.
the only fish that show symptoms are the achilles and hippo tang, and boxfish
LN butterfly and GSM clown are clear.
..on a side note i rubbed my finger over the boxfish's spots and couldn't feel anythin raised off the surface...although the box has a thick slime coat.
i think im just in denial :nope: ...its just seems the chances are real slim that my urchins would have the cysts attached to them :notsure:
brian

 

[fishtanker]

i was just going to wait it out for a week and see if it comes back worse.
do you reccomend anything? maybe a dip or some maracyn?
i have some pics i can email if you want...when i shrink them down for this site you cant really see anything.

 

[fishtanker]

Hey Terry
the fish that was in the QT tank was a blue damsel that i had to hold for a friend of mine becasue he was moving his tank. it was in there for a week then was sent back to my friend.
I do QT all fish fish for a least 4 weeks but haven't added any new fish in a while.
i will send you some pics hopefully they are clear enough.
Brian

 

[fishtanker]

An update this morning...the boxfish's two spots that appeared yesterday are gone today.
The hippo tang has the same spots execpt today that look more "fuzzy" but still the same size.
the achilles tang looks the same with only one spot and some white "blothches" (not raised) on his pectoral fin.
What's your verdict that on the possibility of a bacterial infection.
Thanks
Brian

 

[fishtanker]

Another update today...
last night i noticed that the spots on the hippo tang became a lot smaller than the previous dayand then were gone this morning. that was exactly 48 hours from the initial "sighting" of spots that they were gone.
the boxfish has one new spot on his pectoral fin that resembles the same spots on the achilles pectoral fin (milky white, very irregular in shape, "tufty or fuzzy" looking, about the size of an irregular shaped pen point, and either gone or much smaller within 24 hours) the achilles has 3-4 spots on one pecrotal fin that are smaller today than they were yesterday.
i'm almost sure now that it is not ich just based on the quick cycle that the spots appear and dissappear (show up one day and either much smaller or gone the next day).
i'm not really sure what it is but the fish do not seem to be bothered by it at all. they are still swimming, eating, and breathing like nothing is different.
Brian

 

[fishtanker]

another update...its been 5 days since my last post and the spots have "cycled" through the fish 3 different times. What i mean by that is spots have appeared on the same 3 fish (box and tangs) shrunk down and disappeared within 24hours. this has happened 3 different times within 5days and only with about 3-4 spots per fish in the same general area each time.
Now i really have no idea what this is (could it still be ick :notsure: ) and still the fish seemed to care less and act no different.
Can sand get lodged into the fish slime coat and cause a kind of irritation?
This is really strange and i'm at a complete loss.
Any help out there?
Brian
BTW my wife thinks i'm obsessing over this.

 

[beth]

I have this same type of thing with my clownfish. At first I thought it was a parasite, but now I think it is lymph. If the fish is happy the little dots basically disappears, but the leaast little stress seems to bring them out.
Go ahead a post your best pic here. Are the spots always in the same areas?
What are your water readings? What are you feeding your fish? How do your fish act, eat, look, aside from the spots?

 

[fishtanker]

Thanks Beth and Terry
my water parameters are
amm and nitrite 0
nitrate 5-10ppm
ph 8
SG 1.023 (salinity 33ppt)
temp 80
i feed my own recipe of squid, mussel, shrimp, nori, and octopus blended with Zoe, Selcon, and Vitamin C
Also regular sheets of nori every other day
i'm not a big fan of dips or meds for that matter (i think they overly stress the fish) but i will try the formalin.
i've successfully cured HLLE on my Achilles just by switching to RO/DI and loading up the food with vitamins. i was hoping if i continued doing that this would clear up as well :thinking:
here's the best pic of the hippo with the spots

 

[fishtanker]

another

 

[fishtanker]

and last one.
All the fish are eating very well, not scratching or "flashing", breathing normal, and have deep color
the spots usually are in the same place:
pectoral fins or the Achilles
pectoral and caudal fins of Boxfish
a couple on the body of the Hippo
i also felt the spots on the boxfish last night by rubbing my finger down his tail and whatever they are they're not hard becasue i couldn't even feel them :notsure: