Ick or ?????

[sdascher]

I had posted this thread this morning in the Treatment Bd. but I have not heard from anyone!! I do get a great response from this section!!
Greetings!! I have lots of tanks.... One has been a problem for 6 months since we had a power outage!! Most of my tanks are reef tanks. This tank with the problems..... is a 125g reef, has had signs of ick - used the kick ick - waste of money. With the power outage, I did loose 3 fish. I removed them promptly within the hour. The tank was really looking good for a few months and all of a sudden, the tang & angel (plus a few others) started showing signs of ick. I started using the kick ick and the tang & angel went to fish heaven. Now I'm sort of unsure that it is ick as I see the little gain specks and a cloudy look here and there, but one of the clowns has her fins nipped off and she looks sort of cloudy over half of her body!! I also have a black Domino that seems to have a grainy cloudy look, especially her eyes. These tanks are well kept- water changes reg. , all equitment cleaned reg. no new fish but I did add 2 brittle starfish approx. 2 month ago. I am currently in the first 48 hrs. of hyposalinity with my fishies (whats left) in a hospital tank. Does anyone out there know if this is maybe aggressive ick or possibly a bacteria??? This tank is only one year old and it is the only tank that I don't have a UV on it!!
Any comments or ideas are welcome!!

 

[sdascher]

Another picture showing the Domino also.

 

[jonthefb]

that looks more like oodinium.....oodiniu typically looks as if the fish was rolled in dust.....there arent true sugar sized granules speckled all over the fish, it just looks like they are dusty....freswater dips with dip-a-way do the trick for the fish that we treat at the lfs i work at, and if fw dipsw/dip-a-way dont cut it then we move the individual to a hyposalinity tub in the back, where the fish reamins for several weeks and is fed garlic, adn vitamin enriched foods....this might also be a regimen that you can begin while the fish are sick....soak your foods in a garlic extract with a vitamin additive, as garlic has been suggested to have preventative mean for the fish....it wont cure them right away but it can help boost their immune system to cope with the infections, and then if you continue to feed garlic after the fish are well, it helps them to resist infection!
good luck
jon

 

[sdascher]

Thanks for the reply Jon,
I have been feeding my fish food thats been garlic soaked since I purchased them. I also used the freshwater dip & I also have dip away. I used the dip away on a wrasse and he died within minutes. He was also dusty/speckled looking. I should have started this hyposalinity 3 weeks ago!! I was hoping that the kick ich would work. I just thought that maybe this could be a bacteria of some kind as that tank has been a sore spot ever since its been set up. I have no troubles with the others that has been set up for up to 2 years. All that is left in the 125g is a few starfish, inverts and 120 lbs. of live rock with some polyps. I would assume that the starfish does not need to go through the hyposalinity????
As I read the directions for doing this, the large home tank shouuld be ick free after 4 to 5 weeks - What about any possible bacteria???

 

[jonthefb]

oodinium is defintately the attacker in this case, it weakens the fish, and in turn the fish's immune system, so it is very possible that the fish could have picked up a secondary bacterial infection as a result of the stress of teh oodinium....you are correct in thiking that w/o any fish the tank will be fre of oodinium in 5 to 6 weeks, however there are two stages to this parasite, one which lives onthe fish, the other of which leads a sessile life on the substrate, however, as long as you dont introduce any fihs into the tank, it will eventually die off without a host....the stars, and corals, you dont have to worry about, however im not sure on the bateria dying off after 5 weeks with no host present....hopefully some other members will be able to chime in here soon!
good luck
jon