Is this Ich?

[tirtza]

Hello!
I'm a newbie and haven't seen Ich before. I've heard of what the symptoms look like, but I'm not positive if my clown fish has Ich or not. She isn't scratching against anything, she's acting perfectly normal and has a huge appitite. The only thing that concerns me is this single tiny white spot on her. Could you please take a look at the pictures and tell me what you think?
(also if you do think it's Ich, what do I need to do??)

 

[snakeblitz33]

You're no longer a newbie to me! I recognize your name, and I think you can run with the rest of the pack now.
One single white spot... it looks pretty big too. I would carefully observe it for awhile. If one spot becomes two and three and four, then it's Ich and should be treated. Sometimes I've seen clowns that look like they may have ich, but it ended up just being a piece of sand stuck to their slime coat.
In any case, if you are worried about your clown starting to get sick, go ahead and set up a hospital tank and get it going and cycled in the next few days so that in the off chance that it may be ich, you can already have a treatment tank ready to go.
But that's just my opinion, and I hope others chime in.

 

[tirtza]

aaaahhh, thanks Snake! Yeah, I'm part of the pack now

You have no idea how much I study and read everyones threads on just about everything. How do I set up a hospital tank? Is it like setting up a QT? (which I still need to do!) I know it's horrible that I haven't so far.... But it's the first thing I'm going to do before I get any more fish (which won't actually be for a couple more months).

 

[beth]

It could be lymphocyctis. I had a clown that had the same kind of spot on him. Every time she stressed, the spot (lympho) will come back. If this fish gets many spots, then very likely ich.
Check out the pics in the Diseased Pic topic, top of Disease Forum.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza http:///t/388816/is-this-ich#post_3431408
aaaahhh, thanks Snake! Yeah, I'm part of the pack now

You have no idea how much I study and read everyones threads on just about everything. How do I set up a hospital tank? Is it like setting up a QT? (which I still need to do!) I know it's horrible that I haven't so far.... But it's the first thing I'm going to do before I get any more fish (which won't actually be for a couple more months).
There are some VERY helpful links in the disease and treatment section of the website. I have rarely set up a quarantine or hospital tank for any of my personal tanks I've ever had. For me, if I buy a fish and it lives then YAY! But, most of the fish that have gotten sick have ALWAYS went carpet surfing before I've had the ability to treat them in a hospital tank.

I agree with Beth on this one. She's our resident disease expert, I've always trusted her opinion!

 

[tirtza]

It could totally be stress related. I've been messing up big time and mixing my water incorrectly and I just did a water change last Friday. Frankly, I'm surprised my poor fish are still alive! Thanks to my peeps on SWF.com, I'm now armed with the right equipment and knowledge to mix it correctly. So the next time I do my weekly water change, I will most definitely be doing it the correct way! If more spots show up like you said, I'll put together a hospital tank for her. I'll also check out the disease and treatment section for how best to treat her.
Thanks a bunch for your help!

 

[snakeblitz33]

You're welcome.

 

[tirtza]

The white spot that was on the clown fish was gone the very next day. So I'm not sure if it was Ich or not, does Ich go away that fast? So I'm guessing it was either lymphocyctis or just a piece of sand stuck to her slime coat. Either way it's gone