Is this ick or something else can anyone tell?

[2quills]

I'm a rookie saltwater tank owner and I'm looking for help with a diagnosis. Just bought this tank a couple of weeks ago and it came with the rock, sand and fish already in it. The blue hippo tang has little white spots all over his body and I can't tell if it is ick or not. The spots were hardly noticeable when I first got the tank but now they seem to be getting worse. None of the other fish have it. At first I thought it was just particles in the water sticking to his body but now I think it's something else but not sure what. Anybody got any ideas?...I've got a QT tank set up already to be able to do hypo if necissary. Any help would be greatly apreciated. Here are a couple of picks, not the greatest but best I can do right now.

 

[r1v2c]

unless i'm missing something, I can't see any pics... also, until you identify what the problem is I would QT the fish so it doesn't infect anything else.

 

[btldreef]

Your fish don't look good. You need to QT. Look through the disease forum photos to positively identify. To me, it does look like ich.

 

[meowzer]

Yeah IDK if it's the pic, but that yellow tang looks sickly too....

 

[2quills]

Actually the yellow tang and the other fish all look pretty good, I think what you're seeing is light reflecting off of the particles in the water and on the glass caused by the flash on the camera, because in person I don't see anything on him or the other fish. What I am wondering now is if I should go ahead and quarantine them all just to be safe or not? Does anyone know if I can quarantine them all together or should I just do the hippo? At this point I've talked to a few other people and I'm pretty positive it's ick (little white fuzzy spots and he keeps scratching on the rocks).

 

[meowzer]

If one has it, they all do....actually it's in the tank....if you have a qt big enough, I'd do hypo on all of them, and leave the tank empty of fish for 6-8 weeks
Have you been to the disease section? There are great threads on how to do this, and pics of sick fish too

 

[2quills]

Yeah...actually I've spent the better part of the whole day today going through countless threads on the topic of diseases. Right now I have a 20 gallon that I've been cycleing for 2 weeks. There are only 5 fish (still small) in the display tank so I'm hopeing that it will suffice for now. However, I did pick up a 55 gallon from a friend tonight that I will be refurbishing and turning into a QT in the near future. I've read all about the pros and cons of hypo vs meds. I believe that I have the patience for it so I am going to go with the hypo route. I've been keeping FW fish for a few years now and I am very proud of my african cichlids so I felt as though I would be ready for salt. However, there is much yet for me to learn and I see there is definately going to be a sharp curve. This site will probably be an invaluable resource for me and I am glad to have found it.
Thanks for the posts.
Quills

 

[btldreef]

5 fish in a 20G is a lot to place on the bioload, even if they're small fish. Tangs produce a lot of waste, so even two tangs in a 20G really isn't a good idea.
Your yellow tang may not show signs of ich, but look at it's fins. They're all torn up and he looks thin.
GET RID OF THE DAMSELS .. I can't believe Meowzer didn't mention this. Damsels are very aggressive fish and I could be that the damsel is probably the reason for the yellow tang's fin being torn up. Damsels over time become more aggressive and will determine what fish you can keep rather than you deciding your stock list.
How big is this tank?

 

[florida joe]

is it my eyes or are the spots on your hippo black

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3260653
is it my eyes or are the spots on your hippo black
LOL....we know your eyes are good JOE.....I see black too....could be the black ich that tangs get

BUT something is not right....

 

[florida joe]

i would try a fresh water dip

 

[2quills]

Yeah I figured 20G would be a little small, it was all that I had on hand at the time when I picked up the tank from someone who was moving and needed to sell it quick. I had hoped I would have more time to get things in place. The DT itself is 125G and I did pick up a 55G lastnight that I was planning on turning into my QT tank but I need to re-seal it first and get it up and cycleing. I think I will get rid of the damsel and try and save the 2 tangs, 1 clown and the coral beauty. I'm going to have to take most of the rock out to get them though I'm sure. It's something that I'm planing to do tonight when I get home from work. I'll do the best I can with what I've got to work with for now and hope for the best. I didn't chose these fish myself they are what were in their already when I purchased the tank.

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3260653
is it my eyes or are the spots on your hippo black
Yes, at first I thought the dark spots were being caused by shadows created from the light off of the little white parasites on the fish, but now it kind of looks like both. Is there such thing as black ick like meowzer mentioned?

 

[juniors04]

It almost looks like black ick?

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by 2Quills
http:///forum/post/3260741
Yes, at first I thought the dark spots were being caused by shadows created from the light off of the little white parasites on the fish, but now it kind of looks like both. Is there such thing as black ick like meowzer mentioned?
yes there is black ick, start with a fresh water dip it thats what you think it is

 

[2quills]

UPDATE....
Well it's day 5 of hypo treatment with all fish in the QT tank and I am happy to report that all fish seem to be doing quite well and my blue hippo is looking excellent. Virtually all of the white ick spots are gone and I can no longer see any of the dark spots on him at all. All are swimming around great and eating very well. I am having to do daily water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite levels down due to the small quarantine tank and the fact that I didn't have time to let it fully cycle before I put them in it. I will continue to keep them in the QT for another 5-7 weeks and leave the DT fallow in order to let the parasites run through their life cycles before placeing them back in. Will update in another week or so.
Quills

 

[srfisher17]

Glad to hear it! For future use of your Qt-HT; I'd suggest a HOB filter (I really like Aqua-Clear for QTs). Keep an extra filter sponge in your DT system. When you need the QT, put the sponge in the HOB filter and the QT will be instantly cycled. Toss the sponge when done, they're cheap.

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/3263000
Glad to hear it! For future use of your Qt-HT; I'd suggest a HOB filter (I really like Aqua-Clear for QTs). Keep an extra filter sponge in your DT system. When you need the QT, put the sponge in the HOB filter and the QT will be instantly cycled. Toss the sponge when done, they're cheap.

That's good advice, I think I'll try that once I get my 55G QT-HT tank going.
Thanks

 

[beth]

You said that the spots are white, but they look black in the pics. So, are they white?
Also, your yellow tang looks terribly emaciated.
Have you taken a look at the stickied topics in the Disease Forum, Diseased Fish and FAQ?
I'll move this over to he Disease Fish Forum to continue the conversation.

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by Beth
http:///forum/post/3263063
You said that the spots are white, but they look black in the pics. So, are they white?
Also, your yellow tang looks terribly emaciated.
Have you taken a look at the stickied topics in the Disease Forum, Diseased Fish and FAQ?
I'll move this over to he Disease Fish Forum to continue the conversation.

Well to me when I first got the tank and brought it home I noticed these little tiny white spots on the blue hippo, looked like specs of sand at first so I didn't think much of it. Then after about a week of having the tank I noticed the spots were bigger and that he also started to develop the dark spots on him as well. After reading up in the fish disease section and seeing the photos as well as checking out a few other sources I pretty much came to the conclusion that it was ick. However, the dark spots are still throwing me for a loop. Could it be skin irritation, perhaps? So I put all the fish into the QT, slowly bringing the salinity down to 1.009-1.010 as well as bringing the water temp up to approx. 82 degrees over the first 3 days. After the first couple of days I noticed the dark spots starting to disapear and now after the 6th day they are barely noticeable but I can still see a few specs of white spots on him here and there. He looks alot better than he did before but he's still a little ways off from what he should be.
About the yellow tang, I thought it was kind of odd that he was so thin when I first got him. He still is thin even though he has a very good appetite. I took a long hard look at him today and am a little bit concerned that I am noticing a little discoloration generally around the area of his eyes. I saw the images that you posted in the fish disease section refering to the early stages of HLLE and believe that those photos are just about an exact match to what I am starting to see in my fish. In his particular case though I'm wondering if that started when I put him in the QT tank.
I've got them all in a small 20G QT tank for now because it was all I had on such short notice, so I've been having to do water changes daily to keep the ammonia and trite levels down. Right now my levels are a little bit higher than they should be with ammonia hovering around 1.0-2.0, nitrites between 0.3-0.8 and ph in the low 8's. Should I be medicating them or is it best to let these things run their course? I think the hippo is getting better, but what to do about the yellow tang?