Originally Posted by
Mike15
http:///forum/post/2641604
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he meant that, since a 55 gallon tank is a small space, ich parasites would have an easier time finding a host fish than in a larger aquarium. If it is ich, you will probably see the white spots disappearing and reappearing more frequently as their life cycle continues. However, it may not be ich as many fish, especially clowns, can exibit white spots from the stress of moving that is not related to ich.
If you think it is ich, the water has to be at 1.009sg (12ppt salinity) for effective hyposalinity treatments. If you do not think it is ich then you must raise the salinity levels slowly back to normal levels. Increasing salinity levels rapidly will cause excess stress so returning the salinity to a normal level has to be done through gradual water changes over a number of days.
Definitely feed the fish daily if they will eat. Also, do water changes anyways since 60 nitrates is rather high and any nitrite reading is bad. Hope this helps,
Mike15.
Almost completely what I meant. Clowns don't get spots that look like ich from stress. They can become faded, but it is not small white dots. However, they can get grains of sand stuck to their body. They have a thick slime coat and sand will stick to it when they are first introduced. As mentioned, you will know in a short amount of time. Get that QT cycled. You can hypo the display, but you will have to remove all of the live rock and inverts first. Please read the Common Treatments FAQ at the top of the Disease and Treatment board for instructions on hyposalinity.