Possible ICK?

[dimreefer]

Last night I noticed some very fine hard to see White dots on some of my fish. Thay are acting as healthy as always and seem to be doing great. I had a Long nose Butterfly pass away 1 week ago, and a 6 line wrasse, and fire-red shrimp disappear 3 days later. All 3 were purchased on the same day (april 5). The LNB went from doing ok until I came home from work and found him hiding behind my LR and on top of my airstone.He was breathing hard and on his side. I found him dead the same night. There was no trace of the other 2 that disappeared later.
I have a 5 year old 150G
Live Rock, Live Sand, and a large Veriety of Invert's...
5 Devil Damsels, 2 True Percula Clowns, 3 Green Chromis, 2 Flame Angels (mated Pair), Manderin, Neon Goby, Achilles Tang, and a Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp. that are still alive and for the most part have all been in for months and seem to be happy. They are active and eat well.
I feed them A large veriety of frozen thats always soaked in garlic guard or finicky eater. I use algae sheets daily and pellets once a week or so.
My parameter's have been doing ok. When the LNB died I checked everything and found my Phos at 3.0. I started using Phos ban to bring them down. Yesterday my Kalkwasser dripper malfunctioned and dumped instead of dripped its contents. which is why the Calcium is high.
Ammonia...0
Nitrates ...0
Nitrites ...0
PH 8.3
Calcium 500 ppm
Phos 2.0
The Achilles Has the most spots A few on the FA's the other fish seem to be clean.
Now that you know the whole story... My point... DO I have ICK? or is the white dots calcium or something else? I read on here that the cleaner shrimp would clean ICK off a fish, he hasn't touched them and they dont seem bothered by it. I have not added any corals for over a month before this started. Everything dead was new. Obviously I need to bring everything back in line, I am alternating between carbon and phos-ban. I haven't been quarantining my new fish nor do I have anything set up. My friend with a similar tank and more expirienced than me thinks I am over-reacting adn that it is the Kalkwasser... HELP.. Please ask if anymore info is needed.. I have been at this for a while but obviously I am still learning

 

[nicetry]

It could be ich, possibly introduced by one of the new fish. This is the risk you run when you don't quarantine fish.
The almost bright side is that in an otherwise healthy tank, healthy fish can "sometimes" stave off an infestation if the parasite is introduced. Cleaner shrimp won't cure it but can help control a light infestation. You're going to have to watch very closely for symptoms that re-occur; the white spots, scratching or glancing off rocks, discoloration, loss of appetite. If you notice these, you need to offer intervention, which means quarantine and treatment with hyposalinity. Failure to do so might result in the death of all your fish stock.

 

[dimreefer]

Thanks for the help! anybody have any other info that could be helpful? They are acting like the spots aren't even there and its been 2 and a half days. Thanks in advance

 

[hefner413]

Originally Posted by nicetry
It could be ich, possibly introduced by one of the new fish. This is the risk you run when you don't quarantine fish.
The almost bright side is that in an otherwise healthy tank, healthy fish can "sometimes" stave off an infestation if the parasite is introduced. Cleaner shrimp won't cure it but can help control a light infestation. You're going to have to watch very closely for symptoms that re-occur; the white spots, scratching or glancing off rocks, discoloration, loss of appetite. If you notice these, you need to offer intervention, which means quarantine and treatment with hyposalinity. Failure to do so might result in the death of all your fish stock.
Just wondering - I saw ich on my royal gramma and got it out immediately and to a QT - treating with Cu, and doing well. I keep looking at my display hoping to not see any more ich on the rest - still no signs on anybody else. I do have a cleaner picking up luckily. Is there any way possible that the ich that was left behind can be gone? if not, will it ever be gone without treatment to the display? Say I never see it again - does it mean that I am rid of it?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Hefner413
Just wondering - I saw ich on my royal gramma and got it out immediately and to a QT - treating with Cu, and doing well. I keep looking at my display hoping to not see any more ich on the rest - still no signs on anybody else. I do have a cleaner picking up luckily. Is there any way possible that the ich that was left behind can be gone? if not, will it ever be gone without treatment to the display? Say I never see it again - does it mean that I am rid of it?
For both posters, once ich is in a tank it will always be there until you treat it. It will not just go away. It is better to treat your tank while the fish are healthy than to wait until they are plagued with disease and in a weakened state. Hefner413, please start a new thread so we can concentrate on each situation seperately.

 

[dimreefer]

I understand, but now everything is looking great. My fish never showed any of the symptoms of ICK only the white spots. I am wondering if there is anything else that looks similar? like excess calcium? My camara was stolen or I would have a picture

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by dimreefer
I understand, but now everything is looking great. My fish never showed any of the symptoms of ICK only the white spots. I am wondering if there is anything else that looks similar? like excess calcium? My camara was stolen or I would have a picture
Did the fish show the spots right after they were added? If you have microbubbles in your tank they will attatch to a new fish right away and then eventualy (within a few hours) pop. Do you add anything directly to the tank such as a buffer or calcium without mixing it in water first? Did the sand get kicked up around the time that the fish first showed spots? Get a qt running anyway. If it was nothing then you will be ready to quarantine new fish, if it was something then you will be ready to treat. Please do not wait until something fatal happens to realize that you do need a qt tank. Set it up now. It will be one of your best investments in this hobby (and it is a small investment).