Specks on fish

[flameangel]

Is ich the only thing that looks like salt on fish? Could it possibly be undissolved salt or dust from substrate or something? Does Ich start on fins first? My parameters are all normal. Fish are eating great. 2 of them haves specks on them. No scratching. No cloudy eyes. No letargy. No heavy breathing. No strange behavior. If it is ich, how long before other symptoms would start to show up?

 

[infinsable]

Are the fish new??? did you quarentine them???

 

[superman]

If it looks like salt it's probably ich. But see if it looks more like dust in that case it might be Marine Velvet.

 

[flameangel]

I don't yet have a quarantine tank. I watched them at the LFS for almost a month before I bought them. I've had them about two weeks now. They were fine in the LFS tank. They were the only fish in the tank at the LFS except for a percula...which I also bought. (I live in the boonies...pet store doesn't have large fish turnover.) I know this isn't the same as them being in QT, but they were all alone in the same tank for almost a month. The percula has no specks. My two firefish have no specks. I will try to weed through some old threads to see what to do for treatment in case it is ich or velvet. As I said, no QT tank yet. There is live rock in my tank, a frogwpawn, star polyp and 4 mushrooms. Any quick advice on what I could use for treatment until I get QT tank?

 

[flameangel]

Thanks for your help. Right now it seems the best thing to do is the garlic and Ruby Reef stuff until I set up a QT and get it cycled. It may not even be ich, but it can't hurt, right? Oh yeah, where would I get the garlic? Can you only soak frozen food in it?

 

[daisywb]

You can get garlic juice from any grocery store (it is probably cheaper than buying it at your LFS). I've soaked all my food in it at one time or another, frozen and flakes. Mostly just use it on frozen food now though.
HTH
-Daisy

 

[jastim]

There is a good chance it is not ich. It may be lymphocystis. This is often confused for ich. Lymphocystis is a virus and not a parasite. It sort of looks like ich but it usually only appears on the fins and you usually only see about 6-10 white spots. Also the spots are bigger than ich (more like nodules about a 1/8in in diameter). The treatment is simple: let them fall off naturally. I had a 4-stripe damsel come down with this about 3 weeks ago. Nearly all the nodules have fallen off. Never has the fish ever not eaten or seemed lethargic or had heavy breathing. This is symptomatic of Lymphocystis.
Good luck.

 

[flameangel]

Well, whatever it was, my naso died last night. He from being being fit as a fiddle to dead as a doornail within 24 hours. My coral beauty is now covered head to toe. It's still eating and swimming, but not as much as usual. No LFS within a 30 minute drive had the Ruby Reef stuff. I ended up having to get Kent RXP and soaked food in garlic. Of course, naso wouldn't eat. I'm doing what I can with what I have, but, so far, it hasn't been good enough. It breaks my heart. <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[fshhub]

if it die in one day, i would have to say it isn't ick, it is something else, did you ask ths question in the disease forum on this bb??
beth knows alot of this stuff, if you have not, maybe you should ask there, i can't help much with what you have, but if it is killing that fast, you need to get help faster, and treating for ick, will not help you(IMO) much, i would ask there, and see, maybe her or someone here will be able ot help you too, but i would still post there too
good luck