I just picked up a small Naso and a small Niger Trigger.
I didn’t notice what I believe to be Ich on the Naso at the fish store, lighting in the tank wasn’t the greatest and I neglected to check him out in the container after he was netted out.
I currently do NOT have a QT setup, although I have a tank that I could setup…but I believe its too late? It’s been in the tank since Saturday night. And honestly…I really don’t want to setup a QT but… (just being honest…)
I understand the lifecycle of the Ich parasite, and that the white dots will fall off eventually, but possibly come back en-mass and on the other fish if their immune system isn’t up to par. I’m currently soaking their food in natural garlic juice (via a garlic clove press) and thinking about maybe doing 500mg of vitamin C every day for a few weeks.
I’m hoping I’m able to boost the naso’s and other fish’s immune system to the point where they are able to resist the parasite?
The white spots are only when the ich is leaving the body to reproduce. The fish will be infected with no obvious signs (other than fast breathing because ich usually infects the gills) in between “white spots showing”.
The reproduction time once it leaves the body can take as long as 8 weeks before they hatch and re-infect the fish, thats why you need to QT fish for almost 3 months AFTER the last showing of ich and while using a hypo salinity treatment or copper treatment (don’t ever do copper in your DT)
fish with ich will also tend to swim near the surface as its hard to breath with gill infection.
Tim, thanks for the reply. Sofar he is NOT showing any signs of distressed breathing or hanging out near the top. I imagine the fish don’t just start with a ton of parasites leaving their body they way you see pictures of them looking like they’re “Dusted” with white spots where the parasites have left a wound. Here is what I have sofar, and maybe its just damage from being taken from the ocean and transit to LFS.
On the head on shot, the left fin he has out shows a grainy result of the white spots on his fin. You can see some other spots of concern on the tail fin, and he appears to have ONE white spot on his right side 3/4 of the way back to his tail…it actually is showing up as a small BLUE spot in the picture from the white balance/LED’s. That is the only spot that I see on his body.
It’s hard to tell if your tang has ich or not, i can’t see it. I’ve had ich and I also don’t have a QT tank setup. I think your course of action is acceptable given the lack of QT.
I did not like dosing copper in a QT tank, my fish ALWAYS died. I have had pretty good success using garlic enhanced foods and keeping the fish well fed.
If you think they’ve 100% been exposed to ich then the stress from catching them and moving them to QT could weaken their immune system and make them succeptible.
One of the problems with this hobby, the internet, and being new is you read everything, which in turns makes you panic about everything, and there are millions of forum posts to ensure you do.
A random white spot is usually, salt, sand, or dust, a hundred white spots is usually ich.
My personal experience is Naso are less susceptible to ich than most other tangs. Ive had every tang in the book just about and by far the naso is one of my favorite. He looks clean to me as well.
Thanks for taking a look guys. I found some pictures on the web that show almost exactly what I’m seeing on the Naso currently. Its the spots on the fins. In my pictures the LED’s are turning those white spots BLUE which is making them blend in with the fish’s body too much to see.
Check these out, would you say this fish has Ich? Its pretty much EXACTLY the extent of what the naso has right now. Pretty much just on the fins, not on the body, and just about the same quantity.
IMO I wouldn’t sweat it just keep him good and fat and it should go away after a little while. My fox face looked like that when I got him but not a spot in sight now.
[quote=“BigCase, post:10, topic:6354”]
IMO I wouldn’t sweat it just keep him good and fat and it should go away after a little while. My fox face looked like that when I got him but not a spot in sight now.[/quote]
yes, quite common ime… it looks like ichh… but the same thing here with new additions in the past… it seems like a stress thing, then goes away after a couple weeks :TWOCENTS
I have had good luck with a product called ralley,it’s reef safe and doesn’t have any copper in it! I have dosed my entire 180 mixed reef with great success!just gotta turn skimmer off and remove carbon I bought it as a package with kick ick and ralley
Update: Looks like this guy is on his way out. (He’s hiding under the main rock structure, dorsal and anal fins are erect, and he’s dark w/ the white polka dot pattern they express when under stress, and not moving other then his gills) The Niger Trigger however is doing fantastic. However, the fish does have a 5 day guarantee (within parameters) and is NOT on the stores list of fish that are not covered under their guarantee. Frankly, its that type of service that will keep me going back to them. But I still like to think that I gave this guy every chance for survival. I’ll probably pick up another Naso barring any issues with returning the fish if he does pass.
I did a 2hr+ drip acclimate, at roughly 2 drips per second. Waited until salinity matched the DT.
From all measurable parameters that I have access to, my water is as clean as its ever been!!
I don’t think this place feeds fish upon request since they’re so large…you actually have to get a ticket to be waited on. (if that doesn’t give away the LFS) My guess is they’d be dumping alot of extra nutrients into their system if they did, and I didn’t ask.
Nobody is picking on him. The Chromis did a few “dances” around him in the beginning, but never any nipping, and has been leaving him alone afterwards.
[quote=“Faralon, post:13, topic:6354”]
Update: Looks like this guy is on his way out. (He’s hiding under the main rock structure, dorsal and anal fins are erect, and he’s dark w/ the white polka dot pattern they express when under stress, and not moving other then his gills) The Niger Trigger however is doing fantastic. However, the fish does have a 5 day guarantee (within parameters) and is NOT on the stores list of fish that are not covered under their guarantee. Frankly, its that type of service that will keep me going back to them. But I still like to think that I gave this guy every chance for survival. I’ll probably pick up another Naso barring any issues with returning the fish if he does pass.
I did a 2hr+ drip acclimate, at roughly 2 drips per second. Waited until salinity matched the DT.
From all measurable parameters that I have access to, my water is as clean as its ever been!!
The stores parameters for returns are after a sampling of your water:
pH: 8.2-8.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: <30ppm[/quote]
Sorry to hear Rob… i’ve never had much luck with naso’s myself… even when they came home eating. they thrive for others… but i always had good luck with fussy hippo tangs… go figure
I also used to do a long drip like you did, until i realized how cold the water in the bucket gets… even with the drip running. don’t know if you checked your temp or not, or if it had any affect on the naso… but just a thought, that drip water can get an easy 10 degrees cooler than the dt on a slow drip this time of year. and that would be a temp shock/ stress situation when the fish gets put in ::
A 2 hour drip is way to long. You only want to drip to match sg. The longer you drip the more the
Ammonia will build up in the bucket. Causing more stress. Just my :TWOCENTS
[quote=“The Reef Hut, post:18, topic:6354”]
A 2 hour drip is way to long. You only want to drip to match sg. The longer you drip the more the
Ammonia will build up in the bucket. Causing more stress. Just my :TWOCENTS[/quote]
you are the 2nd reputable lfs owner i’ve heard that advice from, and you guys are acclimating several times a week… and that’s without a huge wharehouse of ***guaranteed fish and the snazzy lunchmeat-counter ticket thingy ::
*** we guarantee your new purchase has been handled by a minimum of 5 highschooler’s that don’t give a rats-azz about the health of the animal
TRH and Salt, you guys are right, and I agree. 2hrs is too long. I use an empty salt bucket, I need to change that. It takes too much volume to match the salinity. I did monitor temps as that was also a concern, and the bucket was colder than the DT by 4’f. I think the improvement I can do on my end is a smaller aclimation vessel.
I really appreciate the tips/advice from everyone. Apparently I need to find my way to The Reef Hut one of these days too. ::
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