any help on a diagnosis?

hmmm · 03-12-2004, 01:17 AM

My Picasso Trigger has been scratching against the rocks in my tank. He has extremely tiny, fine, white dots on his fins. I believe he injured his eye by scratching on the rocks. He is still eating and is behaving nearly normal. The scratches on his body started out just looking like scrapes, the injuries were white at first but now they are off-white almost yellow in color and seem to be raised. He is still scratching during the day. The other fish in the tank seem unaffected. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

reefshadow · 03-12-2004, 04:22 AM

Hi, hmmmm-

Definately sounds like an ich infection.

There are many schools of thought on how to deal with this. Anything from freshwater dips, to copper treatment in a hospital tank, to hyposalinity, to nothing at all.

If you try a freshwater dip, make sure to match the temp and ph of the freshwater with your tank water. Dip for about 5 minutes, this will cause the external parasites to fall of, BUT reinfestation may occur, as the cysts of ich will still be present in the display.

Only use copper in a medical tank. Follow the directions on the bottle, and confirm amount with a copper test. Never used this method myself. Same problem applies as above. Ich will still be present in the display unless you remove and treat all the fish, leaving the tank fallow for a few weeks.

If this is a fish only tank (no inverts, including corals) You can drop the specific gravity over the course of a few days to around 1.018. Leave it there a few days beyond the total disappearance of any symptoms, and then slowly raise back up to normal range.

If the fish is still feeding and is not completly infested, I prefer to bolster diet with a liquid vitamin supplements like selcon. You can soak the food in this and then feed it to the trigger. Make sure there is nothing going on with your tank that is causing stress to the fish, this often will precipitate an ich outbreak. Make sure all your parameters are within normal range (PH, ALK, Nitrate. You should have no detectable nitrite or ammonia in an established tank.)

Often times following these last steps and simply waiting it out is a less stressful course of action for the fish. However if this is a fish only tank with NO inverts I would recommend dropping the specifis gravity a bit combined with the enhanced diet. This should kick it in the ....

Good Luck! - Becca

reefshadow · 03-12-2004, 04:28 AM

Oh yeah, Welcome to the board!!!!!!!!

nivek · 03-12-2004, 05:48 AM

Good answer reefer girrrrlll

My cleaner shrimp took care of my ick problem when I first started a year back and never had it since.

BoomerD · 03-12-2004, 05:57 AM

I'll go along with some of the other recommendations listed above, but, depending on the size of the trigger, the cleaner shrimp might just become an expensive meal. You might try soaking ALL food thaat goes into the tank in a good quality garlic supplement. It seems to have worked wonders for many of us fighting the nasty ich.

03-12-2004, 01:17 AM	#1 (permalink)
hmmm Tunicate Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arizona Posts: 1 View Gallery Karma Komment	any help on a diagnosis? My Picasso Trigger has been scratching against the rocks in my tank. He has extremely tiny, fine, white dots on his fins. I believe he injured his eye by scratching on the rocks. He is still eating and is behaving nearly normal. The scratches on his body started out just looking like scrapes, the injuries were white at first but now they are off-white almost yellow in color and seem to be raised. He is still scratching during the day. The other fish in the tank seem unaffected. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

03-12-2004, 04:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
reefshadow Ricordea Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: washington Posts: 196 View Gallery Karma Komment	Hi, hmmmm- Definately sounds like an ich infection. There are many schools of thought on how to deal with this. Anything from freshwater dips, to copper treatment in a hospital tank, to hyposalinity, to nothing at all. If you try a freshwater dip, make sure to match the temp and ph of the freshwater with your tank water. Dip for about 5 minutes, this will cause the external parasites to fall of, BUT reinfestation may occur, as the cysts of ich will still be present in the display. Only use copper in a medical tank. Follow the directions on the bottle, and confirm amount with a copper test. Never used this method myself. Same problem applies as above. Ich will still be present in the display unless you remove and treat all the fish, leaving the tank fallow for a few weeks. If this is a fish only tank (no inverts, including corals) You can drop the specific gravity over the course of a few days to around 1.018. Leave it there a few days beyond the total disappearance of any symptoms, and then slowly raise back up to normal range. If the fish is still feeding and is not completly infested, I prefer to bolster diet with a liquid vitamin supplements like selcon. You can soak the food in this and then feed it to the trigger. Make sure there is nothing going on with your tank that is causing stress to the fish, this often will precipitate an ich outbreak. Make sure all your parameters are within normal range (PH, ALK, Nitrate. You should have no detectable nitrite or ammonia in an established tank.) Often times following these last steps and simply waiting it out is a less stressful course of action for the fish. However if this is a fish only tank with NO inverts I would recommend dropping the specifis gravity a bit combined with the enhanced diet. This should kick it in the .... Good Luck! - Becca __________________ 240 gallon glass mixed reef 2x 250 watt m.h., 2x 175 watt m.h., 3x 110 watt vho's. 55 gallon propagation tank, 2x 96 watt pc's Empty 125 gallon tank reefer girrrl! Last edited by reefshadow : 03-12-2004 at 04:25 AM.

03-12-2004, 04:28 AM	#3 (permalink)
reefshadow Ricordea Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: washington Posts: 196 View Gallery Karma Komment	Oh yeah, Welcome to the board!!!!!!!! __________________ 240 gallon glass mixed reef 2x 250 watt m.h., 2x 175 watt m.h., 3x 110 watt vho's. 55 gallon propagation tank, 2x 96 watt pc's Empty 125 gallon tank reefer girrrl!

03-12-2004, 05:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
nivek Cabbage Leather Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Penang, Malaysia Posts: 367 View Gallery Karma Komment	Good answer reefer girrrrlll My cleaner shrimp took care of my ick problem when I first started a year back and never had it since. __________________ "Hey Yoda! Stop playing with my orange lightsaber!" - Master Nivek

03-12-2004, 05:57 AM	#5 (permalink)
BoomerD Reef Shark Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Northern California Posts: 5,234 View Gallery Karma Komment	I'll go along with some of the other recommendations listed above, but, depending on the size of the trigger, the cleaner shrimp might just become an expensive meal. You might try soaking ALL food thaat goes into the tank in a good quality garlic supplement. It seems to have worked wonders for many of us fighting the nasty ich.

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