I think my coral beauty has ich

[Gruv]

IS there any particular med that you guys would recommend? Should I treat the whole tank? or sperate him an then treat him. None of my other fish seem to have it, just him. he is rubbing himself against the rocks and has a few white spots on him.

[squid]

I would NOT recommend treating the entire tank.

Do you have a cleaner shrimp? If not, I would highly recommend getting one. Also do the research on how to acclimate the shrimp.

[thefatman]

does he have a LOT of spots?

i have a coral beauty as well. occasionally he gets one or two spots on his face or sides... but they go away within a day or two and never spread further, nor spread to the otherfish.

however, i take some precautions to help guard against ich.

1. i keep my tank temp between 80 and 82 degrees

2. and i have lots of fresh garlic mixed in with all of my blender mush.

i'd try lise's suggestion for the cleaner shrimp too.

[JennM]

Never medicate the display. You've received good advise here. A spot or two is ususally overcome by the fish on his own, but if it gets worse, IMO try a freshwater (RO water, to temp) bath for 5 minutes per day until symptoms get better. That's the first line of defense I use.

If you MUST treat with meds, do so in a quarantine tank...there are many opinions out there, but I've used Cupramine with good results. But again I must reiterate - freshwater dips seem to take care of most things before the need for meds is indicated.

Jenn

[Gruv]

He died, should i panick?

[squid]

I'm sorry for your loss.

How long did you have the fish?

Did you have a temp spike in the tank several days before this? If so, there is a possibility that the fish got too hot, and liver damage occured. There would be no real visible signs...the white spots could have been ick brought on by the stress it was in.

[Toadfish]

How long did it have the spots and what size and numbers are we talking? Oodinium is a fairly common ailment and can wipe a fish out in a matter of days even hours it can even decimate an entire fish population. I would look closely at the other fish in your system. Ich is a general term that folks use when they see a white spot. However, it can be caused by many different parasites cryptocarren irritans(true marine ich) easily cured and oodinium(marine velvet) often deadly and can show signs of white spots. How old is your tank and what are the water parameters? I would be a bit concerned due to the speed at which your fish died but need more info to determine what you may be dealing with.

[Gruv]

My water tests fine, there have been a few temp spikes cause the weather here has been unusually hot.

I have had the fish for about 2 weeks, but he hid alot, when he did come out I noticed he had about 3 white spots on him. Not very big, barely noticeable, but at the time, he was rubbing himself on rocks, and I thought maybe he got something on him. Plus my coral banded shrimp poked him a few times, so I just assumed it was the scars, but I read up on ich and those were both signs of it, spots and rubbing on rocks. The tank itself has been up about 2 months.

All my other fish seem fine. I dont have a cleaner shrimp yet, but I have a neon goby that cleans the fish often.

What can I do from here? This was something I unfortunatly wasnt prepared for.

[Toadfish]

Did you notice any gasping? Was the fish breathing heavy? It may have been stress that did him in but it wouldn't hurt to watch the rest of your stock closely. Oodinium attacks the gills first, so you may never see any signs until the fish dies. It sounds to me more like the fish never adapted to it's surroundings and it's health just deteriorated over the 2 weeks due to lack of food consumption etc... But better safe than sorry.

[thefatman]

yeah, if you only had him two weeks, my vote would be on stress related to capture and moving...

but yes, i would still keep a very close eye on the rest of the fish.

does your lfs have any sort of return policy?

mine offers 30 days if the fish passes. but they also require a water sample and the deceased fish.

[Gruv]

Thanks again everyone.

So if he was stressed, he would show signs like the white spots and rubbing against rocks, even if it wasjust the stress from the move?

[squid]

I have had the fish for about 2 weeks, but he hid alot, when he did come out I noticed he had about 3 white spots on him. Not very big, barely noticeable, but at the time, he was rubbing himself on rocks, and I thought maybe he got something on him. Plus my coral banded shrimp poked him a few times, so I just assumed it was the scars, but I read up on ich and those were both signs of it, spots and rubbing on rocks. The tank itself has been up about 2 months.

This is scary...your tank has been up for 2 months...you had this fish for 2 weeks, that means the tank was only up for 6 weeks, and you have "other" fish in the tank?

All my other fish seem fine.

How big is the tank? I think you are putting way too much in WAY too soon. Your water is not mature yet to handle what's being added. You water may test right, but that's not what I mean. Mature enough to handle the bio load...some help me here....LOL I know what I want to say, but it's not coming out clear

[Gruv]

My tank is a 55 gallon. I have 6 fish. Is that too much? I dont really know.

[thefatman]

its not so much that it's too many. but more that it was too many too fast..

typical accepted cycle time on saltwater is two months before adding the FIRST fish.. then at LEAST a week in between subsequent addiditons..

i'd definitly recommend waiting a while before adding anything else to the tank. you need to give it time to not only cycle, but to stabilize.