Help with White Spots

[lr172]

I have a 75 Gal tank that has been up and running for a couple of years. I had a problem 6 months ago that killed all my fish and inverts (PH kicked up a corner of the DSB). I finally got the algae under control and added a small damsel a month or two ago to make sure everything was OK. A week later, I added a yellow tang. A week after the yellow tang was in, he started acting sick and appeared to have spots. It didn't look like Ich, but I could never get a good enough look to be sure (he had what appeared to be tiny bumbs, but not really white). I moved him to a 10 gal QT and treated with CopperSafe. After a week of not being able to keep the Ammonia under control, I moved him back as he appeared very healthy. He and the Damsel have been healthy and disease free for about three weeks.

Last week, I added a long-nose butterfly. Shortly after his introduction, I had to temporarly move the yellow tang to my 29 gallon because he was harrassing the LNB (I am hoping that re-introducing the Yellow Tang in a month will eliminate the territorial issues.

The LNB has been very healthy and eating well (he was at the LFS for over a month when I bought him). Today I noticed two very small white dots on his tail fin. After carefull examination, I cannot find any other spots on the entire fish. He displays no characteristic scratching behavior and is very healthy and active.

Could these two small spots be something other than Ich? Is it possible for Ich to have such a small outbreak? The Damsel is also healthy and shows no signs of ich.

My QT currently has another fish in it that was just placed there a week ago, so I don't want to move him there for treatment.

Any suggestions?

[partobe]

I'm not sure if they are ick or not. I've had a cpl of fish have them and they've went away on their own. Do you have a pic? You might just want to boost his food with good old fashioned garlic.

[bucket brigade]

you're not going to like reading this, but this is the only way to get rid of ICH effectively:

http://petsforum.com/personal/trevor...osalinity.html

it sucks because your main tank has to go 6 weeks fishless while they stay in the quarantine tank but it WILL save them from dying....99.9% guaranteed.

without using this method, ICH will just keep reappearing every 28 days...and will eventually kill all your fish

[VWD]

ich is related alot to stress, and not all white spot are ich, and alot of fish will survive ich without treatment. I have not had a outbreak in a few years, I am very careful of how and where I get fish and QT if I think I may have a problem, Ich can kill fish, weaker ones I think, I have had outbreaks and never treated for it, Sometime the treatments I think do more harm the the ich. But I think the biggest harm is to over react and treat as soon as You see a spot.

[bucket brigade]

Originally Posted by VWD

Sometime the treatments I think do more harm the the ich. But I think the biggest harm is to over react and treat as soon as You see a spot.

with all due respect.... i just watched my kole tang go thru an ICH attack.....it started with some white spots this past Weds....then all its body by Thurs .....then attacked its gills and mouth by Fri.... I watched it struggle to breath, then lay on its side, then die Fri evening.

if I was smart enough to find this hyposalinity treatment beforehand, I might have saved it.

[VWD]

The only thing I will add is, I alway hate to see a fish suffer, and Tangs are ich magnets, That is why QT of all new fish is a must. QT it and treat then if needed, then place in the display tank, I don't believe ich is present in all tanks, it is introduce to the tank on new live stock. and I also believe ich hads a life cycle and will live it out in the tank with fish and then just die out. JMO.

But to take a stress fish out of a tank and move it to another tank I think is even more stressful and weaking the fish even more. I'm not saying treating is wrong, but I don't think you need to treat for every white spot you see.

[bucket brigade]

Originally Posted by VWD

That is why QT of all new fish is a must.

ABSOLUTELY! it is soooooo easy to just acclimate a fish and put it in your display tank for immediate gratification. 90% of the time you're okay, but that 10% will start killing off fish.

New Fish = either a freshwater bath/dip -or- a quarantine tank

thanks for your comments VWD....

[lr172]

I have seen ich before and the white spots seemed bigger than the two very small ones that I saw today. That is why I posted instead of immediately reacting. The fish is clearly not suffering any symptoms, if it is Ich. I think that I will wait for further developments before treating. I hate the idea of putting him in with the new fish that is already in the QT. I don't yet know if that new fish will develop any problems. Further, that new fish is somewhat suspect as I purchased him from a less reputable LFS.

I am aware of the Ich cycle and that is why I am afraid that a couple of the parasites may have been living off the Damsel, eventhough I don't see symptoms. Given the risk of introducing the LNB into the QT, it seems wise to wait for more serious symptoms to appear before treating and cross my fingers.

I looked again and the spots and they are really small. It just doesn't seem like ich. Let's hope.

[VWD]

I hope so, and Think You are planing it correct, good luck and I hope all is fine , It is great having You here on TRT and You will find alot of great help here.

[lr172]

Well, unfortunately things have headed down hill. I came home today and the Long Nose butterfly is completely covered in these tiny specks. They are visibile on the translucent fins. However, they are so small, you can only see them on the body when viewed from an angle. They can be seen as teeny tiny bumps. When viewed directly, you cannot see the spots on the body. The Ich that I have seen, personally and in pictures, were visible as white spots like sugar or salt. These bumps are definately smaller than sugar or salt grains. He must be covered in a 100+ of these bumps.

With that said, his behavior is not that far from normal. He is not hiding; He immediately greets me looking for food, etc.

What you guys think this is? I am pretty sure this is the same thing that the the Yellow Tang had. His outbreak was cured with a week in the CopperSafe. I could never really identify his spots as Ich either.

I currently have a small Threadfin Butterfly in the QT that has developed a few white cottony patches of fungus on the edge of his fins. If I put the LNB in the QT with him, with that fungus be contagious?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.