very frustrated

[thirty6]

i noticed today white spots on my hippo tang that i have had since march. fish is eating extremely well, acting as normal, but having read so many similar posts i know it has something going on with it. way to difficult to get a decent pic to show whats on the fish and even more difficult to catch especially with the cave of rock work i thought was a good idea at the time

white spots which i would say look similar to pimples or prickly heat
ideas? i automatically assume ich, but i realize it can be anthing thanks for whatever help you can offer

 

[Arati]

Once a nervous fish, like a hippo is established into a healthy system, I would never remove it.

MY normal Ich cure is double up on feeding and watch closely. Reduce stress on the fish.

as long as its mild, I stay away. Ich gets in the gills much worse then the outside. so watch for heavy breathing. most healthy non-stressed fish can beat ich np.

March is a fair amount of time. just make sure it eats well and do a extra water change preventing secondary infections is key.

 

[Arati]

Ich looks like little shards of white glass sticking into the fish.

Velvet is more of a coating of mucus that is white/opaque and treatment is way different.

did you add any new fish recently?

 

[thirty6]

Thanks for quick reply

I just got home and there is ZERO spots on fish just fed pellets and all ate as usual including hippo. I added a pair of clowns came from member here. Last week. Prior to thank i added cardinals and swalesi bass, they were qt'd prior to being put in dt.
What would cause the spots to away in 10 hours or if ich does come/go as far as visibility is concerned? I've never had to deal with ich before or velvet, but this wasn't a mucus covering on the fish

 

[TommyP]

Same thing happened to my hippo. I think it's ich? But it's more like pimples like you said. I've had fish die from ich but never introduced anything after that until now, I waited a couple of months and all my other fish are A+.

He acts totally normal and eats like a pig. Had him for 2 weeks only though.

following

 

[thirty6]

Did the spots come and go? Odd

There is no way I could catch the fish without completely stressing entire tank out. I will up the feeding and water changes and hope for best i guess

 

[TommyP]

Well the weren't there then they came lol. It's only been 2 weeks, so he was probably really stressed but I don't have a QT tank but I acclimated him perfectly without it. I feed frozen mysis, brine, F1 & F2 pellets. He loves everything. He's always picking algae off the rocks.

 

[thirty6]

I just did a quick google search: ich can attach to fish, be visible, and then fall of, and then reattach to fish or so i read. It appeared to be another forum of some sort. It changes as Ichs life cycle changes but the thread suggested removing all fish which I'm unable to treat in other tanks for obvious spacing issues. I have three cleaner shrimp. Not sure if they are of help at this point

 

[piranhapat]

Hippo are magnet to ick. Since you had him for awhile. He can fight it off if hippo is eating. I think by reading this your ick comes and goes. Do you see the ick more at night time. And during day you see less. Something is stressing him out. Anything new introduced to the tank like a new Fish or rearranged the tank. I would add vitamin c and garlic to his food. Watch and see if his gills are moving faster. Increase oxygen and keep tank at temp at 77. Not a good sign and if he stops eating. Other thing you can try. You can lower the salinity of your tank. That is one way. Or let it play out.

 

[thirty6]

I have been adding garlic and seldom to food for past month or so. I added a pair of clowns, not sure if that would have stressed it out. The spots were visible in morning and gone by night time. But I worked afternoons so I can't say for sure how long it had looked like that.
Lowering salinity with coral wouldn't that be a problem for corals? I have for most part hardy corals, nothing very delicate

 

[thirty6]

Today no spots, Watching him eat as i type. The only fish not eating is one of cardinals, but don't see them eat ever. Hopefully this means fighting it off, but that ich would just be part of tank now?

 

[Lostinthedark]

I've had my Hippo and PBT for quite a while now. In the begining they would go through the same cycle you described. The spots were sometimes more visible just when the light came on then disappear through out the day. I think catching and treating causes more stress. I'm in the "no stress, Feed well" club. I haven't added any fish to my tank in quite awhile and haven't had any reoccurring issues. They do seem to build an immunity after a time.

 

[thirty6]

Great, all feedback appreciated
Ill be part of that club as well. Ill See how it goes, ill be holding off on adding anything for a bit.

 

[thirty6]

Updated: hippo just ate broccoli of a clip! Havent gotten it to eat nori, but its been nipping at this for past 20 min pretty cool

 

[KathyC]

Just some info...
Ich is a parasite. It lives by eating off its only host.. fish.
It cannot be 'beaten' by a fish.

If it is not eradicated from a tank, then it is still in the tank - even if it doesn't kill your fish, and yes, some fish seem to be able to live with it.

Anything taken from your tank (fish or corals) and placed into another tank CAN then infect that tank with Ich.

Yes, it can seem like it disappears - as the cysts open and drop onto the floor of the tank to multiply. That doesn't mean it is gone, just that it is in a different phase.

You cannot lower the salinity enough to kill Ich in a tank that contains corals. The corals would also die, along with the inverts.

If you do not QT a fish for a minimum of 4 weeks, you will not know if you are adding Ich to your tank with your new purchase.

Thirty 6- any chance of a pic if you see the spots on the fish again, so we can be sure?
If it was Velvet - he'd be dead by now.
Good that he is eating

 

[thirty6]

I'll keep trying, been struggling to get a decent pic. I understand what you have posted, been reading on it and have come across exact same info. Just not sure what best course of action is to be honest. I realize qt is ideal, I don't have enough tanks or large enough tanks to qt all of my fish and being that fish is carrying on as normal I wonder if id do more harm than good catching it to qt
If fish all survive without qt, would ich just remain in tank making it ridiculous to add anything else in future?

 

[Dk638]

Leave him alone, I had the same thing with my hippo 6 months ago, fed him well, soaked his food in vita chem, and got a neon cleaner goby, who I see cleaning all the fish in my tank. My hippo was about 1 inch when I got him now he is about 2 1/2 inches and thriving. I've read every ich article and I still believe it's in almost everyone's tank. I think if you keep your fish well fed and stress free they can overcome it. Good luck. Oh and by the way I've added fish after him and no signs of Ich.

 

[tunicata]

my hippo has white spots on him say..5x a month. Each time I see it I just get more regular with feedings, dose garlic, and give steady feedings of nori. Either way, he's always a pig and acts healthy in every way.

So, now when I see spots, I just get better at feeding a diversity of foods.

I rarely see spots on my other fish, but they always disappear too.

Not sure if it is always ich.

 

[thirty6]

Thanks tuni. Just finished wc and moved some coral around to get more flow on em. Spot were more visible after got my hand out of tank. Ive been using garlic in food 2x week ill up the usage, fish go nuts for it anyways

 

[E.intheC]

Just some info...
Ich is a parasite. It lives by eating off its only host.. fish.
It cannot be 'beaten' by a fish.

If it is not eradicated from a tank, then it is still in the tank - even if it doesn't kill your fish, and yes, some fish seem to be able to live with it.

Anything taken from your tank (fish or corals) and placed into another tank CAN then infect that tank with Ich.

Yes, it can seem like it disappears - as the cysts open and drop onto the floor of the tank to multiply. That doesn't mean it is gone, just that it is in a different phase.

You cannot lower the salinity enough to kill Ich in a tank that contains corals. The corals would also die, along with the inverts.

If you do not QT a fish for a minimum of 4 weeks, you will not know if you are adding Ich to your tank with your new purchase.

Thirty 6- any chance of a pic if you see the spots on the fish again, so we can be sure?
If it was Velvet - he'd be dead by now.
Good that he is eating

Big plus one here.

Also, garlic is not a good idea. No proof that it does anything positive, and there is mounting evidence that it can be harmful.