Ich

[thesilence87]

What methods do you guys recommend for treating ich, and is there a way that I can be sure it is ich besides the spots?

I just got a Royal Gramma, and he's active and eats properly, but he's got white spots on his body, probably totaling at about 10 of them. I'm worried he might have ich, but I don't want to misdiagnose him and stress him out for nothing.

 

[merkywater]

Soak food in metro, focus, and garlic feed twice daily.

 

[jennm]

Might also be Brooklynella. Grammas are prone to that.

A good photo would really be helpful here.

Jenn

 

[thesilence87]

He's very active and doesntstay still long, at least where I can get a good shot of him. There are the two best photos that I could take of about 30 tries in my build thread in the bank section, I'm on a phone right now, otherwise I would directly post the photos. Does Brooklynella cause white dots too?

 

[jennm]

It can. It can also present as sloughing skin, "blisters" or a velvety film.

IF it's Brook, then treatment in a QT with formalin-based med is about the best way to deal with it. Metronidazole/Focus won't touch it.

Best to confirm the diagnosis as best you can before deciding how to address it.

Jenn

 

[thesilence87]

Thanks Jenn, I'll try to do some research on Brooklynella and maybe get a better photo. I'd really like to save the fish since it's sentimental as my first one.

 

[jennm]

If you have a pic on your phone, email it to me: imagineocean "at" gmail "dot" com

 

[thesilence87]

Pictures sent. Thanks again for all the help!

 

[jennm]

OK I see the pictures. (Sent by email...)

Difficult to say. I do see a couple of spots (ich?) on the tail, but I don't see anything else. Not to say it isn't there, just that the pictures aren't showing it.

If it's just those few spots on the tail, I'd watch and wait, OR if you want to try some Metronidazole & Focus, go for it. Keep it fed, stress level low, and it should clear up.

IF you see any filmy white slimy stuff - then it's time for QT and Formalin.

Jenn

 

[thesilence87]

He's started scratching. I took pictures with a real camera and am e-mailing them to you Jenn. You should be able to see the spots pretty well this time.

 

[jennm]

Email replied to.

Looks like it might be both. My suggestion would be to QT and treat with Hikari Ich-X. It's formalin based so it will address both possibilities.

This cannot be used in the display.

Jenn

 

[umbrellacorp]

heh, about 10 or so years ago.. maybe a few years longer, i had a puffer with ich. The guy named Cam who owned Wet Pets in stockbridge, then later it was changed to Aquatic Pets... but he told me to take the puffer out of the tank and run him under some tap water and put him back in the tank. I did, and ill be **** if the ich was gone the next day. The puffer was fine, and the ich never came back. I was a newbie at this point.. i didnt know any better, so i certainly wouldnt suggest it. Like i said though it worked.. the only problem i had was the puffer blew up in the net. He was fine though. Lived for years then i had to move and just gave him back to the store.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

UmbrellaCorp;689397 wrote: heh, about 10 or so years ago.. maybe a few years longer, i had a puffer with ich. The guy named Cam who owned Wet Pets in stockbridge, then later it was changed to Aquatic Pets... but he told me to take the puffer out of the tank and run him under some tap water and put him back in the tank. I did, and ill be **** if the ich was gone the next day. The puffer was fine, and the ich never came back. I was a newbie at this point.. i didnt know any better, so i certainly wouldnt suggest it. Like i said though it worked.. the only problem i had was the puffer blew up in the net. He was fine though. Lived for years then i had to move and just gave him back to the store.

Sadly, that is horrifically improper advice you were given. FW dipping is used to alleviate immediate stress, but does not cure the parasitic infection, and tap water is a terrible thing to put any fish in, really.

Consider ich infections like a flea infestation of your home. They may be on your cats and dogs, but if you just manually remove the fleas that are on the cat or dog, it will do nothing for the source of the problem (the fleas in your home). That is what a FW dip does, just immediate alleviates the infestation. The "home" of the parasite (the entire tank) needs to be considered, and "treated". This may be by making the host toxic to the parasite ( a la metronidazole), treating the water volume, or otherwise.

 

[umbrellacorp]

jmaneyapanda;689399 wrote: Sadly, that is horrifically improper advice you were given. FW dipping is used to alleviate immediate stress, but does not cure the parasitic infection, and tap water is a terrible thing to put any fish in, really.

Consider ich infections like a flea infestation of your home. They may be on your cats and dogs, but if you just manually remove the fleas that are on the cat or dog, it will do nothing for the source of the problem (the fleas in your home). That is what a FW dip does, just immediate alleviates the infestation. The "home" of the parasite (the entire tank) needs to be considered, and "treated". This may be by making the host toxic to the parasite ( a la metronidazole), treating the water volume, or otherwise.

oh i know.. like i said i was a newbie at the time, so i didnt know any better. I would NEVER do that now. Surprisingly though, as i said, it worked and ich never reappeared in that tank. Dumb luck i guess.

 

[jennm]

UmbrellaCorp;689397 wrote: heh, about 10 or so years ago.. maybe a few years longer, i had a puffer with ich. The guy named Cam who owned Wet Pets in stockbridge, then later it was changed to Aquatic Pets... but he told me to take the puffer out of the tank and run him under some tap water and put him back in the tank. I did, and ill be **** if the ich was gone the next day. The puffer was fine, and the ich never came back. I was a newbie at this point.. i didnt know any better, so i certainly wouldnt suggest it. Like i said though it worked.. the only problem i had was the puffer blew up in the net. He was fine though. Lived for years then i had to move and just gave him back to the store.

:boo::wow2:

Oh my goodness.... that's the scariest 'advice' I've ever heard of.