Ich, or something else?

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Xyclade
Puffer Fry
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:47 pm
Location (country): The Netherlands

Ich, or something else?

Post by Xyclade »

I set up a reef tank about 3 months ago, where I added in my first few fish about 4 weeks ago. One of them is a Ostracion cubicus named puffy.

When I got him in, he was looking healthy, but over time (about 1-2 weeks ago) I started noticing some white spots (but only with certain light). I suspect ich... However none of the other fish seem to have any white spots, and the spots only show on his fins, just like is described in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=18130
In addition, the fish eats fine and swims around happily, not scratching or anything

I made some photos / short video's to show you what I mean:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/37oa3uvyqnf0u ... 9.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9mwzefo0kegwv ... 0.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ku1455w1g9d5n ... l.png?dl=0

What would it be and what can/should I do about it?

Finally, my water params are:
25 degrees celcius
1.025 salinity
0 NH4
0 NO2
<0.5 NO3
7.1 KH
8.15 PH
and the other fish in the tank are 2 Snowflake clowns (amphiprion ocellaris Snowflake), and 1 Blennius (Salarias fasciatus)
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by Pufferpunk »

[welcome]
As stated in the thread you linked to & another linked there, these "marks" are just irritations (think light bruises) that are nothing to worry about. They come & go.
Just a warning, as far as your boxfish species--if this fish gets stressed at all, it can emit toxins that can wipe out your entire tank, including corals. Also, I would not consider them to be reef-safe.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Xyclade
Puffer Fry
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:47 pm
Location (country): The Netherlands

Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by Xyclade »

Thank you for the comforting words on the marks. The warning you stated makes me question the professionality of the LFS that sold me this fish, as they stated it shouldn't be a problem, even though they are aware of my tank's inhabitants and I asked them specifically.

Should the fish not be held in tanks at all given their toxins, or are there measures to prevent them from whiping out a tank in case of stress, such as filtering over active carbon?
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by Pufferpunk »

Absolutely, I suggest using Purigen to help prevent chemical warfare between corals & possible toxin release of this fish. I like this product, because it is rechargable.
Yes, LFS's job is to sell you fish. It's our responsibility to do research on them. Also, are you aware of their adult size?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Xyclade
Puffer Fry
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:47 pm
Location (country): The Netherlands

Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by Xyclade »

Ah Purigen, I run that in my fresh water cichlid tank to reduce nitrates :D Should have some spare, which I will put in asap. I am aware of the adult size, and also discussed that with the LFS owner, on which he said it would be no issue to trade it out once it becomes too large for my tank, which might not even happen because I expect to upgrade to a much larger system soon ;-)
devildog999
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Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by devildog999 »

I find LFS' are notorious for intentionally not giving needed info to ensure a sale. When I first got into saltwater tanks, I went to a fish store called Valencia Pet. They sent me home with enough saltwater to fill my 24g Nano Cube, a flowerpot coral, a Anemone, 2 Percula Clowns, a goby of some sort, and a Cowfish (still my favorite fish and will be a main point of the 240g tank I am saving for). I think one of the most important things to note here is that they sent me home with this stuff knowing I had not cycled my tank (didn't even fully know what cycling was). No surprise, everything died fairly quickly. Not only was that just plain bad customer service, it was unethical and immoral. They knew these fish would suffer and die and they did it anyway. I take very little stock in what a LFS says.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by Pufferpunk »

OMG!!! :soapbox:
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Xyclade
Puffer Fry
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:47 pm
Location (country): The Netherlands

Re: Ich, or something else?

Post by Xyclade »

That's just insane!
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