ich, thats not quite ich

ABATTLEDONKEY · 01/26/2008, 11:33 PM

hello all,
ive been having trouble keeping fish lately and just found out why: my hydro meter wasnt calibrated correctly. yes yes i know, im investing in a refractrometer and will keep it in tune.
all the while i was having trouble with my fish i noticed that i kept having problems with ich. only it wasnt quite ich. it was there one day, in full force, and was gone the next. it wasnt air bubbles and was definatly bumps attached to the skin, not merely placed on it. im not quite sure what this is, and it makes me nervous. i stopped treating because of the inconsistancy. i also noticed a bunch of oil collecting on the top of my water. i have a protien skimmer, but that might take a while to clear it out(i have no idea where it came from), is ther any way to clear it out manually that anyone knows of? help is appreciated as always, thanks alot
-Paul

bertoni · 01/28/2008, 07:36 PM

I've forgotten the various lifecycle times of marine ich, but that might be what the fish have. The only useful treatments are hyposalinity or copper, both of which need to be done in a hospital tank.

tmz · 01/28/2008, 11:38 PM

Ich sometimes looks like bumps with white dots on the end these become apparent when the parasite leaves the fish. how long they remain ,I guess, is a question of how fast the fish heals before reinfestation.As noted ich needs copper or hyposalinity treatment. In a tank without inverts since either of these treatments will kill them and depress the nitrification bacteria to some degree. Any rock used in a tank with copper will absorb some and leech it back later.

01/26/2008, 11:33 PM	#1
ABATTLEDONKEY Moved On Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: san jose CA Posts: 69	ich, thats not quite ich hello all, ive been having trouble keeping fish lately and just found out why: my hydro meter wasnt calibrated correctly. yes yes i know, im investing in a refractrometer and will keep it in tune. all the while i was having trouble with my fish i noticed that i kept having problems with ich. only it wasnt quite ich. it was there one day, in full force, and was gone the next. it wasnt air bubbles and was definatly bumps attached to the skin, not merely placed on it. im not quite sure what this is, and it makes me nervous. i stopped treating because of the inconsistancy. i also noticed a bunch of oil collecting on the top of my water. i have a protien skimmer, but that might take a while to clear it out(i have no idea where it came from), is ther any way to clear it out manually that anyone knows of? help is appreciated as always, thanks alot -Paul

01/28/2008, 07:36 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I've forgotten the various lifecycle times of marine ich, but that might be what the fish have. The only useful treatments are hyposalinity or copper, both of which need to be done in a hospital tank. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

01/28/2008, 11:38 PM	#3
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	Ich sometimes looks like bumps with white dots on the end these become apparent when the parasite leaves the fish. how long they remain ,I guess, is a question of how fast the fish heals before reinfestation.As noted ich needs copper or hyposalinity treatment. In a tank without inverts since either of these treatments will kill them and depress the nitrification bacteria to some degree. Any rock used in a tank with copper will absorb some and leech it back later. __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.