Is this early signs of marine ich?

TaylorLee · Mar 4, 2013

I have a few fish (bicolor blenny, blue damzel, and a redfirefish) in my setup now along with a clean up crew i shipped in 3 days ago. My firefish has been actin weird lately since i have gotten the clean up crew. It was a fairly large addition to the tank. It included 3 emerald crabs 30 dwarf cerith 20 nassarius, 10 florida ceriths snails, and 75 blue legged hermit crabs. The fire fish, ever since the new additions, has been caught scratching on the sand bed and in 1 instant scratched over and over for at least 10 seconds hitting the sandbed scratching. He was caught, for the 1st time today, shivering as if he were cold. can any1 guide in which direction i should go with this. im new to the hobby and new to the sicknesses. Can some1 help diagnose my problem so i may help my little aquatic friend

Thanks!
-Taylor

PS! I have had the firefish for a month now and all the other fish are fine. Just the firefish acts like tht. could it just be a sickness with that particular breed? My gut wants to say hole in the head. but im just a rookie at this.
Thanks!
-Taylor

Aquaph8 · Mar 4, 2013

Scratching can be an indication of Ich, I'd keep an eye on him and the other fish for now. Is there any white specks on the skin that you can see.

TaylorLee · Mar 8, 2013

No theres no spots on him at all. Its weird. its been a few days since ive noticed scratching but he hasn't scratched again

altolamprologus · Mar 9, 2013

Ich attacks the gills first since they're the easiest to get into. This is why the fish scratch before any spots show up, sometimes scratching for weeks before visible spots appear. You need to remove all your fish (even if the others don't show symptoms they still without a doubt are infected) to a quarantine tank and treat with a low dose of copper, which will cure the ich completely. Then keep the fish in quarantine while leaving your display tank fallow for 8 full weeks to kill of any remaining parasites. After 8 weeks, the fish can go back into the tank. And each new fish needs to be quarantined for at least a few weeks before being added to your display tank so you don't introduce diseases again.

robby2782 · Mar 9, 2013

Could also be a fluke worm. I'd try treating with prazi pro. It's safe with most things but will wipe out all the worms in your system.

You should probably quarantine and treat if you can.

altolamprologus · Mar 10, 2013

robby2782 said:
Could also be a fluke worm. I'd try treating with prazi pro. It's safe with most things but will wipe out all the worms in your system.

You should probably quarantine and treat if you can.

If it is flukes, prazi will only kill the adults, not the eggs, so they'll just come back. But I highly doubt it's fluke. They present in the eyes first and usually attack angels, tangs, butterflies, and basslets and have a very difficult time attaching themselves to smooth skinned fish like firefish it seems. My money's still on ich. Regardless of what it is though, the fish need to be quarantined.

Mike&Terry · Mar 10, 2013

altolamprologus said:
If it is flukes, prazi will only kill the adults, not the eggs, so they'll just come back. But I highly doubt it's fluke. They present in the eyes first and usually attack angels, tangs, butterflies, and basslets and have a very difficult time attaching themselves to smooth skinned fish like firefish it seems. My money's still on ich. Regardless of what it is though, the fish need to be quarantined.

fwiw, there are several types of flukes some are live bearers and others are egg layers. Two rounds of treatment with Prazipro covers the egg cycle.

It is also possible to see body flukes on a fish using a good magnifying glass or a camera with a macro lens.

TaylorLee · Mar 16, 2013

He looks like he is getting darker colors around his stomache area and looks like there internal nots near his defication area. Its like a lighter color circle outlined in almost brown. as if the skin were burnt around the circles if that makes sense. i wish i had a good enough camera id take a decent pic but i found this in my tank today