Mimic tang has had ich for some time now, do I leave it be?

[tylerbolte]

Hello! I posted about this fish a while back, he has gone through some weird stuff. I have had him for roughly 6-8 months now, first four or so he had this weird looking bacterial infection on left side. I have another thread about that. He was first fish in tank. He would occasionally get an ich spot here and there, but nothing that was super concerning especially since I never saw more than 1-2 spots on another fish. I have not removed him for qt for about 3-4 months now, and he is happy - other than being totally covered in ich! Behavior is fine, other fish don’t get it, eats like a pig. Is there anything I can do other than removing all fish to alleviate his symptoms? I feed him heavily, to the point now where he gets a sheet of Nori every other day along with normal feedings. I will attach more photos as I can, but his whole body is mostly covered. Been like this for at least 3 months.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello! I posted about this fish a while back, he has gone through some weird stuff. I have had him for roughly 6-8 months now, first four or so he had this weird looking bacterial infection on left side. I have another thread about that. He was first fish in tank. He would occasionally get an ich spot here and there, but nothing that was super concerning especially since I never saw more than 1-2 spots on another fish. I have not removed him for qt for about 3-4 months now, and he is happy - other than being totally covered in ich! Behavior is fine, other fish don’t get it, eats like a pig. Is there anything I can do other than removing all fish to alleviate his symptoms? I feed him heavily, to the point now where he gets a sheet of Nori every other day along with normal feedings. I will attach more photos as I can, but his whole body is mostly covered. Been like this for at least 3 months.

View attachment 2909217

+The spots look like mucus spores associated with Marine ich. Would love to verify though if you can post a couple of pics under white lighting as the pics is very dark with blue hues

 

[Jay Hemdal]

+1 on seeing photos taken under white lights. A short video helps a lot also. We need to rule out mucus plugs here and try to confirm if it is ich or not.
Jay

 

[tylerbolte]

+The spots look like mucus spores associated with Marine ich. Would love to verify though if you can post a couple of pics under white lighting as the pics is very dark with blue hues

+1 on seeing photos taken under white lights. A short video helps a lot also. We need to rule out mucus plugs here and try to confirm if it is ich or not.
Jay

I have attached a video of both their normal lighting and pure white. Can’t really see it at all under white, even in person

 

[tylerbolte]

Not sure if those videos rendered. Here are stills from each, the best screenshots with the spots visible I could grab

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have attached a video of both their normal lighting and pure white. Can’t really see it at all under white, even in person
View attachment 2909246
View attachment 2909247

Cant open video #2 and #3 and ist one is only 5 seconds (need at least 15 sec) and still need white light Only
does look like mucus spores.

 

[vetteguy53081]

+1 on seeing photos taken under white lights. A short video helps a lot also. We need to rule out mucus plugs here and try to confirm if it is ich or not.
Jay

here is a blow up from video

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have attached a video of both their normal lighting and pure white. Can’t really see it at all under white, even in person
View attachment 2909246
View attachment 2909247

Do any of the other occupants have dots or other issues ?
This guy has Marine ich and needs to be treated in quarantine at your soonest. Best treatment would be coppersafe or Copper Power with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 for a FULL 30 DAYS monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment
You will also need to leave display tank Fish-Less (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

 

[tylerbolte]

Do any of the other occupants have dots or other issues ?
This guy has Marine ich and needs to be treated in quarantine at your soonest. Best treatment would be coppersafe or Copper Power with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 for a FULL 30 DAYS monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment
You will also need to leave display tank Fish-Less (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

Occasionally I will see a single spot or two pop up on the clowns, but rarely (maybe once a month) The other orange stripe bristletooth tang never gets anything, neither does my mandarin. The tank has been going on like this for 3ish months, is there anything I can do for just the single mimic? Very difficult for me to remove all fish in a one bedroom apt and have an adequate qt system. Would it be a safe bet to have a friend of mine qt the single fish, not the rest or is it necessary to do them all?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Occasionally I will see a single spot or two pop up on the clowns, but rarely (maybe once a month) The other orange stripe bristletooth tang never gets anything, neither does my mandarin. The tank has been going on like this for 3ish months, is there anything I can do for just the single mimic? Very difficult for me to remove all fish in a one bedroom apt and have an adequate qt system. Would it be a safe bet to have a friend of mine qt the single fish, not the rest or is it necessary to do them all?

Problem is , you may not see it on others but may be present and I am not keen on reef safe/reef safe claimed treatments. You can start with individual fish in QT but you risk others suddenly showing symptoms. Often parasite in trophant stage will drop off and continue to tromont stage and then they become widespread.

 

[tylerbolte]

Problem is , you may not see it on others but may be present and I am not keen on reef safe/reef safe claimed treatments. You can start with individual fish in QT but you risk others suddenly showing symptoms. Often parasite in trophant stage will drop off and continue to tromont stage and then they become widespread.

Gotcha. I will likely have my friend give mr mimic tang a full qt and monitor the others, if symptoms show I’ll qt the others. I worry about the mandarin in qt if it gets to that point, would he risk starving in qt? he really only eats the copepods from what I can tell.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Gotcha. I will likely have my friend give mr mimic tang a full qt and monitor the others, if symptoms show I’ll qt the others. I worry about the mandarin in qt if it gets to that point, would he risk starving in qt? he really only eats the copepods from what I can tell.

yes on mandarin. Pods would not make it in treatment although there has been some cases of them surviving. This is advantage of quarantine where you could place it in with pods

 

[MnFish1]

Gotcha. I will likely have my friend give mr mimic tang a full qt and monitor the others, if symptoms show I’ll qt the others. I worry about the mandarin in qt if it gets to that point, would he risk starving in qt? he really only eats the copepods from what I can tell.

Though it's difficult, If you're going to treat one fish, I would treat all of the fish (somehow - perhaps with your friend?) - and leave the tank fallow. There are numerous problems with treating only one fish (potential problems)- namely - when its treated and you add it back to the tank - it may become reinfected - and you're right back where you started. Additionally - if you add new fish to the tank - the likelihood of their infection is also high.

When I first looked at the picture - my thought was mucus - BUT - if other fish are also getting spots - that leans much more towards CI (I cannot see the videos unfortunately). I might also suggest - are the spots in constant places - or do they 'change'. If constant for more than a couple days - its more likely to be mucus/scarring than an active infection... Good luck with whatever you decide!