Someone please help me.

[Self_made_sam]

I'm trying to determine what this might be. He's got two white specks on either side of his body and what appears to be a scrape. I'm hoping he tried squeezing through the rocks and it's just a wound and not ich or some kind of fungus. I tried to post a video but it wouldn't let me. Pictures are are best as I could do, I can definitely try to get better shots though if no one can figure it out from these. Please let me know what your thoughts are and what I should do to treat this guy or if he'll be okay just by doing water changes I did one yesterday when I noticed it. Thank you.

 

 

 

[Jon Lazar]

Are there other tankmates?  Especially ones that might be arguing with your fish?  IME fish only get scrapes when they're darting in a panic.  Either from another fish, or from an aquarist trying to catch a fish.

 

Odds are excellent that the white dots are ich.

[Self_made_sam]

Are there other tankmates? Especially ones that might be arguing with your fish? IME fish only get scrapes when they're darting in a panic. Either from another fish, or from an aquarist trying to catch a fish.

 

Odds are excellent that the white dots are ich.

I have a yellow tang, two yellow tail damsels and two clowns. Everyone seems peaceful. The dottyback has claimed this main rock as his territory. He'll chase off the damsels if they get too close. I don't put my hands into the tank but he couldve been startled from something else I suppose. I suspected ich as well but wouldn't that show up all over the fish? All I'm seeing is those two spots and nothing is showing up on the others.

[WheresTheReef]

How long have you had your fish? When was the last addition?

[Jon Lazar]

In general, if only one fish is stressed due to being the target of aggression, it's more likely to show signs of ich before other fish do.

 

If all your fish are stressed by something, they're all likely to show signs of ich.

[Self_made_sam]

How long have you had your fish? When was the last addition?

The Dottyback was the last addition. Added him about a month ago, had him in quarantine for about 5 weeks. In total I have had the fish a little over 2 months. I didn't treat him in quarantine because the LFS informed me that they treat all fish, I basically just wanted to keep him away from my main display. Then noticed this today. If it's ich I will definitely get him out and back into quarantine to treat.

[Self_made_sam]

In general, if only one fish is stressed due to being the target of aggression, it's more likely to show signs of ich before other fish do.

 

If all your fish are stressed by something, they're all likely to show signs of ich.

I'm relatively new to the salt water hobby, I've been doing freshwater for years. So this information is great thank you. I will try and set a trap to get him back into quarantine. What should I treat him with?

[WheresTheReef]

If you didn't treat and/or quarantine all your livestock then it's possible it exists in your tank. Stress could cause an outbreak if this is the case. I wouldn't panic and make any changes just yet. Ich doesn't normally kill quickly so you should have time to react. The fact that you've gone this long without an issue could suggest an injury. Hard to tell from pictures. Best to look online and compare.

 

Do you have a separate tank for treatment and a copper source? What about a test kit for it? I like cupramine and the seachem copper test.

[Self_made_sam]

If you didn't treat and/or quarantine all your livestock then it's possible it exists in your tank. Stress could cause an outbreak if this is the case. I wouldn't panic and make any changes just yet. Ich doesn't normally kill quickly so you should have time to react. The fact that you've gone this long without an issue could suggest an injury. Hard to tell from pictures. Best to look online and compare.

 

Do you have a separate tank for treatment and a copper source? What about a test kit for it? I like cupramine and the seachem copper test.

I do have a separate tank just for quarantine, I've never done cooper treatment. But I can look up more on how to do it and what tests to purchase.

[Jon Lazar]

IMO ich flare ups usually have a cause.  Something stresses the fish, making it less resistant to the ich parasites already in peoples' tanks.  

 

You can treat the dottyback's ich, but when you put the cured fish back in the tank the problem is likely to reoccur because you haven't identified and fixed the root problem.

 

IMO you need to do two things.  You need to figure out why the dottyback is stressed.  Unstressed fish don't bang into rocks hard enough to scrape themselves.  They do it when they're being chased or they're startled.

 

You also need to help the dottyback get healthy.  It's not in bad shape now, and target feeding frozen food might be enough for him to shake it off.  Keep an eye on your other fish too.  

[WheresTheReef]

Did you confirm if it's ich? If you're near Gaithersburg I have cupramine and a test kit. I won't be adding any fish in the near future so you can grab them from me if you really need it and want to treat.

[WheresTheReef]

As mentioned above, I would concentrate on reducing stress, keeping water quality high and feeding good food. If it is ich and the outbreak spreads then you can choose to treat all fish and leave the tank fallow for at least 72 days.

[Self_made_sam]

Did you confirm if it's ich? If you're near Gaithersburg I have cupramine and a test kit. I won't be adding any fish in the near future so you can grab them from me if you really need it and want to treat.

I'm a couple hours from Gaithersburg I believe, I'm in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. I can't seem to confirm whether or not if it's ich. I've had a couple ich experiences with my fresh water tanks and in those cases the white dots with smaller and there were a lot more. On this fish it's just the two very defined spots. He hides in the rocks while he sleeps so I'm going to try and get him into the quarantine tank tonight just to monitor his behavior and the other fish as well for the next couple weeks. If he starts getting more spots within the next couple days I'll know I need to remove the other fish and treat them as well.