my longnose butterfly has a whole bunch of white spots allover its body. some on its face, some on its left side, and quite a few on all its fins.
i assume is some sort of parasite, what can i do to get rid of it?
white spots?
12 posts • Page 1 of 2
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
Cryptocaryon irritans, aka. Marine ICH.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003- ... /index.php
FYI and to keep from wasting money, ich cures in a bottle don't work. Some people claim success because they see the cysts dissappear a few days or a week later after using miracle cures like Kick ICK but this is just the natural life cycle of the parasite. It most always comes back a few days later and much worse than before.
Options
1. Treat with Copper in quarantine.
2. Treat with Hyposalinity in quarantine.
3. Treat with Metronidazole and Focus applied to food. (not nearly as effective as 1 & 2)
4. Feed fish well and hope they live through it and build an immunity.
If you treat with Copper or Hypo, must be done in a seperate tank, as inverts can't handle either. You must QT all fish and leave display fallow(no fish) for at least 8 weeks to be sure all the eggs and tomonts die off from the main tank.
Also, UV sterilizers don't cure an ich outbreak nor can they prevent one.
It is possible to totally remove ich from your system using option 1 or 2 but it is easy for it to be reintroduced. Any live rock, sand, coral, or water can have the parasite eggs or tomonts in or on them so everything must be quarantined as well as any new fish.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003- ... /index.php
FYI and to keep from wasting money, ich cures in a bottle don't work. Some people claim success because they see the cysts dissappear a few days or a week later after using miracle cures like Kick ICK but this is just the natural life cycle of the parasite. It most always comes back a few days later and much worse than before.
Options
1. Treat with Copper in quarantine.
2. Treat with Hyposalinity in quarantine.
3. Treat with Metronidazole and Focus applied to food. (not nearly as effective as 1 & 2)
4. Feed fish well and hope they live through it and build an immunity.
If you treat with Copper or Hypo, must be done in a seperate tank, as inverts can't handle either. You must QT all fish and leave display fallow(no fish) for at least 8 weeks to be sure all the eggs and tomonts die off from the main tank.
Also, UV sterilizers don't cure an ich outbreak nor can they prevent one.
It is possible to totally remove ich from your system using option 1 or 2 but it is easy for it to be reintroduced. Any live rock, sand, coral, or water can have the parasite eggs or tomonts in or on them so everything must be quarantined as well as any new fish.
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
Hypo Treatment. Sorry for links but it is way too in depth a subject to type it all out when someone already has a nice writeup already done.
http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/hyposalinity.html
http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/hyposalinity.html
Last edited by schigara on Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
There is another treatment that has been very successful that does not require the careful maintenance of copper or salinity level
It's sometime called the tank shuffle or musical tanks. It basically is major water changes in quarantine. It prevents any re infestation. You need 2 QT tanks. You use average SG levels with no copper or meds.
Keep the fish in a QT tank and everyday put the fish in a new, sterile tank with new water. After that day, put the fish in the other tank that has been sterilized. This way, the ich never has a chance to reproduce once it drops from the host because it's environment is replaced every day
It's sometime called the tank shuffle or musical tanks. It basically is major water changes in quarantine. It prevents any re infestation. You need 2 QT tanks. You use average SG levels with no copper or meds.
Keep the fish in a QT tank and everyday put the fish in a new, sterile tank with new water. After that day, put the fish in the other tank that has been sterilized. This way, the ich never has a chance to reproduce once it drops from the host because it's environment is replaced every day
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fihsboy - Posts: 1837
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm
yeah........im retarded by the way.. those were both wrong......its a different kinda of shrimp......eats parasites off your fish.. n e ways schigara is right......put them in there own tank........less chemicals..........less irritation to the other fish.....and IF they die........it wont pollute your whole tank.
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a1k8t31524 - Posts: 939
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am
hmm i know that fw ich can be killed by raising the temp to 80+ could this be done in a hospital tank with marine ich?
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puffedupseagull - Posts: 623
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am
Gday
To make things quick and not complicated. And this is only what i know, other people have different ideas.
Ich is a water born parasite which needs a host to survive. When a fish is not at its best, like us the flue, its immune system becomes low which makes it vonrable to attack from the ich parasite, because its slime coating is not as effective. The parasite has a 21 day cycle approx, for so many days its in the water, then it finds a host fish attaches and eats. Once full * aroundt 4-5 days it falls off and lands in substrate to reproduce.
Get ur fish out of main infected tank into a clean tank with the same water conditions, and no substrate,but lower the salinity slightly, maybe from 1.025 to 1.023 to start. Over a couple of days get it to around 1.019 - 1.020. Once in new tank, Fresh water dipping for around 2-5mins depending on fish reaction. What temp and ph must be the same as salt water conditions. This will kill ich on the fish, but when put back into infected tank it will get more attachments. Do this every day even twice if possible.
So definatly quarantine to another clean tank like i said before. Continue dips every day for at least 2 weeks. Feed ur fish normally, but also feed crushed clove garlic, this will help. One clove can do around 10 fish, they love it and it builds the immune back up. Trust me on that one it does do wonders. Whilst fish are in sick tank, ur main tank is empty apart from corals and inverts and water. Do a largish water change about 50% and raise tank water slightly 2 or so degrees over a couple of days and leave it. This will flush out a lot of water born parasites, and the higher temp will speed up there reproduction rate, BUT BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FISH TO HOST OFF PARASITES WILL DIE WITH IN A DAY OF NOT FEEDING. Mean while ur fish are beginning to recover in your Q tank. Just keep an eye on ur Q tanks water condition, because there is no bacteria so spikes of ammonia may occur. But not if u use a small Q tank and change 100% of the water every day or so( remember to keep conditions the same.). Once all signs of spots have gone, should be good to put fish back in main tank. Keep feeding garlic in main tank everyday to keep away ich. If Fish are happy, Ich is no where to be seen. Dont use shitty chems for white spot, it kills more than it saves, and it will definatly effect corals and inverts. IF U DO DECIDE MY WAY THEN 2 WEEKS which i did WOULD BE A MINIMUM 3-4 WOULD BE EVEN BETTER.
Thats as simple as i can make it sorry.
Hope they come through ok
Cheers
To make things quick and not complicated. And this is only what i know, other people have different ideas.
Ich is a water born parasite which needs a host to survive. When a fish is not at its best, like us the flue, its immune system becomes low which makes it vonrable to attack from the ich parasite, because its slime coating is not as effective. The parasite has a 21 day cycle approx, for so many days its in the water, then it finds a host fish attaches and eats. Once full * aroundt 4-5 days it falls off and lands in substrate to reproduce.
Get ur fish out of main infected tank into a clean tank with the same water conditions, and no substrate,but lower the salinity slightly, maybe from 1.025 to 1.023 to start. Over a couple of days get it to around 1.019 - 1.020. Once in new tank, Fresh water dipping for around 2-5mins depending on fish reaction. What temp and ph must be the same as salt water conditions. This will kill ich on the fish, but when put back into infected tank it will get more attachments. Do this every day even twice if possible.
So definatly quarantine to another clean tank like i said before. Continue dips every day for at least 2 weeks. Feed ur fish normally, but also feed crushed clove garlic, this will help. One clove can do around 10 fish, they love it and it builds the immune back up. Trust me on that one it does do wonders. Whilst fish are in sick tank, ur main tank is empty apart from corals and inverts and water. Do a largish water change about 50% and raise tank water slightly 2 or so degrees over a couple of days and leave it. This will flush out a lot of water born parasites, and the higher temp will speed up there reproduction rate, BUT BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FISH TO HOST OFF PARASITES WILL DIE WITH IN A DAY OF NOT FEEDING. Mean while ur fish are beginning to recover in your Q tank. Just keep an eye on ur Q tanks water condition, because there is no bacteria so spikes of ammonia may occur. But not if u use a small Q tank and change 100% of the water every day or so( remember to keep conditions the same.). Once all signs of spots have gone, should be good to put fish back in main tank. Keep feeding garlic in main tank everyday to keep away ich. If Fish are happy, Ich is no where to be seen. Dont use shitty chems for white spot, it kills more than it saves, and it will definatly effect corals and inverts. IF U DO DECIDE MY WAY THEN 2 WEEKS which i did WOULD BE A MINIMUM 3-4 WOULD BE EVEN BETTER.
Thats as simple as i can make it sorry.
Hope they come through ok
Cheers
