I think I might have Ich

[Klavis]

Hello Everyone,

I am brand new to this forum as of today so nice to meet you all. I am also quite new to marine aquariums, I have had one going to about 2 months now with few issues. It's a 30 Gallon tank with 1 Clown Fish, 2 Black Damsels, and 1 Blue Damsel. Yesterday afternoon I noticed what looked like little white spots on the Clown. I was a little concerned but my girlfriend thought they looked like little air bubbles so I didn't jump into action. This morning my girlfriend told me when she got up for work at around 5am that the clown was floating vertically in the corner of the tank. She was concerned at that point as was I. But soon after he began to swim around. Now I no longer see any white spots on him but he is definitely not being himself. Our Clown fish who was once the star of the tank, always swimming about happily, is now swimming stationary in the back corner of the tank behind some rocks. He comes out when I put my face near that corner to see him and he came out to eat as well. Still I am concerned because of the sudden change in behavior. All that being said, I have a few questions and any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. Do you think I should take any action? I was definitely going to but after coming home from the pet store in the morning and seeing that he no longer had any spots on him, I am no longer sure if it is even Ich. The water looks good, with Ammonia and Nitrite at 0, Nitrate is hovering around 5, and Ph is a solid 8.2.

2. If I do take action what do think is the best way for me to do so? I bought some Kordon Rid Ich from the pet store this morning. Some people swear by it, along with increasing the temperature to 85 degrees (Is that temperature even safe for my fish?), and a 25% water change daily. I read the sticky forum saying to do salt or copper treatments and quarantine the fish. I don't have a hospital tank and with money being a little tight this month I would rather not have to go out and get one (though if you say that's what I should do I can swing it).

Any and all help is greatly appreciated as I am very unsure of what to do in this situation and I don't want the star of my tanks show to bite the dust.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome. Good job reading the stickies! You have a head start. :)

I would say that as long as the fish are eating, not to treat them. They can usually fight off ich on their own. I would also not use the Rid Ich -- it doesn't work. It may help the ich go away, but the ich will continue to come back because it's not a cure.

Do you notice your fish nipping at each other or chasing each other? Aggression between fish is a common trigger for ich. And with three damsels and a clown (all considered relatively aggressive fish), I wouldn't be surprised if aggression and stress is compromising their immune systems, making them prone to infections. In a 30 gallon tank, 4 small fish like that is pretty much your stocking limit. So maybe consider trading in some (or all) of the damsels or the clown for some more pleasant fish that won't bully each other. :)

 

[Smitty]

Welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard. Biff has you covered.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!
+1 Biffy

 

[Northstar24]

Welcome to the site, it looks like Sarah has you covered

 

[Klavis]

Thanks for the welcomes Smitty and Bifferwine!

I really appreciate the speedy advice Bifferwine. I was kind of leaning toward your suggestion but was looking for some experienced reassurance. I saved the receipt so I can take the Rid Ich back.

As for the stock. Yes they can be aggressive toward each other but not overly and I haven't seen anything out the ordinary. We used to have another blue damsel that died because I made a rookie mistake on a water change a few weeks back and the Ph levels dropped dramatically. But point of the story is that it seems the blue damsels and black damsels were only aggressive toward each other. Since the other blue's passing the one left has not been very aggressive. The clown completely minds his own business and the damsels stay away from him as well. We went with damsels (knowing full well they were aggressive) because they are cheaper and my girlfriend and I wanted to get the hang of taking care of the tank before stepping up to more expensive fish and a bigger tank. Maybe that was the wrong way to approach the hobby? I'll have to check out some posts to see what others are putting in their 30 gallon tanks.

Thanks so much! I'll keep you posted.

 

[Klavis]

Thanks for the welcomes little_fish and Northstar!

 

[little_fish]

Constant, low levels of aggressive behavior will end up leading to disease because of the constant stress. Even though you might not see overt aggressio between the fish, i think there is a lot our mammalian, dry brains dont see.

 

[Klavis]

Well it's been 3 days since the little episode with the Clown. All seems to be well. They were flashing a little bit throughout the weekend but that seems to have subsided as well. I'm thinking the fish as beating what ever it was that was troubling them. Thanks again everyone for the advice!

 

[wontonflip]

Good to hear :D Just keep in mind they will always have ich now, so try to keep the water parameters good and feed a high quality foods. More stress will just cause the white spots to reappear. But don't worry; most of us don't qt, so we most likely have ich in our tanks. Our fish do well :) It will only make them stronger.