Something Strange Is Going On....

S

schroeder55

Reefing newb
Hello everyone,

After a few weeks of cycling the tank with live rock and many many water tests I decided it was time for a fish. I went to the LFS on Wednesday and had them check the water, they said it was ready, so I got two clownfish. They are the coolest things ever! I find myself watching them instead of watching TV or cleaning up my house.

Anyhow...when I woke up this morning and went to feed them I noticed that they were covered in tiny white spots. It almost looked like they had salt sprinkled on them. I had to go to work and spent a little time reading online about what it could possibly be. When I got home the spots were gone. The fish are active and eating like two little orange pigs. Any ideas? Could it be ich? Should I quarantine them or see if they can fight it out? I read some of the threads that have been posted with people with similar problems, but I'm still not sure what to do... Please help. Thanks.
 
Are your powerheads picking up sand off of your sanded? Maybe they got sprinkled with the sand?? If it were ick the clowns would be acting weird, even more than a usual clown would act.
 
I'm not sure if the powerheads are throwing the sand around. While cycling the tank I didn't really notice that much sand getting moved around. Something is throwing sand around though...all the live rock around where the fish are in the tank has sand on it. Also, it didn't really look like sand on them this morning. I guess I'll keep a close eye on them...
 
I've had fish in water so cloudy with sand that you couldn't see into the tank and nothing "stuck" onto the fish ...

Gotta agree with Waddi and assume it's ich :(
 
So here is a picture (not a really good one but you get the idea) of what I found again when I woke up this morning. I went to work and when I got home they looked fine...again.

If it's ich what should I do? I've read that if you QT them for a month and they get rid of the parasite (on their own or with my help) and with no fish in the main tank for a month any parasite in there will die...I should be ich free. Is this true? I hate to QT them and cause them any more stress, but I don't want to deal with this again (if I can help it).

Any thoughts?

Thanks...
 

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Those fish should be pretty hardy. As long as your water parameters and temperature are ok (and stable) I'd probably let them fight it off. Sometimes an LFS will let you borrow a cleaner wrasse which may help. Also, a 10 gallon tank is pretty small. It's definately more difficult to keep fish healthy in smaller tanks, especially when things can swing fast with such a small water volume.
 
Definitely ich. If he's eating, I'd leave him alone, unless you plan to treat him and all other fish in qt, AND leave the tank fallow (fishless) for a few months. There's no point treating unless you plan to do this.

But if he's eating, he'll have a good chance of survival, but know that you will always have ich in the tank now, even if you qt future fish (unless, like I mentioned, you leave it fallow for a few months to kill the ich).

A cleaner wrasse will NOT get rid of ich. Just maybe pick off visible spots, but that's not a guarantee. Ich will be in your tank.
 
I dont know my blenny gets dust and sand particles stuck to her all the time she doesnt have ich. If they are sleeping under a dusty rock or in a cave they could come out when you get up and have dust on them.

I would try getting a big turkey baster and blowing them with water to see if it flies off before assuming its ich. I never heard of ich coming and going through the day they either have it or dont.
 
AmberSunrise said:
I dont know my blenny gets dust and sand particles stuck to her all the time she doesnt have ich. If they are sleeping under a dusty rock or in a cave they could come out when you get up and have dust on them.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but from that picture, it definately looks like ich.
When they swim, clowns are very irratic and fast swimmers, he would have to superglue the sand on him! ;)
 
Well...for the last three days there have been no spots on the fish in the morning. They are still flying around and eating well. Thanks for the info everyone. I guess I'll just let them be for now and see how they do.

I'm already thinking about buying a bigger tank. Maybe while I cycle the new tank I can QT them and try to get rid of anything they might have so I don't "spoil" the new tank.
 

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