Week 2.5 of copper treatment - Ich coming back?

[Punchanello]

Hello friends and experts (not mutually exclusive),

On 2 May I placed my blue and yellow tangs in copper treatment. By 5 may I thought I was at a therapeutic dose of .5ppm (cupramine). Turned out to be a testing error and was only .4 so I'm only confident I was at therapeutic .5 from 12 may.

All signs of ich (it was only mild) disappeared in the first couple of days. I've looked again today and the blue tang has a small number of spots again. Technically I'm 2 weeks and 3 days in at .5 ppm.

Is this normal? Is this ich that was in a tomont stage before I was at a therapeutic dose and now in the trophont stage?

 

[HotRocks]

Hello friends and experts (not mutually exclusive),

On 2 May I placed my blue and yellow tangs in copper treatment. By 5 may I thought I was at a therapeutic dose of .5ppm (cupramine). Turned out to be a testing error and was only .4 so I'm only confident I was at therapeutic .5 from 12 may.

All signs of ich (it was only mild) disappeared in the first couple of days. I've looked again today and the blue tang has a small number of spots again. Technically I'm 2 weeks and 3 days in at .5 ppm.

Is this normal? Is this ich that was in a tomont stage before I was at a therapeutic dose and now in the trophont stage?

Can you upload pics of the fish?

If copper treatment is effective you should not see any spots after a couple weeks at the therapuetic level.

Blue hippos notoriously hide/wedge themselves places and that can cause irritation that may appear parasitic in nature. You could also be dealing with something like flukes or another ailment that isn't treatable by copper.

 

[Punchanello]

Thanks @HotRocks

I'm concerned about the black area along the lateral line. But on review when I zoom in the marks look to be small punctures or scratches when I zoom in. Could be from the yellow tang?

There are some foreground spots that are just food floating around.

 

[JenniferMcK]

Those look to be possibly flukes. Maybe try a freshwater dip to rule that out.

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree that does not look like ich to me. It could be an ODD presentation of lymph, but I'd start with a freshwater dip because my money is on flukes. Do the dip in a dark bucket and look for "sesame seeds" falling off.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I agree that does not look like ich to me. It could be an ODD presentation of lymph, but I'd start with a freshwater dip because my money is on flukes. Do the dip in a dark bucket and look for "sesame seeds" falling off.

+1

 

[Punchanello]

Thanks everyone. I'll fresh water dip after work and let you know how I go.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

How is you're tang?

 

[Punchanello]

How is you're tang?

Haven't finished work but will give him the dip tonight (Australian time). Tang hasn't missed a beat the whole time I have had it though. Eating, nice and thick and otherwise healthy I think.

 

[Punchanello]

Hi everyone,

I got home last night and I wasn't able to see any new marks or spots. The yellow tang, however, in the same tank had a bulging cloudy eye. I read that this can sometimes also be caused by flukes.

I gave them both a freshwater dip and neither dropped anything that looks like flukes (or anything else either).

I'm starting to think that perhaps that the marks on the blue tang which on some angles look like punctures or scratches and the bulging cloudy eye might be injuries because they are having a go at each other. I'm not seeing them being particularly aggressive, just fanning their fins and occasionally shouldering each other when they get too close. Skin irritation might also be a side effect of stress?

I'm not really seeing powderiness, salt grain or pimple like things on the skin. I could see the yellow tangs eye was less bulgy and clouded this morning.

Tonight I'm going to do a large water change and general clean out of the QT to see if I can't improve the water quality (will keep copper going). Is there anything else you could suggest?