Puffer spots….Am I just being paranoid ??

[Mikemilly245]

 

[AydenLincoln]

No! Hi puffy. It looks like the start of ich.

 

[Mikemilly245]

Sorry for spamming posts about this guy, I know I posted yesterday, but I got some better pics and wanted to share to see what everyone thinks. Can’t tell if it’s much worse than yesterday but I’ll take pics tomorrow and compare.

If this is disease, what is it/how to treat ?? I have a pair of clowns in with it that I’ve had for 2+ yrs and a pistol shrimp somewhere in there too. If I treat the DT all the inverts will die right ??

 

[AydenLincoln]

Sorry for spamming posts about this guy, I know I posted yesterday, but I got some better pics and wanted to share to see what everyone thinks. Can’t tell if it’s much worse than yesterday but I’ll take pics tomorrow and compare.

If this is disease, what is it/how to treat ?? I have a pair of clowns in with it that I’ve had for 2+ yrs and a pistol shrimp somewhere in there too. If I treat the DT all the inverts will die right ??

Yes. But if it was fowlr you could treat it directly. How do you have inverts with the porky? Porkys eat them for dinner.

 

[Mikemilly245]

Yes. But if it was fowlr you could treat it directly. How do you have inverts with the porky? Porkys eat them for dinner.

Lol I’m not sure, I haven’t had him very long. How does treating in a Fowlr tank work vs normal Qt? And you’re certain it’s ich??

I really don’t want to do the QT method of raising copper in a tank for 14days then another 14 days in a sterile observation tank for the clowns and puffer, because I’ll likely need 2 different sets of them for each, just seems like a headache. If I have to I will but another method would be awesome, preferably in the tank they’re in now I really like that little shrimp but I’m not sure it’s worth the hassle

 

[Fish Fan]

#fishmedic

^The above tag should call in some of R2R's best people on fish disease and treatment, which I am not, but that looks like Ich to me too. If so, you could consider removing the shrimp and any inverts you want to keep long term. These can be kept in a very simple system, like a 10 gallon with a heater and some kind of filter/pump. Then, you could try hyposalinity. See this post from Jay Hemdal, who's an authority here on fish diseases:

EMERGENCY - Hyposalinity for Ich in Display

So, I guess my hippo tang was hiding ich for almost 11 months and he got stressed out and got ich. Then it has now spread to other tank mates. so, I got a 55g quarantine to house 15 fish. But before doing this, I was reading on the humble fish website (thank you for what you do) about...

www.reef2reef.com

Good luck!

 

[AydenLincoln]

Lol I’m not sure, I haven’t had him very long. How does treating in a Fowlr tank work vs normal Qt? And you’re certain it’s ich??

I really don’t want to do the QT method of raising copper in a tank for 14days then another 14 days in a sterile observation tank for the clowns and puffer, because I’ll likely need 2 different sets of them for each, just seems like a headache. If I have to I will but another method would be awesome, preferably in the tank they’re in now I really like that little shrimp but I’m not sure it’s worth the hassle

I will defer those questions to @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal

 

[Mikemilly245]

#fishmedic

^The above tag should call in some of R2R's best people on fish disease and treatment, which I am not, but that looks like Ich to me too. If so, you could consider removing the shrimp and any inverts you want to keep long term. These can be kept in a very simple system, like a 10 gallon with a heater and some kind of filter/pump. Then, you could try hyposalinity. See this post from Jay Hemdal, who's an authority here on fish diseases:

EMERGENCY - Hyposalinity for Ich in Display

So, I guess my hippo tang was hiding ich for almost 11 months and he got stressed out and got ich. Then it has now spread to other tank mates. so, I got a 55g quarantine to house 15 fish. But before doing this, I was reading on the humble fish website (thank you for what you do) about...

www.reef2reef.com

Good luck!

I was thinking about hyposalinity, I was just reading that article earlier. I’m just starting to sweat thinking about getting that dang shrimp out of there…

Seems like the easiest way though

 

[Mikemilly245]

I still have all my QT equipment from when I treated my clowns so I could use that for them, and have a biocube that could probably house the puffer for QT

@Humblefish Would TTM be a good idea here ?? I generally hate the idea of using copper again, Will the hermits and pistol shrimp carry ich if I just do the TTM? This is stressing me out! Lol

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I still have all my QT equipment from when I treated my clowns so I could use that for them, and have a biocube that could probably house the puffer for QT

@Humblefish Would TTM be a good idea here ?? I generally hate the idea of using copper again, Will the hermits and pistol shrimp carry ich if I just do the TTM? This is stressing me out! Lol

TTM is not a good choice in this situation. You would need to have a clean, non-infected tank to move the puffer into after the TTM course has been done, if you put it back into your main display before the fallow period is over (45 to 60 days) it will just get reinfected.

If you have just a few hardy invertebrates, it is probably best to move them out into a smaller tank and run hyposalinity on your main tank. Here is a post about that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Mikemilly245]

TTM is not a good choice in this situation. You would need to have a clean, non-infected tank to move the puffer into after the TTM course has been done, if you put it back into your main display before the fallow period is over (45 to 60 days) it will just get reinfected.

If you have just a few hardy invertebrates, it is probably best to move them out into a smaller tank and run hyposalinity on your main tank. Here is a post about that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

That was my first choice, hypo. Question is, if I take all inverts out and run hypo in the display tank for a month, does this “skip” the fallow period altogether? Then the only risk I’m running is the inverts that I took out carrying it ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That was my first choice, hypo. Question is, if I take all inverts out and run hypo in the display tank for a month, does this “skip” the fallow period altogether? Then the only risk I’m running is the inverts that I took out carrying it ?

So - it takes 3 days to get into full hypo, then 30 days at full hypo and 5 days coming out of it. For a total of 38 days - the rationale is that any resting tomonts will have been neutralized during that time. It might be safest to hold the inverts out though, for 45 days, just to be safe.

 

[Mikemilly245]

So - it takes 3 days to get into full hypo, then 30 days at full hypo and 5 days coming out of it. For a total of 38 days - the rationale is that any resting tomonts will have been neutralized during that time. It might be safest to hold the inverts out though, for 45 days, just to be safe.

Okay sounds good, I think that’s what I’ll try. I guess the only thing I’m worried about is having an hypo resistant strain or something. And this looks like ich to you 100%?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Okay sounds good, I think that’s what I’ll try. I guess the only thing I’m worried about is having an hypo resistant strain or something. And this looks like ich to you 100%?

There really isn't any "hypo resistant strain" - what happens is that people don't get to the needed specific gravity of 1.009 and the ich survives. Measuring the specific gravity is critical - you need to be at exactly 1.009. Any lower and some fish may start to flake out, much higher and some of the ich tomonts will survive.

I use a laboratory hydrometer to measure for hypo. Another option is to make multiple measurements with different devices and see if you get a consensus. Most swing arm hydrometers will work well enough. I know people swear by digital salinity meters and refractometers, but I've had issues with over many years, so I'm a bit leery.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can you post rest of fish ? The fins show ich and my preferred over hypo is Coppersafe however as jay indicated, you have to be in true range for effective control and accurate measurement of salinity is critical

 

[Mikemilly245]

Can you post rest of fish ? The fins show ich and my preferred over hypo is Coppersafe however as jay indicated, you have to be in true range for effective control and accurate measurement of salinity is critical

I guess it’s not impossible for me to treat with copper, I can go buy another 40 gallon or something to put everything in once they’re done in Qt. I just hate screwing with that stuff it’s stressful so I’m looking for any other ways that work.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I guess it’s not impossible for me to treat with copper, I can go buy another 40 gallon or something to put everything in once they’re done in Qt. I just hate screwing with that stuff it’s stressful so I’m looking for any other ways that work.

If you go copper, I recommend coppersafe at 2.25 for a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off

 

[Mikemilly245]

If you go copper, I recommend coppersafe at 2.25 for a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off

Isn’t copper treatment 14 days or am I wrong ? What size tank would you recommend for QT for this guy? I have a 5 gallon I can use for the clowns, and a 10 gallon and 16 gallon biocube. I’d like to use the bio cube for the observation tank for both clowns and puffer/while waiting for fallow. Would a 10 gallon qt for a puffer work for 30 days ?? I feel like with the waste these things produce I’d be doing water changes every week. Gonna be so many copper reagents

 

[vetteguy53081]

Isn’t copper treatment 14 days or am I wrong ? What size tank would you recommend for QT for this guy? I have a 5 gallon I can use for the clowns, and a 10 gallon and 16 gallon biocube. I’d like to use the bio cube for the observation tank for both clowns and puffer/while waiting for fallow. Would a 10 gallon qt for a puffer work for 30 days ?? I feel like with the waste these things produce I’d be doing water changes every week. Gonna be so many copper reagents

No - 30 days and if you had a quarantined fish just arrive, you can do a 14 day assurance fish is clear. 30 days is based on the life cycle and stages of given parasite. 30l minimum but 40 breeder ideal