# dwarf angel with ich?



## Da Cloud (Nov 13, 2011)

Hey, I recently got a half black angelfish about a week ago
Within a day I noticed white spots on him and I presumed it to be ich so I went out and bought reef safe ich medication and am still currently using it (yes, I know reef safe ich medications don't usually work) but the white spots went away, but came back and worse than before but now they seem to be going away again. This whole week that I thought I had ich in the tank, none of my other fish were infected and still aren't *knock on wood* but none of my other fish have white spots on them at all and yes I know ich goes through stages in its cycle so you would only see the white spots when the parasite is actually pregnant. However, none of my other fish, clown and two damsels, seem to be infected. My angel also doesn't show any signs of distress like fish usually do with ich. The angel doesn't twitch or try scratching itself against the rocks and from what I can see, it doesn't look like he's breathing fast either. If a fish had ich, wouldn't it display all those symptoms? And wouldn't my other fish have been infected by now?
Or is this just a marine ich look alike such as some crustacean parasite that I don't remember the name of?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

i have ich in one of my tanks right now as well. not all fish show signs but im 100% sure that if i put one of the non looking fish in a healthy tank that it was spread. keep treating for at least a week until all signs from all fish are gone.


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## Adam (Jun 22, 2012)

I'd recommend turning your temp up to 80-82ºF that should help some with it, and if it's on the rebound now just see how that goes, if it comes back quarantine the fish with it and treat him, that way you can use a more potent medicine without affecting the other tank inhabitants.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

There are two ways to cure ich. One is running a separate hospital tank at 1/3 normal salinity(hyposalinity, 1.008-1.009) for a month an leaving them in the HT for at least another month at normal salinity. The other way is running copper in a separate hospital tank for two weeks and leaving them in the HT for an additional month. Whichever treatment you use, the normal display tank has to be completely fishless for at least 8 weeks to kill any remaining parasites.

All of the fish in your tank are now infected. Ich has a roughly one month life cycle, so you probably won't see symptoms on them for a few more weeks. All of the fish are sick, all of them need to be treated, and unless the display has only fish and no live rock, corals, or invertebrates, you have to treat in a separate treatment tank. Ich sucks.  As I type, I have a Moorish Idol and Coral Beauty Angel in my QT in hyposalinity; both came in sick from the store.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Ich can be in a tank and on a fish and you won't always see visible signs. It can hide in the gills. Whether other fish get sick depends on the amount of ich in the tank, the health of the fish, and whether the fish have encountered this particular variety before. Read more on treating ich in SW and be ready if/when it comes back stronger.

Listen to funlad, he knows this stuff.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

From experience sadly. I lost over $100 of fish for not QTing 18 months ago. I'm glad I learned my lesson, I caught it in the QT this time. Hypo is easier on the fish, as copper is a poison. All the same, copper works more quickly. Because you say that the fish aren't stressed, I'd use hypo, as the conditions are less severe, and there's no reason to be taking years off of the lives of your fish. Curing the disease isn't hard as long as you catch it early. Nice job catching it though!


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## Da Cloud (Nov 13, 2011)

Oh okay so those are the only two ways to get rid of the ich?
There's no way I would be able to kill the ich without the use of a hospital tank?
Its just that I'm maxed out on my fish funds right now and there's not really any way I could set up a hospital tank :/


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Hospital tanks don't need to be expensive; find a tank, toss on a sponge filter or hand on back filter, a heater, and you're basically done. Petco might still have their $/gallon sale going on, so you can find a tank for cheap. Good luck, and keep us posted!


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## Da Cloud (Nov 13, 2011)

Okay I will go to petco as soon as I can
But is there any chance the ich will go away on its own?
Or is that just a dream of mine lol


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Just a very pleasant dream.


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