Early stage of Ich? Leebca?

[schabiazabi]

The white spots do look embedded in the skin, instead of on top of it

- Actually, looking at the video the spots are on the "outside".

Over the weekend I took a crash course on breeding Clownfish and visited few fish infected with Marine Ich. As of now, from what I know and from what I have seen Marine Ich spots are both on the outside and inside of the skin. That is the very reason why F.W. dip with M.B. does not remove all spots, but only few of those on the outside.

Further, I learned that when spots are on the body they are on the outside, but spots on the fins and around back of the fish seem to be deeper. This may vary from fish to fish. My observation comes first hand from Angel fish only. These fish did not show any heavy breathing or flashing. I'm assuming this is, because the infection was not to the gills, but I could be wrong here. My sample was small, but it's good to see it in real person on few fish.

Going back to your Misbar. You can drop the S.G. to what is suggested in the sticky post and wait to see if the Tomonts are being removed. Some will disagree here, because if it is not M.I. your fish may die in the meantime, but I think it's worth the try in order not to use copper.

I did a bit of research on copper affecting fertility and came up with similar conclusions. I also read about people treating anemonefish with copper and witnessing only a pause in breeding, rather than permanent sterilization.

There is a little thing (you may know it) I learned in the recent days by observing LFSs. When you walk into your LFS and you see clownfish (especially those expensive ones) swimming with snails and other copper sensitive stuff, it means the store is running copper in the rest of the fish tanks. They are that sensitive.

The pause in breeding happens for younger fish, and the older the fish the higher the chance the fish will never breed again. This comes from the pioneers of breeding. Of course copper may sometimes be the only solution.

My question to you is this, since you have more fish in there, did you notice anything on the other pets?

It wasn't until 30 mins after I added it to QT, the moderate/heavy ich infestation became obvious to me.

How did you miss it? Was it a small fast moving fish? Because I am quarantining a very energetic tang that is only 1/2 inch long and there is almost no way to observe him slowly.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

I agree. The spot in the video that I saw looks like its on the outside.

-
How did you miss it? Was it a small fast moving fish? Because I am quarantining a very energetic tang that is only 1/2 inch long and there is almost no way to observe him slowly.

The tang is/ was about 2.5-3" and initially hid in a corner of the 20g QT.

I wasn't that I initially missed it. There were no obvious spots on the fish at the LFS. I watched the fish on and off for about 20 mins, while I was waiting for them to bring my special order tank from the stock room and ring me up. I didn't notice heavy breathing or abnormal behavior at the LFS. I bought it and brought it home. After a failed freshwater dip (it was playing dead and I over reacted and aborted the dip), I placed it in the quarantine tank for it's 6 week observation. Still no spots. Heavy breathing but I've noticed that on all new fish (stressed). 20 mins or so later, ich was apparent all over the body, on the fins, and on the eyes. From my understanding, stress can cause the ich to become visible to the naked eye. Something to do with the lowering of the immune system.

[iClown]

- Actually, looking at the video the spots are on the "outside".


My question to you is this, since you have more fish in there, did you notice anything on the other pets?

Yes, at times one or two spots may seem on the outside and other times it seems embedded.. I do have another clown in the tank, the female. She is doing perfectly fine. By comparing him to her it is obvious the male is breathing more frequently than normal. Because the male cannot be identified with ich, yet, I have chosen not to treat him at this time and let it take its course.

Visible Facts:
**Male has no more than 2 visible white spots which disappears and reappear at different spots of the body, not fins.
**Female is perfectly fine.
**Male's condition has not worsened or gotten better.
**He eats but stays at a corner for a good portion of the day (bottom corner of tank)
**I witnessed a white string/poop floating with current last night.

Could it be that he does not have ich but have some kind of internal bacteria?

**Note: Today, there seems to be no spot on him.
**Note: While observing them for a loooong time last night I saw a string of white poop in the tank. However, I did not see if it came from the male or female but I'm almost certain it was white poop. I ran and looked at it while it went with the current and broke up into pieces. I hope this additional information helps.

[Original Fin]

Hi. Internal parasite is the right diagnosis for white stringy poop. Adding some deworming meds to their food should do the trick.

[iClown]

Hi. Internal parasite is the right diagnosis for white stringy poop. Adding some deworming meds to their food should do the trick.

Curious, any recommendations on deworming meds?

[Original Fin]

Praziquantel is what you want. It is added to your fish food as a liquid.
I have used gel tek ultra cure PX with success, but there may be other brands with the same active ingredients.

[leebca]

The spots are not related to the intestinal parasites. Simply treat all fish for internal parasites, following this post's guidelines: Strange Excrement from Fish -or- How to be a Super Pooper Snooper

The video shows normal behavior of a new Anemonefish. Don't see anything abnormal there. My opinion regardinng spots remains as mentioned before.

[iClown]

Just an update:

It is visually confirmed that the male is the one with "white poop". I've located the Jungle anti-parasitic pellet on:

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12788

I do have a torch coral in the tank. I have a 2 gallon distilled saltwater bucket mixing with Reef Crystals tonight and will do a water change friday. So my question is before moving on with the jungle product:

1) Will feeding the Jungle product in the DT be okay with the female in it? Will the female be safe if she eats it?

2) Should I be concerned with the torch coral being exposed to the Jungle medication? **edit: Yes I should be => " Not for use in aquariums with desirable, ornamental invertebrates."

3) The clowns are fairly new (introduced on 4/18/11) & the last water change (date:approx. 1 week ago) did seem to cause the fish to "perk up". Do I treat for bacteria or parasite or both?

Any additional ideas/thoughts?

Thanks for all advice/help given so far, by the way I really do appreciate it.

[leebca]

1) ALL fish should be fed the medication. No harm done if they aren't infected.

2) It hasn't been tested on everything, but it does show signs of adversely affecting some invertebrates.

3) See 1). Treat all for the intestinal parasite.

Getting fish to eat the Jungle med is not easy. Most won't eat it as the medication instruction say it should be fed. You might try to disguise it by putting it inside regular bits of food.