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I recently bought a foxface from your store and this morning I noticed several white spots on the fins and body (they look like small pieces of salt). I also noticed some spots on the pectoral fins of the yellow tang in the tank (also purchased within the last week).
is this what i think it is? (ich)
and whats my best course of action?

oops

give me a call

get a bucket
make about 2 gallons of fresh water
same temperature as the tank (should be 75 degrees F)
same pH as the tank (should be about 8.4)
...you can raise the pH with Sea Buffer or ordinary baking soda

catch the fish

put them in the freshwater for aprox 1 minute

then put them back in the tank

i did a freshwater bath on the yellow tang and foxface. Both look better now. however, I havent been able to net the damsel, psuedochromis, or bicolor blenny with all the live rock for them to hide in. Ive done a 20% water change as well. Am I going to be in trouble with more outbreaks if I treat the others soon?

it would have been best to freshwater dip all of the fish
but
for now
if you don't see anymore spots just leave everyone alone

if you do get another outbreak
and need to catch all the fish for a dip
it will probably be necesary to pull all the rock
...which is actually less time consuming than to try to outwit the fish

another method of ridding your tank of ick
is to slowly (over several days) lower the salinity
from 1.024 (which is normally good)
all the way down to 1.013 (which is normally horrible)

you can NOT use very low salinitys with starfish, corals and anemones
you can use very low salinitys with fish for a couple weeks
you can probably use very low salinitys with crabs and snails

adding a cleaner shrimp (which I have 2 in stock) might be helpful
adding an atlantic neon goby (which I am out of) might be helpful

also
a UV sterilizer might be helpful
the largest wattage possible with extremely slow flow sometimes works...
do not use a UV 24/7/365 on a true reef tank
because UV destroys phytoplankton which some corals eat

so this is what i decided to do...

I gave all the fish a freshwater bath (same temp and pH)
I then divided the fish between two 20 gal long quarantine tanks and have been treating them with RidIch+ by Kordon for three days.
While in the quarantine tanks I have done a 50% water change everyday for each tank before redosing on medication.
The main tank has been left alone in a fallow state for the next 30 days in order to "starve out" the parasite.

From here on out I will cease medicating the tanks and will continue to monitor the fish in the quarantine tanks for the next several weeks. Hopefully, in a month I will be able to reintroduce the fish back in to the main tank without a reemergence of the disease.

So far I havent lost any fish (knock on wood) which is the most important thing.

ok, a question...
My humbug damsel has recently started scratching itself on the side of the tank, heater, plastic decor, and plants inside one of the quarantine tanks. The bicolor blenny has also exhibited similair behavior in the same tank. The foxface and the tang in the other quarantine tank dont show the same behavior and look like the are on the mend. Is the behavior of the damsel and the blenny a sign of another ich outbreak? There are no visible cysts on the exterior of the fish. It has been several days since i stopped dosing their tank with rid*ich+ (by kordon). Should I be worried/starting treatments again?

ok, a question...
My humbug damsel has recently started scratching itself on the side of the tank, heater, plastic decor, and plants inside one of the quarantine tanks. The bicolor blenny has also exhibited similair behavior in the same tank.
YES... THE ICK IS STILL IN THE MAIN TANK AND STARTING TO ATTACK

The foxface and the tang in the other quarantine tank dont show the same behavior and look like the are on the mend. GOOD

Is the behavior of the damsel and the blenny a sign of another ich outbreak? YES

There are no visible cysts on the exterior of the fish. It has been several days since i stopped dosing their tank with rid*ich+ (by kordon). Should I be worried/starting treatments again? YES

I NEED SOME MORE INFORMATION:

WHAT SIZE IS THE MAIN TANK?

WHAT SIZE IS THE QUARANTINE TANK?

IS THE MAIN TANK A 'TRUE REEF' WITH CORALS AND HIGH OUTPUT LIGHT?

WHAT I'D LIKE YOU TO DO
IS EITHER
LOWER THE SALINITY IN THE MAIN TANK,
AND/OR USE THE RID-ICK IN THE MAIN TANK
BUT
YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF YOU HAVE STARFISH AND CORALS IN THE MAIN TANK.

LEAVE THE FIRST TWO FISH IN THE QUARANTINE TANK IF THEY ARE DOING WELL THERE.

the main tank is a 75 gallon tank with live rock, hermits, emerald mithrax crabs, chocolate chip star, sally lightfoot crab, and several snails.

the damsel and blenny were in a separate 20 gal L quarantine tank when the showed the symptoms again.

the foxface and the tang are in another 20 gal L quarantine tank and seem to be doing fine

Should I lower the salinity in the main tank? I have the temp. at 78*F trying to speed up the lifecycle of the ich in the tank. the two quarantine tanks are at 75*F.

ok
now I get it

you have 3 tanks

ok
so if the rid ick is helping
keep treating the 2 fish only tanks

do NOT treat the main tank that has the inverts only in it...

if there are any baby icks swimming in the main tank
they will starve to death
without any fish to _ on... maybe in 2 weeks...
certainly in 4 weeks

Well things have certainly taken a turn for the worst.
I was away for three days on a business trip and I returned to a tank of horrors. The foxface and the yellow tang are completely covered in ich. I gave them a freshwater bath this morning and a 50% water change with a lower salinity (1.018). I then treated their tank with the Rid*Ich+ again. Now they are both listlessly on their sides back in the quarantine tank and I dont think they are going to make it...
In the other quarantine tank, the damsel and psuedochromis are still "scratching" themselves but the bicolor blenny has died.
now what????

Here is an excellent article I found some time ago on Marine Ich and various ways to treat it.
While the author obviously has his preferences, he does his best to objectively lay out the +/- for each method.

I hope this helps.

Myself, I always quarantine at low salinity for 3-4 weeks before introducing any fish to my tank.

Anyway, I hope the article helps!

Tyrsdottir wrote:

Here is an excellent article I found some time ago on Marine Ich and various ways to treat it.
While the author obviously has his preferences, he does his best to objectively lay out the +/- for each method.

I hope this helps.

Myself, I always quarantine at low salinity for 3-4 weeks before introducing any fish to my tank.

Anyway, I hope the article helps!

Er . . . okay, HERE'S the article!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php