What can this be?

[bonniem]

Hi
the other day, I asked the question about little whilte crawling things, all over the front of our reef tank.......I was told it wasn't ICH......

now our 2 tangs has ICH on them.........we are trying to treat them with the GARLIC method, cause there is no way of getting them out of the tank....without taking everything out.......

here is my question.......if you get real close to the glass, and look into the tank......you can see like billions of tiny white spots in the water.......we first thought it was water bubbles.......but they like school together.......they are VERY tiny......

anyone please tell me what they can be......

thanks
Bonnie

 

[adiver]

this looks like a job for a uv system, is this a fish only tank?

 

[Anonymous]

Most likely they're copepods and other assorted micro-crustaceans. They're actually very good to have in a tank, and are NOT a parasite. After lights-out sometime shine a flashlight into crevices in the rockwork or into a pile of rubble and watch em all scatter.

 

[ChrisRD]

I agree with John - I'd also say copepods.

Cryptocaryon irritans (marine ich) won't crawl around on your front glass or swim through the tank in schools.

My guess is your tank is fairly new. It's normal (and a good sign) to see a "bloom" of copepods in the first few months. The ich is a separate issue.

IIRC from an earlier post, you have a Powder Blue which is a tang species that is notoriously highly susceptible to the ich. Adding a fish like this (or any fish really, but especially this one) to your tank without quarantining is always a gamble.

IME well fed, otherwise healthy fish that are not stressed will generally beat ich on their own so at this point I would try to ensure the best possible conditions/diet for the fish and just watch/wait for now...

HTH and good luck.