Help very new fish with a problem

[djbarnes88]

After cycling my tank for almost two months it was finally time to add our first fish. It was kind of spur of the moment and we hadn't set up our quarantine tank so we added him to the main tank since he was our first fish.

We brought him home at 2PM and slowly acclimated him by adding small amounts of water to his bag over the next 5 hours. We put him in the tank at 7pm and everything seemed fine and then about an hour ago I noticed five erratically placed small bumps by his head. They look white and I think it may be ick. By the way it is a Yellow Watchman Goby and he is acting very healthy.

What should I do? I have a 10 gallon full of baby Cichlids that I could empty and set up a quarantine tank. Or I could go to the LFS and get a Neon Goby and a couple of cleaner shrimp. Since this is my first fish I am kind of at a loss. I am not even positive it is ick. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ded08221]

if it looks like salt grains on your fish it is because of ick. i've had it on only one of my fish(yellow tang). i just let him go for about a day and if it doesn't go away do a small water change. i've found it's pretty common to a newly added fish. it should go away on it's own.

 

[melanotaenia1]

Ibid that it will most likely go away, you could try some garlic to help make the gobies skin less desirable for the ich, also check your water parameters, considering this is a new tank, maybe damsels would have been a better choice for a first fish?

Good luck

 

[paats]

I`m not sure about the ick but I think 5 hours to acclimate a fish is excessive.You may have stressed him during the process.

 

[Anonymous]

some inverts like anemones are good to acclimate over a long period of time such as 5 hours, i usually dont acclimate fish that long an hour max and IMHumbleO i believe that might be too long...i kinda agree with Paats that you might have stressed him...

 

[djbarnes88]

My wife says she saw some of the bumps when we got him. She thought they looked like he was damaged. So she didn't mention it. So I don't think it happened after we got him. Regardless of what we did wrong what do we do now? Right now general consensus seems to be leave him alone any more opinions?

 

[Anonymous]

well if you do decide to set up a QT tank then you can put it in there and treat it accordingly..

 

[paats]

I wouldn`t jump too soon.Keep an eye on him/her for a day and see if anything changes.There are a lot of things you can do for ick including medication and freshwater dips.You`re in a better position right now since it`s your first fish and no corals.

 

[djbarnes88]

My wife says she saw some of the bumps when we got him. She thought they looked like he was damaged. So she didn't mention it. So I don't think it happened after we got him. Regardless of what we did wrong what do we do now? Right now general consensus seems to be leave him alone any more opinions?

 

[bhanson]

You will probably hear people tell at some point about hyposalinity treatment for Cryptocaryon irritans or "saltwater ich". At a salinity of 15 ppt or 1.011 SG ich fails to encysts (attach) and excysts (hatch) this will kill the ich. Most fish accept salnity swings if the changing happens gradually. Inverts will not live in this lowered salinity so it would have to be done in a QT. IMO copper treatments can be harsh to the fish but I guess either way can be hard for our aquatic friends.

In short:
If it is ich you will see the spots (which are tomonts) as they encyst into the skin of the fish. At some point they will fall off and become free swimming and at that point you will not see the spots however they will return to the fish to continue the cycle.

If it is just damage to the fish (cuts/scrapes) the spots will remain and you will see them gradually heal.

Maybe this can help some, but like everyone else said dont jump too soon and keep an eye on the fish.

 

[KoCook]

Why don't you try and treat him right there in your main tank? You stated that the tank has just cycled and there are no other fish in the tank. Since he is the only one (and you don't have any inverts or corals) hyposalinity could be perform without QT tank....Just a thought.

 

[Anonymous]

treating in a main tank can hurt corals and inverts..even after time..why risk it?

 

[WannaBeReefer]

I agree, get a cheapo tank from Walmart and use it as a QT if you need it. I wouldn't put anything in the main tank.

 

[Johnsteph10]

I would have to second (or would it be third?) some of those answers..since he's a goby (fairly hardy most of the time) I don't see why you don't just adopt a "wait and see" stance...adding garlic wouldn't hurt (either as a few drops to the tank or soak some dry food in it). If he's at all healthy, happy, and hungry, he'll solve the problem on his own...immune systems are amazing things when they can function normally!!!

John

 

[Mihai]

Man, I don't know anything except what I read (I have no fish in my tank yet), but I'd say the following two things (take with a grain of salt):

1) DO NOT treat in main tank -> if you treat with copper all the LR and Sand will die and you'll never be able to put invertebrates in the tank later. If you treat with hyposalinity all your LR will die (actually all microorganisms) and you'll waste good LR.

2) I'd say to see what happens and if it gets worse just get a $10 tank from Walmart or Petsmart (actually here they sell 10gal for $8 + tax), and treat it in there.

Good luck,
Mihai

 

[djbarnes88]

Thanks for all of the responses. I think I will take the advice of the vast majority and ride it out for a few more days. Most of the spots are gone which means they could be free floating now. There are two spots that seem to still be in place but they are clear. I don't think that I would consider treating my main tank. I have snails, crabs, LS, LR and small hitchhiker corals. I am curious about the garlic though. It seems like an easy and safe way to do something. How should I administer it? Do you add it to the tank water like Phyto, or do you soak the food in it. Right now I'm feeding him Formula 2 flake with 2% Garlic added in the morning and frozen Brine in the evening. If there are better things to feed the little guy I'm game. Right now I have about $2k worth of habitat for this one fish so whatever will make him happy.

 

[Meloco14]

I am a definite believer in garlic. Your formula 2 is good, keep feeding that. You can get some garlic extract from your LFS, a health foods store, or GNC, and soak the flakes and brine shrimp in it before feeding. You might also want to get a vitamin supplement such as Selcon, and soak with that also. Selcon will be good to use periodically whether your fish are diseased or not, so it's a good thing to have.