Saw a lot of flashing, suspected flukes and treated prazi, spotted early Ich/Velvet this AM

[Mike Ciffone]

Water info:
0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <10 nitrate
Live in Chicago, our water is liquid concrete. I keep African Cichlids.

This might be the earliest I've ever spotted ich or velvet. I'm not exactly sure which this is yet (spots are small like velvet but not widespread yet). I initially suspected flukes because it looked like they were itching their gills (more of a flat flash than a upside down flash if you know what I mean). This time I got it wrong 🤷‍♂️

So I have been gradually raising the temp throughout the day - started at 78.5 and I'm now probably close to 81. In my experience Prazi does its work within 24-36 hours (first dose at least) - so if there were any flukes they're likely dead but the flashing persists. 

I'm thinking I'll water change and carbon tonight and add salt in the morning. Then probably do another 2 doses of Prazi just in case there WAS some flukes going on.

OR should I add the salt after my water change, not do carbon, and water change after a week when I'd normally do so to re-dose the Prazi (and remove nitrates).

[Cory]

I think whats missing from the post is when you started the prazi, but prazi + salt is fine in my experience. You'd want carbon out for the prazi as well.

[Mike Ciffone]

On 8/15/2022 at 7:53 PM, Cory said:

I think whats missing from the post is when you started the prazi, but prazi + salt is fine in my experience. You'd want carbon out for the prazi as well.

Hey Cory, I appreciate your reply. I started the prazi on Sunday night after my water change. So roughly 60 hours ago. I held off on doing anything last night.

[Colu]

Have you got a picture of the sick fish it would help diagnose  whether your dealing with ich or velvet

[Mike Ciffone]

On 8/16/2022 at 9:25 AM, Colu said:

Have you got a picture of the sick fish it would help diagnose  whether your dealing with ich or velvet

It is not just one fish, several have a few scattered tiny white spots. Other's don't have visible white spots and exhibit flashing. A couple that have the white spots don't seem to be flashing. It would just be very difficult to get a picture because you probably wouldn't be able to see it anyways. The only way I can see them is if I sit with my nose against the glass. I can try though. 

[Colu]

On 8/16/2022 at 3:33 PM, Mike Ciffone said:

It is not just one fish, several have a few scattered tiny white spots. Other's don't have visible white spots and exhibit flashing. A couple that have the white spots don't seem to be flashing. It would just be very difficult to get a picture because you probably wouldn't be able to see it anyways. The only way I can see them is if I sit with my nose against the glass. I can try though. 

Ich can cause fish to flash it looks like tiny grains of salt on the fins and body if it's like that than I would start treating with ick x straight away

[Mike Ciffone]

On 8/16/2022 at 12:40 PM, Colu said:

Ich can cause fish to flash it looks like tiny grains of salt on the fins and body if it's like that than I would start treating with ick x straight away

Yeah it's not the diagnosis that I'm unsure about, I have experience treating both ich and velvet. What I was debating in my head was since I had just dosed prazi the day before, weather I should water change to remove the prazi and then begin the salt or if I should just start the salt immediately after identifying the ich and leave the prazi in the water.

[Mike Ciffone]

For anyone that might come across this later on:

I ended up waiting until the next morning after identifying white spots to take any action. This let the prazi run its course a little longer, and I was able to see how much the Ich multiplied. By noon the next day I saw no difference in the amount of white spots which was key because it confirmed stress ich. If the next day I saw the ich multiply I probably would have dosed ICH-X - great product I combine with maracyn and paracleanse (the trio) in my quarantine tanks when I bring in new fish.

But in this case, since I know my African Cichlids can handle it, I opted to simply bump the heat up to 84°F and administer level 2 salt (1 tbsp/2 gallons). I'm treating a 75 gal aquarium and I'm already low on ICH-X. I've also got my UV running provide another layer of redundancy.