Ich vs epistilis

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2023
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For any when that wants to take a guess.

Iv had my 32.5 gallon fluval flex up and running for about a year. I bred over 50 apistogramma in there last winter sold of my stock and for the last 6 months has been sitting with 6 otocinclus in it. I introduced 20 guppies and 15 cherry shrimp. Top much too fast I got a .25 ppm ammonia spike for a few days, handled it. Now my female guppies have been dieing and I have a male that had three white salt like granular spots on his head. One local fish shop tells me it's ICH. The other Epistles.

The argument is that if my tanks been up for a year and his stock is good (which I believe it probably is) that it can't be ich.

Any thoughts on this?
 
I’d guess ich. Pics will help.
 
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epistylis. Sorry I spelled it wrong in original post. The guy won't sit still long enough for me to get a good picture of him. This is the best I could get. You can see the white spot on his gill behind his eye. One that's blurry very top of his head and one hanging right behind the edge of his lower lip20230724_234014.jpg
 
Whatever it is is fungal. Get some methylene blue
 
It looks like that in the picture because the picture isn't clear because he won't stay still.
 
The picture looks fuzzy because he's moving. The dots are not fuzzy they look very white and granular like rock salt. One spot popped up on another guy today. I gave them both a ten minute salt bath and am continuing to treat with Ich Attack to keep my shrimp safe. They are eating and active. I really don't want to have to dig my whole shrimp colony out and separate them but I have a feeling I may have to.
I'll have to go buy a sponge filter and it will take me forever to cycle it
 
Iv got do much mixed info.

Move the shrimp and treat the whole tank,
Move the guppies and treat them separately.
Use malachite green
Use methalyn blue
Use ich Attack

It's Ich
It's epistylis
It's fungus

Very frustrating. I only have a ten gallon hospital tank.

Thank you guys for all your input though. It is appreciated!!
 
code said:
Iv got do much mixed info.

Move the shrimp and treat the whole tank,
Move the guppies and treat them separately.
Use malachite green
Use methalyn blue
Use ich Attack

It's Ich
It's epistylis
It's fungus

Very frustrating. I only have a ten gallon hospital tank.

Thank you guys for all your input though. It is appreciated!!
Click to expand...
No real way around the shrimp bit, as if you move them and don't treat them, the disease will come back when you move them back, and if you medicate them, they might just die. Your call there. Best way is to treat the tank it started in, that way you get all of it. No point in moving the fish. Just causes more stress than they're already under.

Also, ich is a fungus, and methylene blue/malachite green/ich attack are all antifungals. If it's just ich you can treat with salt + raising the tank temp. Methylene blue is good for all fungal infections and isn't very harsh on the fish. Malachite on the other hand works, but is also carcinogenic.

Epistylis is a parasite however. If it is raised granule like bumps like you say it is, I personally would be inclined to assume it's epistylis. In that case treat with metro or prazi.
 
Thank you for all your replys every one. I moved all the guppies to a 15 gallon tank I had shut down but was just sitting there ready to go. So I can treat them as needed and won't move them back. Iv already got little shrimplets and I'm more fond of the shrimp than the guppies.
 
Hybridfish7 said:
No real way around the shrimp bit, as if you move them and don't treat them, the disease will come back when you move them back, and if you medicate them, they might just die. Your call there. Best way is to treat the tank it started in, that way you get all of it. No point in moving the fish. Just causes more stress than they're already under.

Also, ich is a fungus, and methylene blue/malachite green/ich attack are all antifungals. If it's just ich you can treat with salt + raising the tank temp. Methylene blue is good for all fungal infections and isn't very harsh on the fish. Malachite on the other hand works, but is also carcinogenic.

Epistylis is a parasite however. If it is raised granule like bumps like you say it is, I personally would be inclined to assume it's epistylis. In that case treat with metro or prazi.
Click to expand...
*ICH IS NOT A FUNGUS
 
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