Tanganyikan spiny eel

[Spiny]

I have a new afromastecembelus plagiostomus, and it is eating like crazy and being really active when there's food around and doing well overall, but I noticed what looks like a few spots. I'm almost certain it's ich, but it is still eating and isn't scratching on the gravel. A few days ago it was breathing heavily, but this was cured by adding a stronger filter. The water is clean and has cichlid salts in it, so there really is nothing wrong with its tank. It's new so somehow something went wrong and it seems to have ich. What medicine is best? Are there risks because this would be another source of stress (putting in medicine) and maybe even dangerous because the eel is scaleless? It seems stupid to wait and see if it gets worse just to make sure it really is ich. This would be alot easier to get help with if I had a digital camera. If anyone has any idea what to do, please tell me. Thanks.

 

[CFC]

I fit looks like ICH then treat it as fast as possible, the earlier you catch it the easier it is to cure. Many fish will come down with ICH after being moved, being netted damages the slime coating on the fish leaving them open to attacks from parasites. The fact you say the eel has been breathing heavily worries me, this could be a sign that the parasite has already taken hold in the gill membranes, more often a early sign of velvet as this is usually a late stage in ICH and the fishes body would already be infested. Luckily most ICH meds also treat velvet but you need to take a closer look at the fish to determin which disease it is, velvet is a bit tougher than ICH and requires the tank to be covered from light since it is photosynthetic. Velvet will look like the fish has been dusted with very fine gold spots.

 

[StingrayKid]

You know, they do sell regular Ich medice at your local pet store. I could be wrong, but I see it all the time at my local pet stores. Try that out.