New tomini tang with single black spot? Black ich?

[Oscarmk]

I have 1.75 inch tomini tang and a 2.5 inch flame angel in my biocube 29 that I now use as quarantine tank. They both arrived on tuesday from liveaquaria and they immediately started grazing, they are eating pellets and shrimp not too much but some.

Anyway they are both active and healthy looking, today on day 3 of QT I noticed a single black spot on my tang, he definitely did not have this before as I took a picture of him on day 1, after some research I came across turbellarian disease aka black ich, comparing the pictures I am not sure this is what this is, since it does not appear to be bumpy and seems a little faded, but not sure what else it could be.

Here is a picture of him the spot is in his side centered towards the right, it is not the common bigger black spot that tominis have near the fin.

alt="">

Not sure what I should do, this 29 biocube housed a royal gramma and clownfish for 2.5y and they were never sick, so I am guessing it came directly from the fish.

It seems that a freshwater dip would immediately tell me if it is a parasite or not as it would fall off, but I don't want to stress him unnecesarily, any recommendations on what to do, and what this spot could be?.

 

[Mike R]

Judging by the pic, it doesn't look like black ich IMO. The spot is too large. Looks more like a wound or a sore of some kind. When tangs get stressed, they tend to lose some or all of their protective slime coat and this makes them more susceptible to infections, etc. Considering he was recently shipped (very traumatic for the fish) this could be what's going on. I'd watch him closely the next few days and see how it goes. Giving him brine or mysis soaked in Selcon or Selco Boost would give a boost to his immune system.

 

[Oscarmk]

[smilie=shake.gif] @Mike R wrote:

Thanks for looking at the pic, it also seemed to me that the spot was too big for the black ich pics I saw online. I didn't know about the existence of selcon or selco boost, just looked it up, is one of them preferred over the other?. I tipically soak the brine and/or mysis in kent garlic xtreme.

 

[Oscarmk]

Update, tomini tang and flame angel continue to be active and are now eating more than before, they are still quite shy but swim all around when noone is near the aquarium.

The spot on the tomini has not moved (it seems that black ich spots sometimes move), and it is not as black anymore, it is more brownish now, same size, not bumpy, seems to be dissapearing!.

I'll continue to keep a close eye on him, these 2 fish are pretty shy, significantly more than my others, I am hoping it is only temporary. They do swim a lot just hide when I approach the aquarium lol...

 

[Eckolancer]

Yeah not black Ich looks like what happens if my tank scratches a rock or gets pissed at my clowns and slaps the anemone to much.


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Mike R]

Both Selcon and Selco Boost are great products. You can't go wrong with either one. Im glad the fish are doing better. Shyness in new fish is pretty normal. They should become more social as they get more acquainted to their new surroundings as well as getting used to you approaching the tank. Pretty soon, they'll learn that you're the one that's bringing them dinner! lol

 

[Oscarmk]

@Mike R wrote:

Thanks, I will look into buying one of them, lol I would sure hope they do!


@Eckolancer wrote:

Thanks I do think it is some sort of scratch now, it is almost all gone now.

While the tang seems to be doing great, today I noticed two white spots near the eye of the flame angel, because I took a picture of the tang yesterday to see the progress of the black spot and the flame angel happened to be there, I also realized that the 2 white spots had been there since yesterday. They are 2 single spots pretty small, they are definitely bumpy, almost like a pyramid, and they appear to have some sort of cotton or spider web appearance, it is hard to tell because he is always moving but it seems a little bit like cotton or web. I guess it looks a lot like a white pimple.

Other than that he continues to graze and eat normally, is active and not scratching, the tang does not have any white spots. I took some pictures of the issue, comparing to marine ich photos, while it doesn't exactly look like it, it very well might be the dreaded ich. I've never had ich before so not sure exactly how it looks. Here are the photos, the 2 spots are in the red square, note that there also appears to be white clouds over the fish, but this is really just the dirty glass .

alt="">

alt="">

alt="">

alt="">

 

[Oscarmk]

After some research, I am leaning more towards it being lymphocystis.

 

[Eckolancer]

@Oscarmk wrote:

Keep an eye on those bumps, they are usually on the fins or gills and look like tiny cotton balls if they are lymphocystis


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Oscarmk]

@Eckolancer wrote:

Keep an eye on those bumps, they are usually on the fins or gills and look like tiny cotton balls if they are lymphocystis


Sent from pay phone in the airport."]

The fins and gills are clear, they do kinda look like tiny cotton balls, from what I've read lymphocystis is not that bad and usually just goes a way if the fish is healthy, I'll keep an eye on it, should I start some sort of treatment?, from what I've read it is usually best to just provide a good environment and nutrition and it usually isn't contagious.

 

[Oscarmk]

The 2 white spots he originally had are still there and they seem to be less white now. Today in the morning he had another white spot right at the top fin, after coming back home that spot was gone somehow, afaik ich stays there for a couple of days, but now he has other white spot right above the first black line closer to the eye. Mmm he is behaving normally and he is not shy anymore seems more active than before.

 

[Eckolancer]

Might check your water for nitrates ammonia nitrite maybe your tank is having a small cycle


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Oscarmk]

@Eckolancer wrote:

I tested it just now, I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5 nitrate, PH is at 8.3. I usually have zero nitrate in the biocube because of all the algae and macro algae, so 5 ppm is high for it, but definitely nothing that would stress the fish.

Is bad water quality also a cause of white spots?, these 2 last ones do kinda look like salt, perhaps like ich, but one of them fell within hours so not sure what they are. The other 2 look slighly different. The flame angel is not scratching or breathing heavily, neither is the Tang.

 

[Eckolancer]

Wait you have a tang in a bio cube that's probably what's stressing him out. They like large areas to swim in with high current. If he is stressed out I bet he is stressing out the Angel.


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Oscarmk]

@Eckolancer wrote:

It is a 1.75 tomini tang, I have him there for quarantine, I though it would be ok during QT to have him there, he does not look stressed to me and neither does the angel I would say, they are both grazing and swimming normally and eating when fed. If QT goes well they are both going to be the last additions to my 75 g.

 

[Eckolancer]

If this tank is just for QT what are you using in there? Have you tried prozipro it's pretty good at treating a lot of things. Also might try melafix and pimafix


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Oscarmk]

@Eckolancer wrote:

Yes, this is now my QT tank, it is just my previous tank that I used for 2.5 years, I figured since it is fully established I might as well use it for QT for the new additions, once that is done, I will sell it, and buy a cheap Hospital tank.

I am not using anything at all right now in the QT tank, I don't medicate unless I see something in order to avoid stress, it does seem like this is something, I was actually considering prazi pro since it is pretty mild, I am also QT some snails in here and the rock is live, no corals, is it safe?. I haven't heard of melafix or pimafix are those safe too?.

I got some S.E.L.C.O. boost yesterday that I am using now, while I realize it is not medication, I figured it can only help.

 

[Eckolancer]

All of the ones I listed I've used on my reef tank. I add prazipro in 1/3 dose after adding a new fish just to help fight off anything that might come in. I have a lot of snails crabs and sps. Your skimmer will go crazy if you have one so may want to shut it off for a few days


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Oscarmk]

@Eckolancer wrote:

Thanks, I think I will start with prazi pro, the other white dot he had from yesterday is now also gone, I am now suspecting those 2 last spots where debris, since they fall in under a day. The original 2 white spots now seem to be more blended with the fish color and one of them appears to be smaller.

They both continue to act normal, the Flame Angel now knows when it is dinner time, and quickly comes up when I open the biocube hinge to put food in, however he is not very interested once it goes in, he eats some of it but not enough I think, I have never had grazers before so I assume grazers don't usually eat that much every day, if they have enough algae?, there sure is plenty of algae and stuff in the biocube, and they are constantly grazing.

I have tried several foods such as Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 and Formula 2, NLS pellets, Cobalt Mysis Spiriluna Flakes, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, Julian Sprung Purple Flakes, that's about all the food I have. I just got some Julian Sprung Green Algae sheets that I will try tomorrow. Interestingly enough he has eaten all the ones above at least once, but when I try it the next day he is not interested anymore somehow, he is really picky...

I have contacted liveaquaria to tell them about the white spots.