Anthia Issue

dough · 2026-10-14T17:29:01-0400

Came home from a long weekend and noticed one of my Bimaculatus was dead. Noticed today my tilefish acting strange but was eating. Just looked at my tank and my blotchy anthia looks bad.

In 30 years I’ve never had a fish disease. Now I’m worried for my prize fish.

Any help would be appreciated

Mr. Mojo Rising · 2026-10-14T17:34:48-0400

#fishmedics for advice on the sickness, but the fishes tail and fins are shredded, the illness might have been brought on by stress caused by aggression

vetteguy53081 · 2026-10-14T17:57:17-0400

dough said:
Came home from a long weekend and noticed one of my Bimaculatus was dead. Noticed today my tilefish acting strange but was eating. Just looked at my tank and my blotchy anthia looks bad.

In 30 years I’ve never had a fish disease. Now I’m worried for my prize fish.

Any help would be appreciated

yOU FIRST NEED TO FIND WHO IS BEATING ON THIS FISH BEFORE IT RESULTS IN DEATH. tHIS IS SEE IS SOMETHING CLOWNFISH WOULD DO. I also will ask for pics with white lighting, no blue lights

dough · 2026-10-14T18:02:19-0400

vetteguy53081 said:
yOU FIRST NEED TO FIND WHO IS BEATING ON THIS FISH BEFORE IT RESULTS IN DEATH. tHIS IS SEE IS SOMETHING CLOWNFISH WOULD DO. I also will ask for pics with white lighting, no blue lights

Absoulety no aggression in the tank. No clown fish or "aggressive" fish. The tank is beside my desk and watch it all day long.

Uncle99 · 2026-10-14T18:14:12-0400

I see white spots on his fins.
Resembles ick.

saltwaterfish.com · 2026-10-14T18:31:55-0400

Definitely looks like ick, I would separate into a QT tank and start treating with copper/cupramine. Keep an eye on your other fish as well. Ick can remain dormant for months and will flare up if a fish gets stressed or sick. Something else could have offset it. If you have a UV sterilizer on the tank it should help, especially if you do not have access to a QT tank. Keeping the water in your main tank clean and gravel vacuuming the sand on a daily basis will remove ick eggs and help diminish the population.

vetteguy53081 · 2026-10-14T18:40:47-0400

dough said:
Absoulety no aggression in the tank. No clown fish or "aggressive" fish. The tank is beside my desk and watch it all day long.

I suspect ich and need brighter light as requested. Shredded fins and no other tanks mates of concern

Michael Hughes · 2026-10-14T19:11:52-0400

Looks like ich to me as well.

Jay Hemdal · 2026-10-14T21:05:34-0400

dough said:
Came home from a long weekend and noticed one of my Bimaculatus was dead. Noticed today my tilefish acting strange but was eating. Just looked at my tank and my blotchy anthia looks bad.

In 30 years I’ve never had a fish disease. Now I’m worried for my prize fish.

Any help would be appreciated

The borb has ich and the fin damage sure looks like something has been tagging it. You likely won’t see that happen, fish often stop fighting when people enter the room.

I can’t really account for that fin damage any other way - ich or flukes can cause fin erosion late in the infection, but the location of the damage keeps bringing me back to aggression.

How is the tilefish acting off? Can you post a video of it?