Anyone know what this is? White specs on filefish.

[honeydewcrew]

I got this filefish 1 week ago and was not able to do QT. Fish seems fine but I have noticed these white specs on the fins. Other fish in the tank (starry blenny, 2 clowns) seem fine with no spots. Fish seems to be eating and swimming about with seemingly normal behavior. Any suggestions on how I should approach this?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

#fishmedic

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got this filefish 1 week ago and was not able to do QT. Fish seems fine but I have noticed these white specs on the fins. Other fish in the tank (starry blenny, 2 clowns) seem fine with no spots. Fish seems to be eating and swimming about with seemingly normal behavior. Any suggestions on how I should approach this?

This is a tough fish as it already has spots but seeing the fins, may be Lymphocystis which is viral and not a disease but also resembles ich. A quarantine with this fish is a must and you will want to set up a Quarantine tank ASAP in the event its' ich. This time tomorrow if dots have multiplied on fish, its ich and treatment will be either coppersafe at 2.25ppm or hyposalinity (1.009) for a full 30 days. If coppersafe, monitor with a Hanna brand copper test kit and monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I got this filefish 1 week ago and was not able to do QT. Fish seems fine but I have noticed these white specs on the fins. Other fish in the tank (starry blenny, 2 clowns) seem fine with no spots. Fish seems to be eating and swimming about with seemingly normal behavior. Any suggestions on how I should approach this?

The video looks like a mild case of ich. Fish won’t have serious symptoms at this stage, and not all fish will develop trophonts (spots) at the same rate.
This can become fatal if left untreated. Coppersafe or hyposalinity are the best treatments, but cannot be done if invertebrates are present.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I got this filefish 1 week ago and was not able to do QT. Fish seems fine but I have noticed these white specs on the fins. Other fish in the tank (starry blenny, 2 clowns) seem fine with no spots. Fish seems to be eating and swimming about with seemingly normal behavior. Any suggestions on how I should approach this?

If this is ich, all of the fish in the tank have been exposed and will probably develop the same disease.

You really need a tank with no invertebrates in it to treat ich. If that is just not possible, you could look at this thread, where I talk about "ich management":

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-management.1028274/

 

[motek]

Hi...thought I had submitted this a few days ago, but apparently not. Anyway, I have had this Filefish in the QT for 2+ weeks now, along with a Sixline Wrasse. They get along fine, and the Wrasse is not show anything at all like what I see on the Filefish. The tank is being treated with Cupramine, at .5, for 14 days as of today. The spots on the fins have not changed at all, and I would love to receive advice about what might be going on, and if I should change the treatment. Sp. gr is 1.022 and the temp is 80. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi...thought I had submitted this a few days ago, but apparently not. Anyway, I have had this Filefish in the QT for 2+ weeks now, along with a Sixline Wrasse. They get along fine, and the Wrasse is not show anything at all like what I see on the Filefish. The tank is being treated with Cupramine, at .5, for 14 days as of today. The spots on the fins have not changed at all, and I would love to receive advice about what might be going on, and if I should change the treatment. Sp. gr is 1.022 and the temp is 80. Thanks in advance.

This isn’t ich, the spots are too large and elongated, and focused on the fin edges.

This is probably Lymphocystis, a mild viral disease that doesn’t require treatment and may get worse, but will go away after a month or so.

The one risk with lymphocystis is that it can obscure other diseases. I’d go with the Cupramine for 21 days to guard against that.

 

[motek]

This isn’t ich, the spots are too large and elongated, and focused on the fin edges.

This is probably Lymphocystis, a mild viral disease that doesn’t require treatment and may get worse, but will go away after a month or so.

The one risk with lymphocystis is that it can obscure other diseases. I’d go with the Cupramine for 21 days to guard against that.

Thank you so much for replying. I appreciate it. 21 days it shall be.