Concerned About Fuzzy White Spots on My Clown

[Ty Hamatake]

Hoping to get a positive ID on what this is. I'm thinking bacterial, but my knowledge on this stuff is very limited. I was gone for about 48 hours and there were no signs when I left...

 

[Maritimer]

Bacterial is a possibility, though this would be something of an atypical presentation . . . You'd want to use a wide spectrum of antibiotic, in a quarantine / hospital setup. Furan-2, Kanaplex & Metroplex work well together for that.

They're often pretty busy folks, but I'm going to page @melypr1985, @Humblefish, @ngoodermuth and @aykwm to have a peek, and see if they've seen anything like this before.

~Bruce

 

[melypr1985]

Weird looking for sure. We are going to need a little more info. How long have you had this clown? What are his tank mates? Was he and/or the other fish QT'd?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Weird looking for sure. We are going to need a little more info. How long have you had this clown? What are his tank mates? Was he and/or the other fish QT'd?

Alright, so this is going to kind of be a "bare all" situation for me, so please go easy

Tank is a standard 75 gallon stocked with eight fish; Coral beauty, two clowns, banngai cardinal, leopard wrasse, yellow tang, orange banded goby, and golden head softer goby. The tank has been running for a year and a half. Coral beauty was added in the beginning (tank transfer), the clowns and banggai about a year ago, the wrasse about four months ago, and the tang and gobies a little over a week ago. None of them were quarantined...

I run a skimmer (Skimz Octa 165i) and do about 15% water changes every three weeks or so. No other filtration is used.

I know the lack of QT and spread out water changes aren't the best practice, but I'm just trying to be honest.

I can try to get better pictures if it would help...

 

[jeff williams]

Is the clown scratching,flashing ,heavy Breathing, and water quality

 

[Ty Hamatake]

No scratching, flashing, yawning, or heavy breathing. He did seem slightly more reclusive, but only when I had my face pressed against the glass trying to get a picture. He ate well and is otherwise active as usual.

Attached picture is the current conditions with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate at 0, 0, and ~10 respectively.

 

[jeff williams]

I know you said they look fuzzy, but do they look like cauliflower. From the pics the ones on its side look smooth but the ones on its head look cauliflower

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I know you said they look fuzzy, but do they look like cauliflower. From the pics the ones on its side look smooth but the ones on its head look cauliflower

The bumps down his sides that are smooth and here are some more pictures. To me they do look fuzzy and not just textured like cauliflower.

Also he is now pretty sedentary. Everyone else is active and he is just hanging out on that monti.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

@Maritimer and @melypr1985, right now I have metroplex, focus, and prazipro on hand. I know prazi is no good right now, but should I try the metro and focus, or is that too much stabing-in-the-dark?

 

[jeff williams]

I think you may be dealing with lymphocysts. Melypr1985 and humblefish would be the experts. The 1st picture looks similar

 

[aykwm]

Never seen like it before, it might be fungal infection which is rare in SW tanks. You can use Seachem neoplex or seachem paraguard as a bath.
I prefer paraguard as it treats wide variety of infections including bacterial, fungal, parasitic, etc

Best of luck

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Never seen like it before, it might be fungal infection which is rare in SW tanks. You can use Seachem neoplex or seachem paraguard as a bath.
I prefer paraguard as it treats wide variety of infections including bacterial, fungal, parasitic, etc

Best of luck

Thank you. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on the paraguard.

 

[jeff williams]

You will have to treat in a qt with Paraguard it's not invert friendly but it is a pretty good product

 

[Ty Hamatake]

You will have to treat in a qt with Paraguard it's not invert friendly but it is a pretty good product

I don't know if I'll get the chance at this point. He's become very sluggish and is breathing heavily. The fuzz has spread too

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

Put him in a bowl, any bowl and treat with any antibiotic you have. Do NOT WASTE TIME. It can be a 1 gallon bowl or container that is covered to prevent jumping until you go out and buy a 10 gallon QT. You have already lost 24 hours. Once you have him isolated and under an antibiotic, do more research to figure out EXACTLY what he has and what is the best treatment.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I don't know if I'll get the chance at this point. He's become very sluggish and is breathing heavily. The fuzz has spread too

Do you have anything containing acriflavine? I'd rush him into a medicated bath with matching temp/salinity.

If not- a freshwater dip MIGHT help, but might also be too much for him if he's on his way out.

 

[jeff williams]

+2 if he can't survive a quick 5 min fw dip he's probably not going to make it. But I agree with above don't wait for the paraguard get to an Lfs and try to find Acriflavine and start with that. If they don't have Acriflavine do a fw dip.
If the fuzz is spreading its probably brooklynella

 

[Ty Hamatake]

LFS guy suggested Formalin, so I got both. Bathwater is ready, now I just need to catch him which I'm struggling with. I guess the activity level is good!

 

[jeff williams]

LFS guy suggested Formalin, so I got both. Bathwater is ready, now I just need to catch him which I'm struggling with. I guess the activity level is good!

Yes formalin will work. if it's a low concentration of formalin like 15-16 % you will probably have to bath him twice. Once today and 48 hrs later if it's a higher concentration like 37% one dose should do it. Bath him for as long as he's isn't showing stress up to 45-1 hr in saltwater with an air stone

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Yes formalin will work. if it's a low concentration of formalin like 15-16 % you will probably have to bath him twice. Once today and 48 hrs later if it's a higher concentration like 37% one dose should do it. Bath him for as long as he's isn't showing stress up to 45-1 hr in saltwater with an air stone

Cool, my LFS guy said that it looks like Lymphocystis to him too... here are a couple pictures that kind of show the "fuzziness".