Copperband Help

[Padawan]

Hi everyone, I bought a beautiful copper band two weeks ago and he's easily become one of my favourites, he's always curious about whats going on in and outside of the tank.

I didn't quarantine him because I trust my LFS and it's one of the best in Ireland and they have their own quarantine procedure, although I'm not 100% sure if they use any medications even if the fish aren't showing signs of infection.

Once he arrived I did a 2-hour drip acclimatization. turned off all the lights to reduce stress, then added him into the tank.

About a week ago I noticed a white speck on the tip of his dorsal fin. I did some research and it looked like it could be Ich or lymphocystis. I'm really hoping it's the latter. All my other fish seem healthy and I didn't want to cause any unnecessary stress that would further impact his immune system, so I kept him in the display tank and kept him well fed hoping if it was lympho, it would go away on its own.

He's eating very well. very active literally does not stop checking things out, but the white growth on his fin seems to be growing slowly. Any ideas what this might be?

Copperband Symptoms. I've noticed him rub his mouth and body of the rock when I first got him, but he's stopped doing that. I've noticed him twitching, but I'm aware that it could be food-related or natural behavior, plus he hasn't really done the twitching since I've been constantly feeding him (in case he had to go into quarantine.)

Tank set up
WaterBox 60.2
Reef Octopus S10 Protein skimmer

Parameters
Ammonia 0.0ppm
Nitrite 0.0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.0

Products Currently in the system:
Red Sea Pro salt
Seachem Purigen
Seachem Phos Guard
Activated Carbon

Products recently used within the last two weeks:
Seachem Prime
Seachem Pristine
Seachem Clarity
API Stress Zyme

Fish
4 Clownfish
2 Cleaner Shrimp
2 Fire Fish
1 Gobie
1 Mandrin Dragonet
1 Copperband
2 Snails
2 Hermit Crabs

Here's a Video of my Copperband,
Copperband Youtube
Thanks in advance!

 

[vetteguy53081]

It is Lympho and is viral and not parasitical. Its generally a reaction to poor water conditions and/or diet.
The poor water could even been at your lfs upon purchase but do check yours as assurance that you have good water quality which will help this cauliflower like pod to vanish.
I assume fish is eating ?

 

[Padawan]

Hi Vetteguy, thanks for the the reply. I'm glad to hear that it might be lympho and not ich. I think I've good water quality. I have a protien skimmer, running carbon and a resin so the water is pretty clear.

My tank is about 8 months old now so my biological filter is well able to handle the waste my fish put out. Could there be something I'm over looking water quality wise? I'm still pretty new to this.

The food side of things could be better I find he's ways looking for food. He's eating. But doesn't seem to get enought. Admittedly
he only eats frozen which is mostly water so I bought some frozen food enrichments online hoping it will give him a boost.

Would lympho also explain the initial rubbing off the rock when he first went into the tank? I He's stopped doing now but thats what really got me.qorried it was ich.

Thanks for your help btw. Much appreciated

 

[jtf74]

It is Lympho and is viral and not parasitical. Its generally a reaction to poor water conditions and/or diet.
The poor water could even been at your lfs upon purchase but do check yours as assurance that you have good water quality which will help this cauliflower like pod to vanish.
I assume fish is eating ?

My thoughts too. Even stress can cause this. Mine got lympho the next morning after I brought it home and within a week it was gone. Has been great ever since.

 

[jtf74]

Hi Vetteguy, thanks for the the reply. I'm glad to hear that it might be lympho and not ich. I think I've good water quality. I have a protien skimmer, running carbon and a resin so the water is pretty clear.

My tank is about 8 months old now so my biological filter is well able to handle the waste my fish put out. Could there be something I'm over looking water quality wise? I'm still pretty new to this.

The food side of things could be better I find he's ways looking for food. He's eating. But doesn't seem to get enought. Admittedly
he only eats frozen which is mostly water so I bought some frozen food enrichments online hoping it will give him a boost.

Would lympho also explain the initial rubbing off the rock when he first went into the tank? I He's stopped doing now but thats what really got me.qorried it was ich.

Thanks for your help btw. Much appreciated

What frozen are you feeding him? Frozen usually contains very little water, so I'm a bit confused by what you said. How much is it eating? What size is the cbb? For example my cbb is about 3-3.5" and will eat 50 plus mysis shrimp in a day easy. Eating well will really help ward off the lympho. Try some clam, mussel, black or white worms and focus on getting it to eat readily and I bet the lympho will take care of itself.

 

[Padawan]

What frozen are you feeding him? Frozen usually contains very little water, so I'm a bit confused by what you said. How much is it eating? What size is the cbb? For example my cbb is about 3-3.5" and will eat 50 plus mysis shrimp in a day easy. Eating well will really help ward off the lympho. Try some clam, mussel, black or white worms and focus on getting it to eat readily and I bet the lympho will take care of itself.

Hi Jtf74 Thanks for your input, much appreciated I'm feeding him, Cyclops, Copepods +Garlic, Brine Shrimp dipped in Vitalis Frozen Food Enrichment 3-4 times a day, sometimes even more if I see him coming to the top for food. I use a pipet to feed him directly.

I was under the impression that frozen food contained mostly water so less nutrient-dense than dried pellets. He doesn't eat the dried stuff at all so I've been feeding more of the frozen foods.

To answer your question he's eating quite a lot. he's got a little belly on him which I hadn't seen when he first arrived. he's about 2.5 -3 inches (I think) I tried fresh clams (boiled um as a precaution) but he didn't take to um. I think he's eating well, I just hope the lymph goes away and it isn't a misdiagnosis.

 

[jtf74]

Hi Jtf74 Thanks for your input, much appreciated I'm feeding him, Cyclops, Copepods +Garlic, Brine Shrimp dipped in Vitalis Frozen Food Enrichment 3-4 times a day, sometimes even more if I see him coming to the top for food. I use a pipet to feed him directly.

I was under the impression that frozen food contained mostly water so less nutrient-dense than dried pellets. He doesn't eat the dried stuff at all so I've been feeding more of the frozen foods.

To answer your question he's eating quite a lot. he's got a little belly on him which I hadn't seen when he first arrived. he's about 2.5 -3 inches (I think) I tried fresh clams (boiled um as a precaution) but he didn't take to um. I think he's eating well, I just hope the lymph goes away and it isn't a misdiagnosis.

Ok, I see. Mine won't touch clams or mussels or brine shrimp only mysis, aiptasia, and live b/w worms. Doubt yours will ever eat pellets. Just keep feeding it. Just saw the video, missed it before. That's Lympho. Sort of looks like ich but usually bigger and kind of clumpy and usually seen first on fins. Give it some time. Nice fish.

 

[Tamberav]

Hi Jtf74 Thanks for your input, much appreciated I'm feeding him, Cyclops, Copepods +Garlic, Brine Shrimp dipped in Vitalis Frozen Food Enrichment 3-4 times a day, sometimes even more if I see him coming to the top for food. I use a pipet to feed him directly.

I was under the impression that frozen food contained mostly water so less nutrient-dense than dried pellets. He doesn't eat the dried stuff at all so I've been feeding more of the frozen foods.

To answer your question he's eating quite a lot. he's got a little belly on him which I hadn't seen when he first arrived. he's about 2.5 -3 inches (I think) I tried fresh clams (boiled um as a precaution) but he didn't take to um. I think he's eating well, I just hope the lymph goes away and it isn't a misdiagnosis.

don’t cook the clams... the point is the nutrients in uncooked clams. Plus he will probably think that is gross. Freeze them as a precaution and feed.

I feed LRS chunk in a mesh bag to mine so he can eat all he wants and live worms.

LRS and live foods are better then a processed dry pellet IMO.

 

[Padawan]

Ok, I see. Mine won't touch clams or mussels or brine shrimp only mysis, aiptasia, and live b/w worms. Doubt yours will ever eat pellets. Just keep feeding it. Just saw the video. That's Lympho. Sort of looks like ich but usually bigger and kind of clumpy and usually seen first on fins. Give it some time.

lol I'm totally resigned to the fact that he might never eat dried foods, I'm just happy that he's eating, I know some CBB's can be picky so I count myself lucky that he's eating. I just uploaded a video on youtube. I'ts 10.30 pm here so my lights are off but my moonlight setting is still on.

 

[Padawan]

don’t cook the clams... the point is the nutrients in uncooked clams. Plus he will probably think that is gross. Freeze them as a precaution and feed.

I feed LRS chunk in a mesh bag to mine so he can eat all he wants and live worms.

LRS and live foods are better then a processed dry pellet IMO.

lol, thanks for the tip Tamberav. I didn't realize freezing um would of been enough. I was afraid of introducing any hitchhikers especially when the clams were freshly caught. I had thought about putting the clams into quarantine before I fed um to my CBB but realized that was probably going too far

 

[Padawan]

Hey guys, so the lympho disappeared after a week as you guys said it would but I think it might be back. This time it looks different and I'm not sure what's causing it. I've attached a video. His left pelvic fin is slightly cloudy. Other than that he's been eating fine. I'm not sure if it's a bacterial infection, fungal, or the lympho popping up again. He does seem a little jumpy so maybe it's stress?? But he's the biggest fish in the tank and I haven't seen signs of aggression towards him.

Once he was eating enough and the lympho disappeared I did lower the amount of food I was feeding him cos the increase in nutrients was causing my phosphates to rise fueling an algae outbreak. I'm working on getting a refuge set up to handle the nutrient export.

any suggestions on what it might be and what's causing it?
Thanks for your help guys

 

[jtf74]

Hard to see in the video. My guess is lympho again.