Injury on Bannerfish?

[Euphyllia97]

Hi guys,

New to keeping butterflyfish. I noticed 4 days ago that my heniochus acuminatus suddenly had some type of wound/lump on the upper part of its mouth. The fish is still very active, eating a lot and hasn’t shown any signs of rubbing/twitching. Fins are looking good and the spot hasn’t changed size.

See no fuzzy/cotton like growth

Looking at my pictures it looks like it appeared overnight.

Currently I am dosing seachem stressguard to see if this has any effect. Is this just an injury?

Also, I have colombo FMC-50, is it possible to use this in half doses for marine fish, considering it could be bacterial/fungal? (Fish is in a tank with no inverts or corals)

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi guys,

New to keeping butterflyfish. I noticed 4 days ago that my heniochus acuminatus suddenly had some type of wound/lump on the upper part of its mouth. The fish is still very active, eating a lot and hasn’t shown any signs of rubbing/twitching. Fins are looking good and the spot hasn’t changed size.

See no fuzzy/cotton like growth

Looking at my pictures it looks like it appeared overnight.

Currently I am dosing seachem stressguard to see if this has any effect. Is this just an injury?

Also, I have colombo FMC-50, is it possible to use this in half doses for marine fish, considering it could be bacterial/fungal? (Fish is in a tank with no inverts or corals)

I see this often on angels and butterfly fish from netting damage which would ad should heal on its own. If eating, keep an eye on it for healing.
If not eating or becomes red or sore, treat in separate tank using Seachem neoplex with air stone added to tank

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi guys,

New to keeping butterflyfish. I noticed 4 days ago that my heniochus acuminatus suddenly had some type of wound/lump on the upper part of its mouth. The fish is still very active, eating a lot and hasn’t shown any signs of rubbing/twitching. Fins are looking good and the spot hasn’t changed size.

See no fuzzy/cotton like growth

Looking at my pictures it looks like it appeared overnight.

Currently I am dosing seachem stressguard to see if this has any effect. Is this just an injury?

Also, I have colombo FMC-50, is it possible to use this in half doses for marine fish, considering it could be bacterial/fungal? (Fish is in a tank with no inverts or corals)

The Colombo FMC-50 is formalin and malachite green. It may also have acriflavine in it, the Internet wasn't clear about that. These ingredients are really designed to work on some freshwater fish diseases, and really are not very effective for marine fish issues when used as a low dose mixture like this.

I agree, this looks like a rub mark / impact damage. That will likely heal on its own, and the biggest issue is that the fish might stop eating - your fish is still eating well, so this may heal on its own without any treatment.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Thanks for the replies @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal! I have ordered myself some neoplex. Will continue to monitor his behaviour (for now still eating like a pig) and if needed dose neoplex and increase aeration.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Hi guys just an update on the situation if anybody owns a heniochus acuminatus or other butterflyfish with something similar looking! I have kept on observing him without changing anything to feeding or tank maintenance. I have been adding “seachem stressguard” for the last 5 days just to give a little boost to the healing of external wounds, thicken its slime coat and reducing the chances of getting an infection. I believe it is now 10 days since this white spot initially showed up. And GOOD NEWS. As from today I can say that the wound completely healed and the fish is doing great! Now it’s time to have a look at what caused this.

The fish is in my FOWLR which has artificial hard corals in it. He likes to pick at different fake corals and also the rock. This makes me think he might have hurt himself doing this?

You guys also mentioned netting damage. I had a question regarding this. Is it possible that the wound was only visible after 1 week of last being in a net? (That the visible white patch/lump was already a sign of healing but the wound was probably already caused 4/5 days before? I inspected him quite well for signs of illness/injury the first days in my tank)

If that is not possible I will go the safe way and take out some artificial corals which look most likely to cause damage when it would bump into it.

And of course a thank you to you experienced guys for helping us out!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi guys just an update on the situation if anybody owns a heniochus acuminatus or other butterflyfish with something similar looking! I have kept on observing him without changing anything to feeding or tank maintenance. I have been adding “seachem stressguard” for the last 5 days just to give a little boost to the healing of external wounds, thicken its slime coat and reducing the chances of getting an infection. I believe it is now 10 days since this white spot initially showed up. And GOOD NEWS. As from today I can say that the wound completely healed and the fish is doing great! Now it’s time to have a look at what caused this.

The fish is in my FOWLR which has artificial hard corals in it. He likes to pick at different fake corals and also the rock. This makes me think he might have hurt himself doing this?

You guys also mentioned netting damage. I had a question regarding this. Is it possible that the wound was only visible after 1 week of last being in a net? (That the visible white patch/lump was already a sign of healing but the wound was probably already caused 4/5 days before? I inspected him quite well for signs of illness/injury the first days in my tank)

If that is not possible I will go the safe way and take out some artificial corals which look most likely to cause damage when it would bump into it.

And of course a thank you to you experienced guys for helping us out!

Net capture damage usually shows up the day after being caught up, not 5 days later.

I've had a couple of instances where fish have picked at surfaces and damaged their snouts, but that isn't really common.

Just an aside note - the stress coat didn't help with this, that's all just marketing hype. The idea that colloids can be added to aquarium water and preferentially seek out damaged fish tissue is pure bunk. In fact, I read a study where adding these "bandage in a bottle" products (in this case aloe vera) caused clogging of the gills.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Net capture damage usually shows up the day after being caught up, not 5 days later.

I've had a couple of instances where fish have picked at surfaces and damaged their snouts, but that isn't really common.

Just an aside note - the stress coat didn't help with this, that's all just marketing hype. The idea that colloids can be added to aquarium water and preferentially seek out damaged fish tissue is pure bunk. In fact, I read a study where adding these "bandage in a bottle" products (in this case aloe vera) caused clogging of the gills.

Oh would you be able to find that study again? Would be an interesting read. I wasn’t really counting on that product to work the way they claim, but I never really considered it might even be introducing some potential problems to livestock

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Oh would you be able to find that study again? Would be an interesting read. I wasn’t really counting on that product to work the way they claim, but I never really considered it might even be introducing some potential problems to livestock

It wasn't the exact same product, it was one with Aloe Vera in it, but the concept is the same....adding these material to the tank water simply cannot preferentially seek out damaged fish tissue (like putting a bandage on a cut) but rather, is more like wrapping the whole fish in a bandage (like a mummy!).

 

[Euphyllia97]

It wasn't the exact same product, it was one with Aloe Vera in it, but the concept is the same....adding these material to the tank water simply cannot preferentially seek out damaged fish tissue (like putting a bandage on a cut) but rather, is more like wrapping the whole fish in a bandage (like a mummy!).

Thanks for the info! I’m not so familiar with these commercial “invert/reef safe products”. I did a quick research when I saw this bottle in the store and saw some positive reviews on the internet and went ahead to take out my wallet. Again proof that in this hobby sometimes deeper research is needed. I will just go back to my old routine, which has always worked for me the past 8 years, of putting new fish in a QT to observe and to only use “real” medication when the fish shows signs of illness. Don’t want another scare like that