Injury or Disease on my Foxface

wwarby

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This morning I noticed what looks like a scar on the back of my foxface (the other white flecks in the photo are just flake food in the water). This is my first experience with any of my fish being in less than perfect condition, so consider me an absolute novice for the purpose of understanding what to do about it (if anything).

He's only been in the DT about 10 days, and I've had him for 14 days. Initially I tried to quarantine him in my little 20G QT observation tank but even though he's only about 3" long, it quickly became clear that he was very stressed in that tank so I made the decision to move him straight into the DT where he's been much happier. I got him from a reputable LFS that quarantines all their fish and he looked healthy when I got him. He doesn't seem bothered by the injury (if that's what it is) and is eating well.

His tank mates are a royal gramma, banggai cardinal, two small ocellaris clowns and a few shrimps (blood red, cleaners and a coral banded). I've not seen anything picking on anything else in there. A couple of days ago I saw the foxface get spooked and dart behind the rock incredibly fast, so I wonder if that's when it happened. I couldn't see what spooked him but I don't think any of the other inhabitants were that close to him at the time.

Is there anything I need to do about this or just leave it alone and hope it heals over?

IMG_3509 (1).jpeg
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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I’m not sure (haven’t brushed up much on fish disease beyond QT yet), but I’m happy to see if we can’t get a good opinion in here for you: #fishmedic
 

Dom

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Looking at the picture, it looks like there are a few distinct white spots. Flukes perhaps? A fresh water dip to see if they fall off would be a harmless way to see if they are flukes.

How is the fish behaving? Eating? Swimming normally?

@Jay Hemdal
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Sharkbait19

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Looks like the result of an injury - monitor for infection (redness, white fuzzy growth, Chang win behavior) but it should heal up given good food and water.
Based on the reflection in the pic it looks like this is on both sides - could have gotten caught in a rock. I doubt any of the fish or shrimp would do that damage.
 
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wwarby

wwarby

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Thanks guys. The white flecks in the photo are deceptive, I had just put flake food in the tank, they're in front of the fish, not on him. Also the reflection is deceptive, it's definitely just that one spot on one side and insofar as I've been able to get any closer to see the spot with my own eyes, it very much looks like an injury to me. I'll monitor over the next few days and report back here if anything changes. As of this afternoon the fish doesn't seem bothered by the injury and is behaving and feeding normally.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Thanks guys. The white flecks in the photo are deceptive, I had just put flake food in the tank, they're in front of the fish, not on him. Also the reflection is deceptive, it's definitely just that one spot on one side and insofar as I've been able to get any closer to see the spot with my own eyes, it very much looks like an injury to me. I'll monitor over the next few days and report back here if anything changes. As of this afternoon the fish doesn't seem bothered by the injury and is behaving and feeding normally.
It does look like an injury to me. A side note though - see how the fish’s muscle myomeres are showing through the skin? That sometimes happens when a fish gets thin….be sure to feed this fish well, especially high protein / high fat foods. Multiple small feedings each day are best.
Jay
 
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wwarby

wwarby

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It does look like an injury to me. A side note though - see how the fish’s muscle myomeres are showing through the skin? That sometimes happens when a fish gets thin….be sure to feed this fish well, especially high protein / high fat foods. Multiple small feedings each day are best.
Jay
Thanks Jay, very much appreciated. I've been feeding flake, frozen mysis and brine shrimp, and nori on a clip, all of which he seems to eat, although he doesn't go for the nori as much as I expected. I'll try increasing feeding a little, although my nitrate test kit isn't going to be happy about it :)
 
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wwarby

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Things aren’t looking up this morning. My fox face now seems to have a small lump on its other side. Very hard to photograph but here’s my best effort. It’s been feeding pretty well today, still seems calm, but I’m pretty sure that lump wasn’t there yesterday. Also seems to have a bit of discolouration between the spines although I’m not totally sure if that was always there. Either way it’s looking increasingly unhealthy

EF5354DD-B5E3-42E5-8A74-0801022F880E.jpeg
 

Jay Hemdal

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Things aren’t looking up this morning. My fox face now seems to have a small lump on its other side. Very hard to photograph but here’s my best effort. It’s been feeding pretty well today, still seems calm, but I’m pretty sure that lump wasn’t there yesterday. Also seems to have a bit of discolouration between the spines although I’m not totally sure if that was always there. Either way it’s looking increasingly unhealthy

EF5354DD-B5E3-42E5-8A74-0801022F880E.jpeg

With the lump only on one side, and not symetrical, that rules out general swelling from overeating, or ascites. Trouble is, it also isn't a symptom of any specific problem. It *could* be a bolus of food in the intestine, I've seen that in fish that have been fed a lot of plant matter.

Jay
 
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