Is this Brook?

[costaricareef]

Hi all, I recently finished a 6 week quarantine period for three new fish, a PBT a Coral Beauty and a yellow damsel. Used Copper Power at 2.0 for 30 days, Metroplex for 2.5 weeks (every two days) and 2 doses of Prazipro 5 days apart. Never saw anything on the fish during this period. The Display tank is 8 months old, had two Percula clowns, one lawnmower blenny and a Mandarin Dragonet. These fish were not quarantined. The last addition was the Mandarin about 4 months ago. Parameters are as follows:
- Temp 78.5-80
- Ph 8-8.15
- Salinity 1.026 steady
- Alk 9.0
- Ca 490
- Mg 1350

Feeding pellets three times a day, two dry brine shrimp cubes, nori on a clip every day and frozen brine shrimp every other day. They are all eating, especially the dry brine, the noru and the frozen. After a week in the DT after the QT I notice these white blotches con the Coral Beauty. Nothing on any other fish. This morning I saw the CB fighting for a spot with the Lawnmower Blenny, which I though as unusual. The CB was trying to bully the Blenny out of his spot and maybe cause the CB to rub against the rocks.

I have not seen the CB scratching, its behavior seems normal and is eating well. Here is a picture of the white blotches:

Thanks in advance.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Not sure by photo. Any way you can catch the fish and do a quick scale scrape and look under microscope? Brook is very obvious when looked at under microscope.

 

[Uncle99]

Those parameters are fine however I did not see your Nitrate and Phosphate levels which could help us rule out elevated pollutants as a contributor.

Was there some underlying thing that required the use of Meds?

Copper can have a negative effect on some fish with scales.
Looks like a bit mark above the eye.
Maybe in a fight, not unusual for this fish.

They do add their own stresses and can be counterproductive.

 

[costaricareef]

Those parameters are fine however I did not see your Nitrate and Phosphate levels which could help us rule out elevated pollutants as a contributor.

Was there some underlying thing that required the use of Meds?

Copper can have a negative effect on some fish with scales.

They do add their own stresses and can be counterproductive.

Not sure by photo. Any way you can catch the fish and do a quick scale scrape and look under microscope? Brook is very obvious when looked at under microscope.

Catching the fish is gonna be a challenge! Rockwork and corals tough to move. May try a fish trap. I'll try to get more pictures in the meantime.

Sorry about missing info:
- NO3 0.25ppm (undetected until a week after the introduction of these 3 fish. Hoping it will climb some more)
- PO4 0.08ppm (up from 0.04 for months)
- ICP test within params, no pollutants
- Did a profilactic quarantine because of PBT, but liked the process.
- They did not have any signs during copper treatment in the QT. If copper related, it showed up one week after being in the DT and 3 weeks after bringing copper down to less than 0.5.

Thanks again for any help. Do fish scratch with Brook?

 

[costaricareef]

Definitely could be the skirmish with the Lawnmower Blenny. I will observe closely during the next couple of days and see how it develops. I'm in Covid-19 quarantine anyway for the next 10 days!

 

[Uncle99]

Sloughing/Shedding of skin, furry mucus on skin, sluggishness, respiratory difficulty, loss of appetite are the most common symptoms.

 

[costaricareef]

Sloughing/Shedding of skin, furry mucus on skin, sluggishness, respiratory difficulty, loss of appetite are the most common symptoms.

Thanks. This is helpful. Last four he doesn't have. Will monitor the white marks closely to see if there is shedding fo the skin. Thanks again.

 

[Uncle99]

Thanks. This is helpful. Last four he doesn't have. Will monitor the white marks closely to see if there is shedding fo the skin. Thanks again.

Pleasure
Sometimes it’s best to do nothing at all.

 

[costaricareef]

Just to close thsi thread: after several days the Coral Beauty is doing well and has different marks in different places. I have seen it fighting and bullying the Lawnmower Blenny several times now, so I am confident that these marks are the result of these fights. This CB is a very aggressive fish. The LB is a cool cat that doesn't bother anyone, but the CB simply has it in for him. Taking either of them out would be a challenge, but that may be a matter for another thread. Thanks for the help.