Mandarin fin mark

[JohnA26]

Does her tail fin look like someone bit it? Or what do you think?

 

[A Young Reefer]

looks like some sort of an bacterial infection to me. I could also see some white dots on the body. images under white light would help.
#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Does her tail fin look like someone bit it? Or what do you think?

Tough to see, white light helps with that.

The two main possibilities are bacterial infection of Lymphocystis. One way to tell them apart is bacterial diseases tend to be subtractive, that is, they eat away at the fin. Lymphocystis is a virus that makes the fish's skin cells become giant sized, so in Lymphocystis, the fin grows larger, like a tumor. I can't tell from the photo, but perhaps you can see firsthand?

Jay

 

[JohnA26]

I keep trying to get a photo, no luck, but it looks like the rear fin split. If bacterial, what can be done in a mixed reef? And thank you so mich

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I keep trying to get a photo, no luck, but it looks like the rear fin split. If bacterial, what can be done in a mixed reef? And thank you so mich

If it is Lymphocystis, it will resolve on its own in 6 to 8 weeks. If bacterial, sometimes these resolve on their own, but other times the fish needs to be moved to a treatment tank and dosed with a good broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic. There really are not any true reef safe antibiotics - just "tonics" that are marketed as reef safe, but are also of limited effectiveness.

Jay

 

[JohnA26]

Thank you Jay. She seemed much better last night and I will monitor her as we go.