Regal hippo tang possible fluke or ich

[ajremington68]

Noticied this Tuesday aug 20, video is from aug 21 looks to be flukes with the white spots being protrusions coming off the fish. Have had the fish for about 2 months was the first fish in my 180 and it’s about 5-6in super healthy and thick and eats everything. Need a ID on what is on her and a plan of attack. Also have 3 other tangs and an emperor angel In the tank with nothing on them. Also have an emperor aquatics 40w UV tuned in for ich management at 240gph. Feed a variety of pellets, flake, frozen, and nori.

 

[ajremington68]

If your on mobile here is some photos from the video

 

[ajremington68]

@vetteguy53081
@Jay Hemdal

 

[ajremington68]

I would like to add I have 10 other fish in the tank and none have anything similar. Temp sits at 75 and salinity at 1.024. The fish is eating great and is the king of the tank and eats everything. Also as hippo tangs do it’s very scared and has a spot by a rock on the sand where it sleeps and retreats to once it’s scared. Could it be sand in its mucus coat??? Should I FW dip with rodi water and a heavy bubbler? Or do I leave and observe and see if the duplicate and spread on it?

 

[george9]

Definitely not the expert here but I did have a blue tang for a while and it would non-stop scare me with the random abrasions and bumps that would pop up on its skin, especially during the first couple of months I had it.

Mine had spots that looked like this randomly soon after I introduced it and they ended up being mucus plugs. In your photos it looks like most of the spots appear to be too large to be ich and are likely just mucus. Especially since the fish looks active and healthy without and secondary symptoms. Any scratching or twitching?

You mentioned ich management. Has your tank ever had ich before? If so, then it is more likely this could be ich. If you have not had ich in this tank, I'd more lean towards mucus and I'd feed a beefed up diet (viatmin soak, selcon) and watch for secondary symptoms.

Jay is definitely the expert here, but I figured I'd chime in with my experience since I have done a ton of research on blue tang ailments when I had mine. He'd give me a good scare with either a scrape, random spot or mucus plug almost once a month it seemed and it always ended up being nothing.

 

[ajremington68]

Definitely not the expert here but I did have a blue tang for a while and it would non-stop scare me with the random abrasions and bumps that would pop up on its skin, especially during the first couple of months I had it.

Mine had spots that looked like this randomly soon after I introduced it and they ended up being mucus plugs. In your photos it looks like most of the spots appear to be too large to be ich and are likely just mucus. Especially since the fish looks active and healthy without and secondary symptoms. Any scratching or twitching?

You mentioned ich management. Has your tank ever had ich before? If so, then it is more likely this could be ich. If you have not had ich in this tank, I'd more lean towards mucus and I'd feed a beefed up diet (viatmin soak, selcon) and watch for secondary symptoms.

Jay is definitely the expert here, but I figured I'd chime in with my experience since I have done a ton of research on blue tang ailments when I had mine. He'd give me a good scare with either a scrape, random spot or mucus plug almost once a month it seemed and it always ended up being nothing.

Thanks for the input I like to hear everyone. As for my ich management in my first tank I had a powder blue wipe it out to ich or velvet or a disease. So I have never had anything in my new 180 disease wise but I have the buffer there just in case. As for the beefed up diet could I maybe soak nori in the selcon or pellets??

 

[george9]

Thanks for the input I like to hear everyone. As for my ich management in my first tank I had a powder blue wipe it out to ich or velvet or a disease. So I have never had anything in my new 180 disease wise but I have the buffer there just in case. As for the beefed up diet could I maybe soak nori in the selcon or pellets??

Usually I just soak pellets because I'm not sure how much selcon will actually make it into the fish soaking in nori but it certainly won't hurt!

 

[A-Reef]

Hello, I'm not an expert either but It seems your blue hippo has Ich. Mine survived a parasitic outbreak ( Ich or Velvet) that took 16 out of 22 fish in my tank. It happened when i was working out of town and my wife was doing the daily tank maintenance /feeding and didn't notice anything. I didn't treat the tank because i have corals so I feed the survivors very well, soaked algae on garlic. Everything went back to normal and after 3 months i started restocking the aquarium.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If your on mobile here is some photos from the video

It is mucus cones you see and something this fish is susceptible to and possible mixed in with ich. Often other fish will show no signs but keep an eye on them. Treat this one in separate tank for 30 days using coppersafe at level 2.25 and monitor with hanna brand copper test kit

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the input I like to hear everyone. As for my ich management in my first tank I had a powder blue wipe it out to ich or velvet or a disease. So I have never had anything in my new 180 disease wise but I have the buffer there just in case. As for the beefed up diet could I maybe soak nori in the selcon or pellets??

Ich managaement often a short cut and ineffective

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If your on mobile here is some photos from the video

Many of those spots are too large to be marine ich, those are "mucus cones" as @vetteguy53081 said. These are a reaction seen in hepatus tangs to some stressor, and are not flukes. However, ich can cause these blue tangs to develop mucus cones, and some of the spots are smaller, so I can't rule out that there isn't some ich mixed in with this. It isn't perfect, but if you photograph the fish and then compare a photo of the same fish, from the same side two or three days later, you can sometimes get a better idea of what's going on: mucus cones will stay in the same spot, perhaps growing larger, while ich spots will come and go and change location. Also, small spots on the fins of the tang are more likely a sign of ich.

 

[ajremington68]

It is mucus cones you see and something this fish is susceptible to and possible mixed in with ich. Often other fish will show no signs but keep an eye on them. Treat this one in separate tank for 30 days using coppersafe at level 2.25 and monitor with hanna brand copper test kit

Hmm okay so with this fish being around 6-7in I am going to assume I can’t use a 20g to treat it in. What would you recommend that is semi budget friendly. Also would you recommend any change in diet maybe introducing some vitamins or something that others have mentioned? Also if I photograph daily and observe and chance they go away if it is mucus cones?

 

[ajremington68]

Also @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal do you guys know if this is transmissible fish to fish? Would I have to treat all fish?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Also @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal do you guys know if this is transmissible fish to fish? Would I have to treat all fish?

If it ends up being ich, then yes, it will likely spread to your other fish. That can be a real mess if you don't have a tank large enough to house all of your fish during treatment... no good ich treatment can be done in an aquarium that also houses invertebrates: the two best treatments are copper, or hyposalinity.

 

[ajremington68]

If it ends up being ich, then yes, it will likely spread to your other fish. That can be a real mess if you don't have a tank large enough to house all of your fish during treatment... no good ich treatment can be done in an aquarium that also houses invertebrates: the two best treatments are copper, or hyposalinity.

Okay and I will follow your method of photo and video daily at same time and if they stay the same spot and it ends up being mucus cones what is best method for that? Just beef up diet and continue process, or copper?

Only fear with copper is it’s a big tang and I don’t wanna apply a ton of stress by removing it from the 180 and putting it in a 40g which is biggest tank I could spare for it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Most diseases can and will spread and needs to be treated according to type of disease

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hmm okay so with this fish being around 6-7in I am going to assume I can’t use a 20g to treat it in. What would you recommend that is semi budget friendly. Also would you recommend any change in diet maybe introducing some vitamins or something that others have mentioned? Also if I photograph daily and observe and chance they go away if it is mucus cones?

40 breeder best for a fish this size

 

[ajremington68]

Most diseases can and will spread and needs to be treated according to type of disease

Is there anything I could do say, trying catch the fish and getting a close up photo or a specific photo of it in the tank under a light to get a higher percentage guess on what the disease is so I can treat for it, and not treat for the wrong disease?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is there anything I could do say, trying catch the fish and getting a close up photo or a specific photo of it in the tank under a light to get a higher percentage guess on what the disease is so I can treat for it, and not treat for the wrong disease?

Being susceptible to ich and skin irritations, Im positive on mucus cones and as Jay has confirmed, do the coppersafe treatment as mentioned.

 

[ajremington68]

You mentioned ich management. Has your tank ever had ich before? If so, then it is more likely this could be ich. If you have not had ich in this tank, I'd more lean towards mucus and I'd feed a beefed up diet (viatmin soak, selcon) and watch for secondary symptoms.

With refrence to this I found selcon on Amazon and it referred me to this almost multi vitamin that looks like a powder you mix in water and dose. Did you use this or another product for vitamins??
Boyd Enterprises ABE16707 Marine Vitachem for Aquarium, 4-Ounce https://a.co/d/98R3I4S