Spotband Butterfly with small white spots

[cassilyn]

I have a Spotband Butterfly with what looks like it might be a problem. He isn't acting hurt or itchy, but I thought I'd check with the experts on what I should do.

added to tank 2 weeks ago
Tank has been up for 6 months and has had great parameters for the last 4 months, which is when we started adding a few fish (only a small clown, the spotband, and a firefish)
It is a FOWLR
developed small white spots on his body
does not seem to be under any stress
seems to still be eating okay
respiration about 80 -100 beats per minute
salinity 1.024
nitrites 0 ppm
nitrates
ammonia 0 ppm
I don't have any other test kits but can get them if I need to (If my LFS has them)
54-gallon DT
74 degrees
I couldn't get a picture of the fish - he won't cooperate.
We haven't done any treatment yet.
Thanks!

 

[cassilyn]

Sorry - nitrates are <10 ppm

 

[Maritimer]

Small white spots sound like ich - but could be a host of other things, depending on where they are and what they're doing. If they're ich, then all of your fish in the same tank will have been exposed.

Answering these questions (from the second "sticky" thread in the Fish Disease forum) can help the pros in the #reefsquad and @Jay Hemdal determine what might be going on with your butterfly and what might be your best course of action moving forward:

In your first post, give us a synopsis of problem: The more complete information the information you can provide, the better. The information that often proves helpful is listed below:

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef, Fish-only, Quarantine tank
Aquarium water volume
Filtration type
Lighting
How long has the aquarium been established?
Digital image of the aquarium under white light

Water quality (be sure to indicate what measurement units you are using)
Temperature
pH:
Salinity / specific gravity
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphorus
Copper
Other

In-depth information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem yet? (see below)
Are any invertebrates affected?
Respiration rate of affected fish (in gill beats per minutes, count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4)
Are the affected fish still feeding?
What remedies have you tried so far?
Digital image of the fish with the health issue, taken under white light
Short video of the fish (linked YouTube videos work well)


~B.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have a Spotband Butterfly with what looks like it might be a problem. He isn't acting hurt or itchy, but I thought I'd check with the experts on what I should do.

added to tank 2 weeks ago
Tank has been up for 6 months and has had great parameters for the last 4 months, which is when we started adding a few fish (only a small clown, the spotband, and a firefish)
It is a FOWLR
developed small white spots on his body
does not seem to be under any stress
seems to still be eating okay
respiration about 80 -100 beats per minute
salinity 1.024
nitrites 0 ppm
nitrates
ammonia 0 ppm
I don't have any other test kits but can get them if I need to (If my LFS has them)
54-gallon DT
74 degrees
I couldn't get a picture of the fish - he won't cooperate.
We haven't done any treatment yet.
Thanks!

Try to get us a short video if you can’t get a still image.

If it is ich, the standard treatment is going to be copper, tough to do in a FOWLR, but not impossible.

Jay