Weird white spots on fish

Dog Whiskey

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Newbie question. Probably being paranoid, but want to make sure.

I've been stalking the forums and trying to figure out what's going on with my fish and if I need to worry. I have a 55 gallon FOWLR. It's relatively new. I started setting it up in mid-December. I have 7 fish, mostly captive bred: two chromis (first fish, introduced after the tank cycled, now about 2.5"), two juvenile clownfish (observation tank for 3 weeks/treated with Prazi, added mid-January, now about 2"), a forktail blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only for 10 days, about 1.5"), a starry blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only 10 days, 2.25"), and a 1" mystery fish who showed up about a month ago and seems to be doing fine. There are also various inverts added over the last four months, three hermits added with the chromis (two survived), and various others (snails, hermit crabs, two emerald crabs) added about 2 weeks after each fish introduction with no observation. I also have macro-algae. Inverts and macro came from "clean" systems like @AlgaeBarn or Indo Pacific Farms.

Parameters are all normal for a FOWLR (Ph between 8.2-8.4 ppm, 0 ppm on ammonia and nitrite, nitrite between 10-20ppm). Salinity is at low-ish, at 1.023. I've been doing a 10% water change weekly and a 20% once a month. During each change I do detrius vaccuming, and during the 20% water change I also turn off the aeration and heater on the tank until all the work is done.

After the mid-February 20% water change I noticed a raised small white spot on my black clownfish which went away in a day or so. I did the next 20% water change on Saturday (3/26) and similar white spots have appeared on both clowns and one chromis. The spots are on the tail/dorsal fin and bodies of the fish. There are no spots in the gills. The spots last 1-2 days and then go away but unlike the first time they haven't yet fully disappeared. The spots only appear after the 20% water change.

Everyone is eating robustly (as I'm writing this they're glaring at me demanding dinner). No signs of flashing. Breathing is normal. Nothing is out of the ordinary except for the spots.

The mystery fish has been terrorizing the larger chromis who was previously the tank bully (I started with three chromis and now am down to two). I also observed the two chromis having a stand off today (circling each other, touching mouths, moderate chasing) and the clowns are trying to sort out who is going to be the female (it's going to be the black one because it's larger, but they haven't figured that out yet). No signs of any issues on the other three fish.

The chromis has 3 of these spots. One is on the tail and the other are on the upper body. The orange clown has one near the eye and one by the tail and the black clown as a couple on the dorsal fin and one on the anal fin. The spots don't remain in a single place and disappear after a day or two. Initially I only noticed spots on the clowns, but that may be because it's tougher to see on the chromis because of its coloring and scales. I've attached a photo of a dorsal fin spot on the black clown just simply because it's easiest to see and she (??) is kind of a model and will pose in front of the camera. The other clown's spots are hard to see but are similar -- slightly raised and small. I've also attached a photo of the spot on the chromis' tail. It's directly above the upper fork of the tail; it's near impossible to catch the chromis not moving to see the two body spots, but they're below the dorsal fin. Again, each are roughly the same size as those on the clown and slightly raised.

I'm assuming because of the timing and the location of the spots this all has something to do with a combination of water change stress and dominance negotiations, but I wanted to be sure. @Jay Hemdal do you have any ideas? Any recommendations of if they need treatment, if needed? Or do I just observe and make sure it isn't getting worse?

Since it's a FOWLR I can do a freshwater dip and hyposalinity in the DT fairly easily if it is ICH, but I'd rather not stress everyone out if I can avoid it.

Thanks in advance!

#FishDisease #HELP

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Screen Shot 2022-03-29 at 6.50.20 PM.png
Screen Shot 2022-03-29 at 7.02.07 PM.png
 

vetteguy53081

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Newbie question. Probably being paranoid, but want to make sure.

I've been stalking the forums and trying to figure out what's going on with my fish and if I need to worry. I have a 55 gallon FOWLR. It's relatively new. I started setting it up in mid-December. I have 7 fish, mostly captive bred: two chromis (first fish, introduced after the tank cycled, now about 2.5"), two juvenile clownfish (observation tank for 3 weeks/treated with Prazi, added mid-January, now about 2"), a forktail blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only for 10 days, about 1.5"), a starry blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only 10 days, 2.25"), and a 1" mystery fish who showed up about a month ago and seems to be doing fine. There are also various inverts added over the last four months, three hermits added with the chromis (two survived), and various others (snails, hermit crabs, two emerald crabs) added about 2 weeks after each fish introduction with no observation. I also have macro-algae. Inverts and macro came from "clean" systems like @AlgaeBarn or Indo Pacific Farms.

Parameters are all normal for a FOWLR (Ph between 8.2-8.4 ppm, 0 ppm on ammonia and nitrite, nitrite between 10-20ppm). Salinity is at low-ish, at 1.023. I've been doing a 10% water change weekly and a 20% once a month. During each change I do detrius vaccuming, and during the 20% water change I also turn off the aeration and heater on the tank until all the work is done.

After the mid-February 20% water change I noticed a raised small white spot on my black clownfish which went away in a day or so. I did the next 20% water change on Saturday (3/26) and similar white spots have appeared on both clowns and one chromis. The spots are on the tail/dorsal fin and bodies of the fish. There are no spots in the gills. The spots last 1-2 days and then go away but unlike the first time they haven't yet fully disappeared. The spots only appear after the 20% water change.

Everyone is eating robustly (as I'm writing this they're glaring at me demanding dinner). No signs of flashing. Breathing is normal. Nothing is out of the ordinary except for the spots.

The mystery fish has been terrorizing the larger chromis who was previously the tank bully (I started with three chromis and now am down to two). I also observed the two chromis having a stand off today (circling each other, touching mouths, moderate chasing) and the clowns are trying to sort out who is going to be the female (it's going to be the black one because it's larger, but they haven't figured that out yet). No signs of any issues on the other three fish.

The chromis has 3 of these spots. One is on the tail and the other are on the upper body. The orange clown has one near the eye and one by the tail and the black clown as a couple on the dorsal fin and one on the anal fin. The spots don't remain in a single place and disappear after a day or two. Initially I only noticed spots on the clowns, but that may be because it's tougher to see on the chromis because of its coloring and scales. I've attached a photo of a dorsal fin spot on the black clown just simply because it's easiest to see and she (??) is kind of a model and will pose in front of the camera. The other clown's spots are hard to see but are similar -- slightly raised and small. I've also attached a photo of the spot on the chromis' tail. It's directly above the upper fork of the tail; it's near impossible to catch the chromis not moving to see the two body spots, but they're below the dorsal fin. Again, each are roughly the same size as those on the clown and slightly raised.

I'm assuming because of the timing and the location of the spots this all has something to do with a combination of water change stress and dominance negotiations, but I wanted to be sure. @Jay Hemdal do you have any ideas? Any recommendations of if they need treatment, if needed? Or do I just observe and make sure it isn't getting worse?

Since it's a FOWLR I can do a freshwater dip and hyposalinity in the DT fairly easily if it is ICH, but I'd rather not stress everyone out if I can avoid it.

Thanks in advance!

#FishDisease #HELP

IMG_4207.jpg





Screen Shot 2022-03-29 at 6.50.20 PM.png
Screen Shot 2022-03-29 at 7.02.07 PM.png
Pics are very bright making it hard to see any blemishes/conditions. Looking at your readings, what test kit(s) are you using ?
On the dorsal fin of clown, I see what may be lympho which is viral. Can you provide additional side shots?
 
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Dog Whiskey

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Pics are very bright making it hard to see any blemishes/conditions. Looking at your readings, what test kit(s) are you using ?
On the dorsal fin of clown, I see what may be lympho which is viral. Can you provide additional side shots?
Lympho actually makes sense since it's only showing up after the water change/stress. I'm using API for testing which I know can have issues, but I've double checked with my LFS to make sure I'm using them properly and they were able to confirm my previous readings with their tests (I don't know which system they used but they did confirm my numbers). Ditto salinity -- I've double checked my readings with the LFS.

I'm having problems getting stills because they're now in feeding frenzy mode, but I have a video of both clowns that I attached. You can also see it on YouTube

 
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Dog Whiskey

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Here's another of the clown. The white dot at the top of the rear dorsal fin is what I'm concerned about. She's always had the weird "shotgun" mark on the side of her body.
 

vetteguy53081

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IMG_4232.jpg
Here's another of the clown. The white dot at the top of the rear dorsal fin is what I'm concerned about. She's always had the weird "shotgun" mark on the side of her body.
Lymphocystis
 

vetteguy53081

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Ok, I think that's good news???? So the treatment is basically just good water and potentially vitamins, correct?
Good Diet and good water quality
 

Jay Hemdal

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Ok, I think that's good news???? So the treatment is basically just good water and potentially vitamins, correct?

Watch the spots - if they are in the same location after 72 hours, they are not ich. The one spot looks like Lymphocystis, not 100% sure of the other ones.

That killifish may end up being a real trouble maker, they are pretty tough fish.

Jay
 
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Dog Whiskey

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Watch the spots - if they are in the same location after 72 hours, they are not ich. The one spot looks like Lymphocystis, not 100% sure of the other ones.

That killifish may end up being a real trouble maker, they are pretty tough fish.

Jay
Thanks Jay! I'll keep an eye out. The spot on the supermodel's top fin has been there since Sunday, so that's good news on the ich front. The timing also indicates something potentially stress induced, as it's shown up both times after a major water change.

I'm having a hard time seeing what the spots on the chromis are too just because of the coloration. I'm pretty sure the tail was a nip.

I agree killifish is the best bet on the mystery fish, just because of the timing of adding macro. BUT its dorsal and anal fins are getting much more red, there's a bit of blue and yellow on the tail, and the body isn't really striped but is more a goldish-green. For the life of me I cannot find a reference photo for a killifish that matches.

Guppies on the other hand...

And if Langiappe turns into too much of a PITA there's always the macro grow out tank! Although at this point I'm just amused that it's turned into the chromis sheriff.
 

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