White Cotton Balls and Color Fade on Juvenile Blueface

[kboogie]

Disclaimer: This is my quarantine tank I keep all new fish in for four to eight weeks before they go into my 300G FOWLR display tank. The quarantine tank gets four hours of direct sunlight in the morning and four in the afternoon on the other side. I intentionally let the algae grow for my grazers (tangs and angels) but the glass gets covered within hours. Additionally, I don't run medication in quarantine, instead, I observe and determine if medication is needed. I've lost too many fish from the resulting stress of unnecessarily medicating, but I am a fan of prophylactic medications it just hasn't worked well for me. I quarantine to get new fish adjusted to my foods and make sure they are not sick. Lastly, The Blueface is skittish so I had to record this from 12 feet away hiding behind decorations. Please be kind.

Question: I have two issues with which I'm looking for help. Both issues are with my Juvenile Blueface Angelfish. The first issue is he has developed a fungus on his dorsal fins which looks like little cotton balls. Thoughts on treatment? The second issue is over the last week his body color has faded a bunch. He looks whitish. I don't know if he is starting to transform into adult colors, is it possible given he is about 2.75 inches long and thick in the body or is it related to the fungus? He eat well (frozen mysis, reef plankton, calanus all soaked in Brightwell Vitamin-M). Thoughts.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Disclaimer: This is my quarantine tank I keep all new fish in for four to eight weeks before they go into my 300G FOWLR display tank. The quarantine tank gets four hours of direct sunlight in the morning and four in the afternoon on the other side. I intentionally let the algae grow for my grazers (tangs and angels) but the glass gets covered within hours. Additionally, I don't run medication in quarantine, instead, I observe and determine if medication is needed. I've lost too many fish from the resulting stress of unnecessarily medicating, but I am a fan of prophylactic medications it just hasn't worked well for me. I quarantine to get new fish adjusted to my foods and make sure they are not sick. Lastly, The Blueface is skittish so I had to record this from 12 feet away hiding behind decorations. Please be kind.

Question: I have two issues with which I'm looking for help. Both issues are with my Juvenile Blueface Angelfish. The first issue is he has developed a fungus on his dorsal fins which looks like little cotton balls. Thoughts on treatment? The second issue is over the last week his body color has faded a bunch. He looks whitish. I don't know if he is starting to transform into adult colors, is it possible given he is about 2.75 inches long and thick in the body or is it related to the fungus? He eat well (frozen mysis, reef plankton, calanus all soaked in Brightwell Vitamin-M). Thoughts.

Can’t open video on my phone but they are susceptible to lymphocystis which is likely what you’re seeing and stems from poor water quality (can be that of LFS) or diet
Assure ammonia and nitrate are not elevated
Increase diet which is inadequate adding LRS fish frenzy or herbivore diet, veggie diet, nori, marine cuisine and Hikari angel formula
The fading could be bacterial but I suspect diet defiency and vitamin deficiency
Add selcon vitamins to your foods occasionally

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Disclaimer: This is my quarantine tank I keep all new fish in for four to eight weeks before they go into my 300G FOWLR display tank. The quarantine tank gets four hours of direct sunlight in the morning and four in the afternoon on the other side. I intentionally let the algae grow for my grazers (tangs and angels) but the glass gets covered within hours. Additionally, I don't run medication in quarantine, instead, I observe and determine if medication is needed. I've lost too many fish from the resulting stress of unnecessarily medicating, but I am a fan of prophylactic medications it just hasn't worked well for me. I quarantine to get new fish adjusted to my foods and make sure they are not sick. Lastly, The Blueface is skittish so I had to record this from 12 feet away hiding behind decorations. Please be kind.

Question: I have two issues with which I'm looking for help. Both issues are with my Juvenile Blueface Angelfish. The first issue is he has developed a fungus on his dorsal fins which looks like little cotton balls. Thoughts on treatment? The second issue is over the last week his body color has faded a bunch. He looks whitish. I don't know if he is starting to transform into adult colors, is it possible given he is about 2.75 inches long and thick in the body or is it related to the fungus? He eat well (frozen mysis, reef plankton, calanus all soaked in Brightwell Vitamin-M). Thoughts.

Just some general thoughts;

If you've read my posts here, you'll know that I am a strong proponent for properly performed preventative quarantine. Observational quarantine leads to major problems if a disease starts up, as these are always easier to prevent than to treat.

Your angels are all pretty "thick". That's good to some extent, just be sure you are maintaining good water quality.

With these species, and the emperor specifically, I would say they need to be treated for flukes. Prazipro or General Cure, dosed twice, 8 or 9 days apart with good aeration is well tolerated. That could be contributing to the blueface's paling coloration.

The lesion on top of the blueface's dorsal is difficult to see clearly, but is probably lymphocystis, and if so, doesn't need treatment, it will go away on its own in 6 to 8 weeks (but it may get worse). True external fungal infections are really rare in marine fish. If it isn't Lymphocystis, it might be bacterial.


Jay

 

[kboogie]

Thank you Jay. I’ll do the treatment for flukes.

 

[kboogie]

I've uploaded the video to YouTube to make it easier to view.

 

[kboogie]

Just some general thoughts;

If you've read my posts here, you'll know that I am a strong proponent for properly performed preventative quarantine. Observational quarantine leads to major problems if a disease starts up, as these are always easier to prevent than to treat.

Your angels are all pretty "thick". That's good to some extent, just be sure you are maintaining good water quality.

With these species, and the emperor specifically, I would say they need to be treated for flukes. Prazipro or General Cure, dosed twice, 8 or 9 days apart with good aeration is well tolerated. That could be contributing to the blueface's paling coloration.

The lesion on top of the blueface's dorsal is difficult to see clearly, but is probably lymphocystis, and if so, doesn't need treatment, it will go away on its own in 6 to 8 weeks (but it may get worse). True external fungal infections are really rare in marine fish. If it isn't Lymphocystis, it might be bacterial.


Jay

I forgot to mention that I keep the salinity in my quarantine tank at 1.009 to 1.010. Does that eliminate the need to explicitly treat for flukes?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I forgot to mention that I keep the salinity in my quarantine tank at 1.009 to 1.010. Does that eliminate the need to explicitly treat for flukes?

Yes - the main fluke issue with this group of fish is Neobenedenia. That fluke can be eliminated by holding the fish at a specific gravity of 1.012 (or less) for 35 days.

Jay

 

[kboogie]

Yes - the main fluke issue with this group of fish is Neobenedenia. That fluke can be eliminated by holding the fish at a specific gravity of 1.012 (or less) for 35 days.

Jay

Thank you Jay! You are a national treasure!