White spot on tang, gone by midday?

[kstripp]

This morning when we sat down to breakfast, we noticed a white spot on the purple tang. It was hard to get a photo because he zips around so much, but these is the best we could get:

After looking through the pictorial index, we were thinking bacterial or maybe lymphocystis, though we really weren't sure at all.

Then when we looked again around lunch... there was no sign of the spot at all.

As far as recent changes/events, two things come to mind, and both significant.
Last week I did a total overhaul of the plumbing, going from soft to hard. Final changeover was on Saturday.
The other is a nitrates issue that cropped up recently. I first noticed in mid May, but the normal adjustment to NO3PO4X dose didn't seem to help, so after another week or so I did a high range test, and it maxed that out. Haven't found the root cause yet, but over the last few weeks it has been stubbornly high... so water quality definitely cannot be ruled out as an issue.

Any ideas? Should we be worried about this, even though it disappeared?

 

[Big G]

Might have just been a piece of sand, coral from where it sleeps at night. They often wedge into the rocks for the night.

 

[kstripp]

Might have just been a piece of sand, coral from where it sleeps at night. They often wedge into the rocks for the night.

Thanks for the insight! It didn't *look* like something stuck to us.. but then we're still pretty inexperienced at this...

 

[Big G]

Large white spots can be lympho or Ich or even Brook. Lympho can come and go but not usually that fast; the white spots of Ich are the mucous spot from the fish's immune system reacting to the parasites attachment and does fall/wear off, but also not usually that fast. Brook's white spots usually stay in place as the parasites continue attaching to the fish.
So keep an eye on the fish

 

[kstripp]

Thanks @Big G. And we'll definitely be watching closely for several days.

 

[TobyPhatz77]

I wish there were more posts on this thread.
My powder blue tang gets a bunch of white spots on its side after being stressed.
E.g. Ive seen it show tiger stripes if somethings bothering it and just after this the spots appear.
Within a couple of hours they completely disappear.

When I first bought it 5 weeks ago I did notice some scratching against the sand and was worried about ich but after giving a healthy amount of garlic this stopped.
I feed flakes but I still soak frozen food in garlic a few times a week.

Its very teritorial to the point of a lawnmower blenny starving to death after being introduced and the tang not letting it come out to eat but that’s a different story...
The tang is small, only 2-3 inches. I’m hoping it’s a phase if there is such a thing!

It seems healthy with a big appetite but do I have a festering disease that’s eventually going to take out my other fish?

 

[TobyPhatz77]

Large white spots can be lympho or Ich or even Brook. Lympho can come and go but not usually that fast; the white spots of Ich are the mucous spot from the fish's immune system reacting to the parasites attachment and does fall/wear off, but also not usually that fast. Brook's white spots usually stay in place as the parasites continue attaching to the fish.
So keep an eye on the fish

I wish there were more posts on this thread.
My powder blue tang gets a bunch of white spots on its side after being stressed.
E.g. Ive seen it show tiger stripes if somethings bothering it and just after this the spots appear.
Within a couple of hours they completely disappear.

When I first bought it 5 weeks ago I did notice some scratching against the sand and was worried about ich but after giving a healthy amount of garlic this stopped.
I feed flakes but I still soak frozen food in garlic a few times a week.

Its very teritorial to the point of a lawnmower blenny starving to death after being introduced and the tang not letting it come out to eat but that’s a different story...
The tang is small, only 2-3 inches. I’m hoping it’s a phase if there is such a thing!

It seems healthy with a big appetite but do I have a festering disease that’s eventually going to take out my other fish?

After looking at the pics on this thread I might by posting in the wrong place.
My tang shows a lot of spots on its body when it happens.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My guess is sand and often confused as ich

 

[kstripp]

Well, if nothing else you reminded me that I never checked back in to this thread. In my case, we haven't seen the white spot re-appear since then. While it didn't look like something stuck to me, it also never came back, so maybe that is in f act what it was.

 

[kstripp]

I figured I'd revive this thread, because the spot came back, but larger and on the other side this time. Picture attached.

The main recent change was adding 3 new fish, but that was about 3 weeks ago.

Thoughts? Possibly sand again? Regardless, we'll be watching him closely for a few days.

 

[kstripp]

And it is gone again... we thought it looked gone yesterday evening, and by this morning we could tell for certain. No trace left that we can see..

 

[Crazy Reefer Mick]

I’ve been reefing for almost 40 years since the hobby was in its infant stages. I’ve had many tangs and over those years and one in specific the last several years. I have a 90 gallon mostly reef with SPS and LPS corals and a few softies. I also have an Atlantic Blue Tang that was the size of a silver dollar when I got him and he’s now the size of my hand; approximately 6” across. Yes, when “BigBlue” and several other dark colored tangs I’ve owned all have exhibited white blotches after being stressed. Every time by the following morning these blotches have completely disappeared. Several darker colored tangs I’ve owned over the years all have done this with no harm then or at later dates. These blotches only appear after a heavy cleaning or a major fragging day. IMO this appears to be normal behavior. With that being said, anytime, you are Fish exhibit any type of white blotch it is a good idea to verify that it is not ick, fungus, bacterial infection, or some parasite. However, since I’ve noticed this over many years with multiple dark colored species of tans, I’m inclined to believe this is some sort of normal autonomic response to stress.