White Spots.. Ich or Tufts?

[Sean Norman]

Back in March I bought a fish from a reputable dealer in quarantined fish. The fish arrived and was placed into my DT without observation.. three days later I had what appeared to be a velvet outbreak which killed three of my fish. I was able to catch my three remaining fish and treat them. They were placed into a different DT after treatment and are doing great.
The dealer offered me a store credit. I waited 59 days keeping the DT fallow. I ran my UV and increased the tank temp to 81 degrees. I did get a Tomini Tang from the dealer. The fish arrived and I put it into an observation tank for 6 days. He was shy but ate and had no signs of illness.
He went into the DT by himself .. total days from suspected Velvet outbreak was 64 days at that point. The Tang was in the tank for 10 days or so.. and then I see white spots on the fish. The spots are more like raised bumps.. what is different is that they are on a straight line down one side of the fish. The fish is acting normal, no scratching and breathing is normal. It is eating.
Could it be a bacterial infection ? The dealer mentioned “Bacterial Tufts” with the last outbreak. But the fish all had a white dusting over them and died within 24-36 hours of showing symptoms.
Short them.. catching the tang is proving to be challenging… I would like to pull him and treat him.
Long term.. is there something in my tank causing this? Corals and inverts are still in the tank.
Current parameters..
Salt 1025
PH 8.1
Alk 9.6
Phosphates 0
Nitrates 1-2… sometimes showing 0( no fish for 60 days).
Pods are reproducing.. diatoms are present probably due to the low nitrates and phosphates and the fact that the tank is 6 months old.

 

[Rocks reef]

Those white raised bumps appear to be Lymphocystitis. It normally goes away on it's own, but my get worse before it gets better.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

 

[Sean Norman]

Those white raised bumps appear to be Lymphocystitis. It normally goes away on it's own, but my get worse before it gets better.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

I was able to catch him.. do I treat it?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I was able to catch him.. do I treat it?

I dont believe lympho but rather post injury from bite or sting or else fin ray issue. Can use clearer pics as these are blurry

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I agree, that white isn’t Lymphocystis, and it isn’t any protozoan disease (too large). I’m not saying the doesn’t have some more hidden issue, but that spot isn’t a big concern.

 

[Sean Norman]

I agree, that white isn’t Lymphocystis, and it isn’t any protozoan disease (too large). I’m not saying the doesn’t have some more hidden issue, but that spot isn’t a big concern.

Thanks, now that I have him I am going to keep him in a QT and observe. Last night it was a straight line of white raised bumps.

 

[MnFish1]

To answer some of your other questions - the 60 days fallow period should have taken care of whatever it was. Velvet - FWIW - in marine tanks often does not show the 'dusting'. seen in freshwater fish. Instead it tends to be more fast breathing and behavior. It may be that your other fish had something else.

Though you may have used a reputable dealer - its often a good idea to keep fish in an observation tank - since 1) things can get through the best QT and 2) shipping, etc is stressful - and latent disease may show up. Good luck with your tang and tank

 

[Sean Norman]

To answer some of your other questions - the 60 days fallow period should have taken care of whatever it was. Velvet - FWIW - in marine tanks often does not show the 'dusting'. seen in freshwater fish. Instead it tends to be more fast breathing and behavior. It may be that your other fish had something else.

Though you may have used a reputable dealer - its often a good idea to keep fish in an observation tank - since 1) things can get through the best QT and 2) shipping, etc is stressful - and latent disease may show up. Good luck with your tang and tank

Agree.. never had any issues in the past with this dealer. I did keep this fish and observe for 6 days before releasing him. He looks almost clear now. I am going to keep him in the QT for a week or so.

 

[MnFish1]

Agree.. never had any issues in the past with this dealer. I did keep this fish and observe for 6 days before releasing him. He looks almost clear now. I am going to keep him in the QT for a week or so.

I have heard (and seen) of other viral illnesses that look like this - and this may be one - as the others have said - it's not clearly lymphocystis. I would continue QT until the fish is eating completely normal - and hopefully the lesions are resolved/clearly resolving. Be sure that the water quality in the QT is excellent (as it sounds like it is)