Box fish with white blotches on skin &fins

[voksbug]

Hello.

My Box fish has white blotches on its fins and skin. It also has a cloudy eye. He is in quarantine and has been since I purchased him 3 months ago.

He didn't start showing any disease until my Blond Naso Tang, also quarantined (but separated by an acrylic barrier). Got sick and died.

The box fish eats and acts normally except for the fleshy spots (see pics)

It does not look like Ich but I treated for it with no improvement.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

voksbug Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

• CURRENT QT PROTOCOL LINK
• HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello.

My Box fish has white blotches on its fins and skin. It also has a cloudy eye. He is in quarantine and has been since I purchased him 3 months ago.

He didn't start showing any disease until my Blond Naso Tang, also quarantined (but separated by an acrylic barrier). Got sick and died.

The box fish eats and acts normally except for the fleshy spots (see pics)

It does not look like Ich but I treated for it with no improvement.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

This appears to be lymphocysis which is a condition and not disease. Often its associated with water quality issue as simple as elevated ammonia or nitrate and can be that of water from LFS and not yours. Assure to provide Good water quality monitored by a reliable test kit and feed nutritious food with fats such as LRS nano frenzy and mysis shrimp.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello.

My Box fish has white blotches on its fins and skin. It also has a cloudy eye. He is in quarantine and has been since I purchased him 3 months ago.

He didn't start showing any disease until my Blond Naso Tang, also quarantined (but separated by an acrylic barrier). Got sick and died.

The box fish eats and acts normally except for the fleshy spots (see pics)

It does not look like Ich but I treated for it with no improvement.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

What have you treated it with so far?

 

[voksbug]

I have dipped it in hydroplex. Treated with Prazipro (for a week). Super Ick cure for 4-days. I did 50 percent water changes as directed when treating with Prazipro and Super Ick. All treatments were done separately about 4 days apart.

 

[voksbug]

This appears to be lymphocysis which is a condition and not disease. Often its associated with water quality issue as simple as elevated ammonia or nitrate and can be that of water from LFS and not yours. Assure to provide Good water quality monitored by a reliable test kit and feed nutritious food with fats such as LRS nano frenzy and mysis shrimp.

Thanks. I was reading up on that the other day. Keeping water parameters good. If that is the issue, it may have initiated as a result of the death of the Naso Tang also in Quarantine. Thx again.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have dipped it in hydroplex. Treated with Prazipro (for a week). Super Ick cure for 4-days. I did 50 percent water changes as directed when treating with Prazipro and Super Ick. All treatments were done separately about 4 days apart.

None of those treatments are effective against marine ich.

The differential diagnosis here is ich or lymphocystis. Ich causes cloudy eyes, lymphocystis does not. Lymphocystis lesions are larger than ich and are usually seen on the edges of the fins. Ich spots change location day to day and change in numbers. Lymphocystis growths appear and then stay in the same location for weeks/months.
If you can post clearer pictures, I can tell you better….

 

[voksbug]

Well now the Yellow Tang in the QT is showing the same thing on its fins. It is definitely not spots. The stuff is fleshy and waves when the fins move. I'll try to take a better picture when I get home. The Box fish is the size of the end of my thumb, so getting a good picture is a little difficult. The ick med I used is API Super Ick Cure. I have used it in the past to great effect. Is there something better you recommend? Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Well now the Yellow Tang in the QT is showing the same thing on its fins. It is definitely not spots. The stuff is fleshy and waves when the fins move. I'll try to take a better picture when I get home. The Box fish is the size of the end of my thumb, so getting a good picture is a little difficult. The ick med I used is API Super Ick Cure. I have used it in the past to great effect. Is there something better you recommend? Thanks

Super Ich Cure is really a freshwater ich treatment that gets sold to treat marine ich - but it is not very effective. It is malachite green and acriflavine.

The best treatments for marine ich are: coppersafe, hyposalinity or chloroquine (in roughly that order). None of these can be used with invertebrates in the tank.

I'll try to get you a better diagnosis when you get more pictures/videos.....

 

[voksbug]

OK here are a couple of pictures. I really could not get a great pic of the box fish, but you can see the spots on the tail. You can't see it, but his right eye is cloudy. I got a good pic and a video of the Tang. His fins look shredded, and he is getting a pink hue to his lips and mouth. Thanks for looking

 

[voksbug]

To be clear, I really think these fish caught whatever it is from the now deceased Naso Tang (Blond). The Tang was captive bred, not sure about the box fish. The Naso Tang came from a local fish shop. I only have one Quarantine tank...I'm getting another now! Thanks.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

To be clear, I really think these fish caught whatever it is from the now deceased Naso Tang (Blond). The Tang was captive bred, not sure about the box fish. The Naso Tang came from a local fish shop. I only have one Quarantine tank...I'm getting another now! Thanks.

I think the fish have "long term" ich, that looks different than a fresh infection does. Since you've already tried prazipro, I think you can rule out flukes. If you are able, I would treat the tank with coppersafe at 2.25 ppm

 

[voksbug]

After more research, I am almost certain that it is velvet. When you look at the fish from an angle there is a white haze. Box Fish is still eating but the Tang(s) have stopped. See previous pictures above and tell me what you think. TY

 

[voksbug]

I am treating with copper safe. (started today). I hope it goes well.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I am treating with copper safe. (started today). I hope it goes well.

I don't see any indication that the fish has velvet, but Coppersafe handles both ich and velvet. The caveat is though, that it takes at least 3 days to start to work, so hopefully, the fish is strong enough to handle that time frame.