New Flame Angel - Scale damage from other fish or disease?

[TeeJay87]

There are a couple white spots near Flame Angel’s eye that are slightly raised. Flame Angel arrived 3 days ago (was quarantined), acts normal and swims around rather freely by now though there was mild to moderate fish aggression day 1. I’ve never noticed any ich on my fish since tank was started 2.5 years ago. I assume it’s some lifted scales from some fish aggression toward the new Flame Angel, but please let me know whether you agree or think it’s something else.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

TeeJay87 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

 

[LAReefer4Life]

If the spots come and go over the next few days then I would be concerned about ich. Marine ich has a well known life cycle which feeds on the fish for 3-7 days and them drops off into the substrate to reproduce.

I have several angels and they can get fungal or viral issues that can be confused for ich.

When adding new fish, I suggest an acclimation box for week or so to mitigate the aggression issues. It really is a game changer for the fish stress and you too.

Keep an eye on behavior and physical spots over the next few weeks. Do you have a qt setup just in case?

 

[TeeJay87]

If the spots come and go over the next few days then I would be concerned about ich. Marine ich has a well known life cycle which feeds on the fish for 3-7 days and them drops off into the substrate to reproduce.

I have several angels and they can get fungal or viral issues that can be confused for ich.

When adding new fish, I suggest an acclimation box for week or so to mitigate the aggression issues. It really is a game changer for the fish stress and you too.

Keep an eye on behavior and physical spots over the next few weeks. Do you have a qt setup just in case?

Thanks for the tips. Yes I have a QT set up. I would like get a nice acclimation box setup, but I typically buy multiple fish at a time to reduce shipping costs. Do you use a separate acclimation box for each fish in this case? 3 days ago, I received a copperband butterfly, a maculiceps tang, and a flame angel at the same time. The aggression was spread around though the copperband took the worst of it day 1 so I moved him to an acclimation box for 12 hours and there’s been no serious aggression towards any fish since day 1, mostly just pecking order posturing.

Maybe I can slightly modify my original question: Does scale damage from fish aggression ever look like these white spots? Or am I definitely dealing with something else?

 

[TeeJay87]

TeeJay87 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

Quarantine done by Dr. Reef.

Salinity 35.5
Temp 78.5F
NO3 17 (all via iDip unless otherwise noted)
PO4 0.10
PH 8.2
Alk over 14.2 (max of my test kit) I’m bringing it down slowly using RHF method of pH Reducer added to new water changes, but it’s a constant battle versus Alk that is added from Kalkwasser dosing.
CA 446
Mg 1395 (Salifert)

 

[vetteguy53081]

There are a couple white spots near Flame Angel’s eye that are slightly raised. Flame Angel arrived 3 days ago (was quarantined), acts normal and swims around rather freely by now though there was mild to moderate fish aggression day 1. I’ve never noticed any ich on my fish since tank was started 2.5 years ago. I assume it’s some lifted scales from some fish aggression toward the new Flame Angel, but please let me know whether you agree or think it’s something else.

Even though the fish was purchased as quarantined, assume it has something and do a short QT on your own for at least 14 days. Ich will move every 24 hors and what you see may be sand grains. The lifted scales can be from netting which is not unusual.
To be safe before something evolves and affects the entire tank, Place angel in QT using coppersafe at 2.25 for 14-21 days with added aeration while monitoring ammonia level with a reliable ammonia kit. For copper, i recommend Hanna brand copper test kit

 

[TeeJay87]

As far as damage from fish aggression, I’m kind of thinking that’s low probability now as the fins look pretty perfect and it would be strange for the fish aggression to be so concentrated on that one small area only. I’m now hoping it’s Lymphocystis and it may or may not be relevant that my Foxface had Lympho for the first few days when added to this tank about 1.5 years ago. As you can see from the video, Flame Angel looks healthy and active and pecking at the rocks, eats frozen, etc. I think it may be a challenge to get him out, but I will certainly try if it’s warranted.

2 More pictures and a youtube video link:

 

[TeeJay87]

If the spots come and go over the next few days then I would be concerned about ich. Marine ich has a well known life cycle which feeds on the fish for 3-7 days and them drops off into the substrate to reproduce.

I have several angels and they can get fungal or viral issues that can be confused for ich.

When adding new fish, I suggest an acclimation box for week or so to mitigate the aggression issues. It really is a game changer for the fish stress and you too.

Keep an eye on behavior and physical spots over the next few weeks. Do you have a qt setup just in case?

Any suggestions where I can learn more about the fungal/viral issues that are common to angels?

Unrelated aside, possible he scratched up against a rock on that side of his face.