Harlequin Tusk is sick

[beer]

I got 4.5 inch Australian Tusk about a week ago. He had been in the fish store for a couple weeks and always looked healthy, so I decided to take him home. Once he was in my tank, I noticed he had a couple small white spots on his caudal fin. It looked more like he had nicked his tail than ick or anything like that. Since then, the bumps have gotten a lot bigger, they've even started to stick out from his tail! They haven't spread to any other part of his body or any other fish, and they certainly don't seem to be affecting him yet. He still eats like a tiger shark and never hides. Am I dealing with parasites? I've had my share of ick outbreaks, but never seen anything quite like this.

Sorry for the poor picture quality, I couldn't get the little guy to stay still.

Should I even try messing with a cleaner shrimp or would this just be a nice meal for the poor fella? I've used garlic extract in the past for various things, but that's about all I have experience with. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading,

Mike

[don duncan]

pics might help. Sounds like an infection

[bimmerzs]

Maybe flukes also but that's probably a stretch. Those pic's will help for sure.

Cheers,

[jestep]

Do have a spare tank you can setup as a quarantine/hospital tank? Treating anything in a tank that large is pretty difficult. Whatever it is, you probably want to get him out so you can better identify and treat it.

[beer]

Sorry, I thought I had attached this pic on the original post. Unfortunately, the only other tank I have is a little 2 gallon hex, I wouldn't want to leave him in there for very long

[beer]

Ok, this one may be a little better.

Thanks for the help!

[ClarkiiCircus]

Looks like lymphocytis to me

http://aquarticles.c...mphocystis.html

*Note, the picture in this article is terrible, google the disease to see better pictures. This article is just the most thorough on causes and "cures"*

Here is another source that is a little bit more up to date on what you should actually do. Basically since it is a virus, nothing really helps. You need to let it run its course in a QT SYSTEM.

First thing to do with an infected fish is to remove as many of the stresses on the fish as you can, or at least significantly reduce the stresses. This means:

1) Isolate (quarantine) the fish if any of these things apply:

- i) Fish is covered in many areas with nodules;

- ii) Fish is being harassed by other fish;

- iii) Nodules on the fish's mouth hinder it from eating normally; and/or

- iv) Fish shows signs of secondary infections or disease

2) Improve water quality; and

3) improve environment (clean up, return to proper maintenance, check filters and keep clean, clean out detritus in the entire system, etc.).

The next thing to do is to improve its and all the fish's diet. This means:

a) Provide the proper diet and feed enough food, frequently enough;

b) Use fat and vitamin supplements, especially the right kind of vitamin C (see link below);

c) Use immune boosters (Fish Immune Boosters); and

d) Wait it out.

Remember, a fish displaying this is because it has suffered in your or the previous people's (poor) care that have handled this fish. The fish is stressed, maybe slightly injured. Helping the fish get better will require taking ALL the above actions, just not picking and choosing the ones you want. If the hobbyist is successful at addressing all the above and doing it all diligently, the fish will stop displaying Lymphocystis in anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months.

If it was necessary to isolate the fish, then treat with an antibiotic. The antibiotic does not cure the fish of Lymphocystis, but will prevent other bacterial and opportunistic pathogens from gaining any foothold. I would recommend treating with Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. Just follow directions on the medication.

Things that don't work or which pose additional problems include:

I) Trying to get cleaner fish or cleaner shrimp to 'clean' the fish of it;

II) Trying to put medications into the water or trying to medicate the fish; and

III) Scraping the fish with a human fingernail or an instrument. (This will break nodules and send the virus into the water in large numbers, and possibly cause more abrasion to the fish's skin which just means more infection sites AND further stressing the fish).

Things that do help, but which are not necessary to do:

A) Surgically removing the lumps (this require surgery (duh!) and anesthetizing the fish);

B) Isolate the fish (into a QT -- not a big requirement unless 1) above applies)ISOLATE ALL FISHES WITH EXTENSIVE VIRAL INFECTIONS OR WHICH MAY BE DISPLAYING SECONDARY INFECTIONS;

C) If isolated in a QT, swab clumps with Betadiene disinfectant every other day (this requires anesthetizing the fish); and

D) Obtaining the Neon Blue Goby (Elacatinus oceanops). These fish sometimesactually eat it off of some displaying marine fishes (not a cure, just removes what you see for the time being).

[beer]

Thanks for the info ClarkiiCircus! After seeing some of the other pictures out there, I'm pretty sure you nailed it. That looks like some pretty nasty stuff, but I was relieved to read that it had a very low mortality rate. I guess for now, I'll do a water change with some maintenance work on getting a proper QT set up.

Thanks again