Blister on fish?

mOOning · Aug 18, 2020

Hey R2R,

So I purchased this Kole tang a few weeks ago from a very reputable shop that has a good QT program (You probably have ordered corals from here before). The fish always had what I thought was just a blemish on a fins but it seems that one of these "blemishes" has gotten bigger on the tail fin. It looks like a blister to me. The fish isn't breathing heavy, swims fine, doesn't rub against anything, and eats like a pig... He seems like he's in perfect health so I'm really confused on what it could be. Water perams are good and he gets along with his tank mates just fine (It's basically his tank). I haven't seen any signs of ich from him or his tank mates. Since he seems like he's in good health I was thinking of doing a freshwater dip to rule out flukes.. Can anyone identify this and confirm? Or is this actually just a blemish as first thought.

Thanks,
PC

Jay Hemdal · Aug 18, 2020

That is too large to be a fluke. If you can catch it easily, FW dip would tell you if it is something else like argulus (unlikely). However, if you have to chase the Fish half to death to catch it, the stress incurred would outweigh the benefit IMO.
Jay

Dr. Jim · Aug 18, 2020

Hard to tell from photo but kole tangs seem to be predisposed to bacterial skin infections that may look like this initially. I would just watch it for now and see what happens. (He won't be easy to catch and you may stress him to the point where the stress might make it worse). My advice would be to just feed nutritious foods and eliminate as much stress as possible....for now.

mOOning · Aug 18, 2020

Thank you Jay and Dr. Jim.

I think I'll leave him for now. I've been alternating frozen PE Mysis with Selcon and Rod's Food. Also feeding nori every other day.I'll definitely keep my eye on him.

Thanks again,
PC