Coral Beauty - Velvet, Ich or Something Else?

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

I came home to the two little white spots on my coral beauty. I am only 3 weeks into the hobby and my first thoughts were ich or velvet? She is eating normal and actually seems to be more active today than ever. Could she be fighting it off? Any help or advice is appreciated.

Old Fritz · Dec 4, 2018

are you able to get a close up picture of the spots? Those spots look fairly large to be ich and it is only two spots. Are there any other fish in the tank that are nipping at it? What other symptoms do you notice?

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

Old Fritz said:
are you able to get a close up picture of the spots? Those spots look fairly large to be ich and it is only two spots. Are there any other fish in the tank that are nipping at it? What other symptoms do you notice?

I have two clowns, a few scarlet hermits and a few snails

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

No other symptoms. Only real difference is a crazy increase in activity. She is zooming all over the tank pecking stuff off rocks

Old Fritz · Dec 4, 2018

looks more like a bacterial infection to me, he might've banged himself up on the rocks or something that caused an open wound to get infected. If he's eating and active that is always a good sign, and sometimes they can fight it off on their own however I would still use medication.
here's a good thread on bacterial infections to read

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

Old Fritz said:
looks more like a bacterial infection to me, he might've banged himself up on the rocks or something that caused an open wound to get infected. If he's eating and active that is always a good sign, and sometimes they can fight it off on their own however I would still use medication.
here's a good thread on bacterial infections to read

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

Thanks. I just skimmed that article and will read more in depth shortly. I can’t catch him to get him into my QT tank. Last resort would be ripping out all of the rocks.

Before going through that for medication should I monitor her for sometime first to see if anything changes?

Old Fritz · Dec 4, 2018

I know the pain of trying to catch fish with a bunch of rock in the tank, it isnt easy. I would qt him regardless, the cleaner the water the better chance for recovery. The infection doesn't look bad but I always treat what I see to be safe, because it could spiral out of control, its best to treat it early rather than take a chance on whether it will get better on its own.

HotRocks · Dec 4, 2018

This could be lympho. It doesn't appear to be parasitic. Did you QT this fish or treat in any way before placing in DT. I understand you said you are 3 weeks in.

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

HotRocks said:
This could be lympho. It doesn't appear to be parasitic. Did you QT this fish or treat in any way before placing in DT. I understand you said you are 3 weeks in.

I did put him in the QT tank for practice but my lack of patience got the best of me so I moved him to display tank after only 3 days.

I didn’t treat with anything because she showed no signs of anything

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

Could higher nitrates than my lfs be a cause of lympho?

My water has been really good other than slowly trying to reduce my nitrates on a new tank.
@HotRocks

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

The second spot is on her left fin. Opposite site as the body spot.

Maritimer · Dec 4, 2018

The edges of the fins of butterflies and angels are some of the very best spots to find examples of Lymphocystis.

~Bruce

Katrina71 · Dec 4, 2018

Trust what Maritimer says. Incredibly knowledgeable!

Katrina71 · Dec 4, 2018

From reading it appears common in Coral beauties

Maritimer · Dec 4, 2018

You are too kind, Katrina71 ... there are whole great gobs of things I haven't got a clue about - and even where I know a little, I often enough get it wrong.

~Bruce

Katrina71 · Dec 4, 2018

Maritimer said:
You are too kind, Katrina71 ... there are whole great gobs of things I haven't got a clue about - and even where I know a little, I often enough get it wrong.

~Bruce

You are modest, sir.

4FordFamily · Dec 4, 2018

I can’t see anything other than an injury or possible lymph. Angels are notorious for carrying velvet and ich, keep a close eye for an unquarantined fish

HotRocks · Dec 4, 2018

Maritimer said:
You are too kind, Katrina71 ... there are whole great gobs of things I haven't got a clue about - and even where I know a little, I often enough get it wrong.

~Bruce

Bruce you are always spot on man! Give yourself some credit! You also have some very enjoyable and witty arrangements with your words!

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

Thanks guys and gals! I appreciate all the responses.

I will monitor and provide an update tomorrow unless something comes up sooner with her.

Unskilled Reefer · Dec 4, 2018

Maritimer said:
The edges of the fins of butterflies and angels are some of the very best spots to find examples of Lymphocystis.

~Bruce

How can I try to avoid this in the future? Any treatment other than let her ride it out?

My water has had no ammonia spikes after my tank cycled. Nitrates have been a bit high but I have been doing water changes every few days to bring it down. Highest was about 40ppm prior to a fish being in. 30ppm was the highest it hit with the coral beauty in the tank. I used ammonium chloride fishless method. Added the coral beauty after the tank cycled. She was in before the clowns. Had a few hermit crabs and snails in before coral beauty. I stared feeding omega flake for about first week but switched to Mysis this past 5-6 days.

Is it safe to leave her in display tank. Getting her out requires a ton of work. I can do this if needed but want to leave this to last resort.