Electric Blue Damsel issue

[oldbob50]

I've had two electric blue damsels in my tank for about 6 months. About six to eight weeks ago one started to get lighter. Started at the tail and progressed to the head. The head is the only part that is still the original color. It eats voraciously, swims well and shows no signs of being effected by the condition. The fish on the left is the its unaffected tank mate and the one on the right has the issue. I'm not sure what it is and need some help identifying it. There are no bumps or visible slime. The scales just look like they are whiteish. Since I'm new to saltwater, I'm not sure if this is something damsels do or it is something infecting the fish.

Since it swims normally, it would be virtually impossible to net it with all of the rock it can hide in. The minute the net touches the water it's in the rocks. If I need to remove it for treatment, does anyone have any suggestion on how to catch or trap it?

 

[Tahoe61]

What specifically are you feeding?
Is the other Damsel picking on the fish?

Welcome to R2R.

 

[oldbob50]

What specifically are you feeding?
Is the other Damsel picking on the fish?

Welcome to R2R.

They get flake food, and either plankton, mysis shrimp or brine shrimp mixed with reef frenzy. Neither fish is picking on the other specifically. The "normal" one stays on the left half of the tank and the effected on on the right side. They will occasionally chase each other if one intrudes on the other's territory. They eat together with all of the other fish in the tank and both will grab food directly from the feeding tube at the same time.

 

[Humblefish]

Does the affected one scratch itself, twitch it's head, breathe rapidly, or swim into the flow of a powerhead?

 

[oldbob50]

So far it is not showing any of those behaviors.

 

[Humblefish]

So far it is not showing any of those behaviors.

I would isolate the fish for further observation. If he’s small enough, a bottle trap might do the trick:

 

[oldbob50]

Thanks for the tip. I just saw this trap idea on another site a few days ago and made one this morning. I'll see if it will do the trick once the fish accept it into their environment. I pretty certain this is an infection or infestation and I know I need to get it out of the main tank but it is too healthy to catch at this time.

 

[oldbob50]

Update on this issue: Original post was in April. The fish is completely back to normal color and it never showed any signs of being sick or distressed. I would like to know if anyone else has seen this sort of thing with Damsels or any other type of fish.