thanks for the reply's all.. yep... before the issue with Hawaii I actually had a pair.. for some reason this one was always huge.. Jay are we in agreement then.. this looks to be bacterial? Ohh.. there is no way getting him out will be an easy one.. I have a few traps so I can get him out but.. there will not be in and out of the DT. I am contemplating putting him in the QT copper tank.. cleaning it up first. doing a huge water change and treating him in that 55QT. However, problem there is not so sure it is 100% ick free.. was QTing a hippo... as we know ick magnets... The hippo is still scratching with copper levels above 2.0 on a hanna ... he has been in there for 7 weeks arg.. sorry for diverging.... I might turn the hippo over to a local Fish store... I tend to think those always have ICK.. Just my 2 cents.. not looking to start a discussion on that... I had a pair of hippos for 20 plus years. loved them but they always showed signs of some ick... so bottom line.. will need to get the pottters caught and put in a QT/hospital tank with some anitbiotics.. no idea where this came from out of the blue.. only thought is some how introduced when I did some DR. Tim's waste away. I always wondered if opening a bottle of that stuff using it and then using it again month or so later was a bad idea because of possible growth in the bottle for bacteria ?