Hippo tang black splotches

[cmor1701d]

Turned the lights on in the QT tank and see these black splotches on the hippo tang.
It also looks a bit emaciated.
I got it about a week ago together with a Mandarin goby and a flametail Blenny. Blenny is hiding in the rocks and the green Mandarin is out and about picking on copepods.

The tang has never touched any nori I put in the tank. I remove it after a few hours. It does go for the pellets I drop in a couple of times a day (very small pinch). Pellets are Piscene PE my sis and Hikari herbivore
Disease diagnosis?
Best treatment?

 

[zheka757]

I can't help you on figuring it out. But the fish medics that are here will ask for a better picture/video of the fish

 

[cmor1701d]

Turned the lights on in the QT tank and see these black splotches on the hippo tang.
It also looks a bit emaciated.
I got it about a week ago together with a Mandarin goby and a flametail Blenny. Blenny is hiding in the rocks and the green Mandarin is out and about picking on copepods.

The tang has never touched any nori I put in the tank. I remove it after a few hours. It does go for the pellets I drop in a couple of times a day (very small pinch). Pellets are Piscene PE my sis and Hikari herbivore
Disease diagnosis?
Best treatment?
Hard to get better pictures with the phone camera. Here's a short video and a couple of pics with the filter on the phone.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Do the spots appear flush with the body, or are they "divots" in the skin? In the photos, they look flush with the skin, but in the video they look more like holes.

How long has the fish had these do you think?
Have you dosed the QT with anything yet?

Generally, spots with dark edges like this are a reaction of the fish to some irritation - either a parasite, or a stinging invertebrates (we can rule that out here). It's called granulation tissue.

Juvenile hepatus tangs tend to need more meaty foods in their diet, and few go for nori. I would increase the pellet feeding and also add in some diced frozen mysids.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pics are dark but appear to be either bite marks , sting or other injury and may be secondary bacterial
Treatment in quarantine best with seachem kanaplex or neoplex

 

[cmor1701d]

Do the spots appear flush with the body, or are they "divots" in the skin? In the photos, they look flush with the skin, but in the video they look more like holes.

How long has the fish had these do you think?
Have you dosed the QT with anything yet?

Generally, spots with dark edges like this are a reaction of the fish to some irritation - either a parasite, or a stinging invertebrates (we can rule that out here). It's called granulation tissue.

Juvenile hepatus tangs tend to need more meaty foods in their diet, and few go for nori. I would increase the pellet feeding and also add in some diced frozen mysids.

Jay

Depending on the view they do appear to be flush with the skin, but at times they do look like depressions.
They just appeared overnight. Yesterday the fish was fine. This morning I noticed the blemishes.
The QT tank hasn't been dosed with anything. I was planning on starting a 28-day hypo prophylactically. It's been in the tank for about a week so far.

I just got some Masstick in so I'll try a small piece of that in a few places around the tank. I'll pick up some frozen mysis later at the lfs.

Thank you.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Depending on the view they do appear to be flush with the skin, but at times they do look like depressions.
They just appeared overnight. Yesterday the fish was fine. This morning I noticed the blemishes.
The QT tank hasn't been dosed with anything. I was planning on starting a 28-day hypo prophylactically. It's been in the tank for about a week so far.

I just got some Masstick in so I'll try a small piece of that in a few places around the tank. I'll pick up some frozen mysis later at the lfs.

Thank you.

Mass tick is good also.
I think I would start hypo now - that will work against ich, flukes and turbellarians, so you would cover everything except velvet or brooklynella.
Jay

 

[cmor1701d]

Mass tick is good also.
I think I would start hypo now - that will work against ich, flukes and turbellarians, so you would cover everything except velvet or brooklynella.
Jay

I have a jar of freeze dried mysis. I crumbled a pinch in my palm so it would be small enough for the tang. It started gobbling it up. I fed it again every few hours, just a tiny pinch.
The tang looks better today.
I mixed up gallons of RODI water yesterday for both salt mix and top off.
I'll start working on reducing SG over the next day to start the hypo treatment.
Hopefully it will be done with all inhabitants coming through healthy. The lfs has a purple tang and a yellow tang that I'm looking at getting in January.

I was thinking of moving the Mandarin goby to the DT as their slime coat usually protects them from parasites. Now I'm thinking I'll just leave it in the QT and go through the hypo too.

Just got a brine shrimp hatchery that I'm setting up today too. Should have some live food to add in a day or 2.

Thanks for the help and advice.