Ich or other parasites

[roberthu526]

I have treated the tank with hyposalinity for 30 days and before I starting to raise salinity there are white things showing up on the blue tang. I thought: dang, ich is still in the tank. But after further observing the fish I feel that it doesn't look like ich. I have dealt with ich before and lost almost all my fish in the display tank so I am not a new to the symptoms.
1st of all, the white thing are much bigger than normal ich white spots which is like fine sugar or salt.

The thing on the blue tang is almost like the small cotton balls you will normally find on an old t-shirt and to be frankly these two almost look identical.

Second, the white area stays on the fish for well over a week. I know ich usually fall off the fish in 2-3 days after they show up as white spots.

Third, they are not all spots. Most of the them show up as a string close to the fins(dosal fin and anal fin mostly although there were two big spots next to the back end of the left gill).

After all, the fish seems to be doing Okay although it is less active than before. He used to go crazy and dart in the tank at feeding time to snatch as much as he could. Now he still eats well but not as crazy as before. And he used to swim all over the tank all day and now he spends almost half of the day idle in the caves of under rocks. No other fish has shown symptom like this, just this blue tang.

I have dosed prazi pro twice. Once on Friday morning and once this afternoon(Sunday). I did a 30% water change yesterday(Saturday) morning. Should I raise salinity slowly since this does not look like ich or should I keep the entire tank at 1.010? Any suggestions or insight are appreciated!

You can see the white thing at the base of the dorsal fin in the photo.

 

[Humblefish]

Can't tell for sure from the photo, but it sounds like Lymphocystis: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

 

[roberthu526]

Can't tell for sure from the photo, but it sounds like Lymphocystis: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Thanks a lot. It looks exactly like that. It's good to know that it is less dangerous than ich but still rings the alarm. I will watch it closely and improve their diet. I was already adding vita hen and selcon to the food but guess I will need to do better. Going back to LRS again!

Thank you again for pointing me to the correct direction.

 

[4FordFamily]

Can't tell for sure from the photo, but it sounds like Lymphocystis: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Agree although I don't see it in the photo

 

[melypr1985]

I see the one bit by the dorsal fin, but it looks almost like a string. The description does sound like lymph though. I would be that's what it is as well.

 

[roberthu526]

Agree although I don't see it in the photo

Yeah it is not obvious in the photo but I couldn't get the part on the anal fin which is much bigger.

 

[roberthu526]

I see the one bit by the dorsal fin, but it looks almost like a string. The description does sound like lymph though. I would be that's what it is as well.

Thanks for your help! I sure will come back and post the results in a few days.

 

[Triggreef]

I just want to add that most of your description of ich sounds more like velvet... Fast loss of multiple fish, swimming in current, hiding etc is more related to velvet.

I never like hypo. Not much else to add but good luck.

 

[Triggreef]

I just want to add that most of your description of ich sounds more like velvet... Fast loss of multiple fish, swimming in current, hiding etc is more related to velvet.

I never like hypo. Not much else to add but good luck.

Actually let me clarify i read that wrong. Ich spots will stay for up to 7 days. Velvet for less time 2 or 3 would fit. It's a faster cycling parasite.

Also as far as loss of apatite that could just be contributed to the prazi as it is a well known side effect.

 

[roberthu526]

Actually let me clarify i read that wrong. Ich spots will stay for up to 7 days. Velvet for less time 2 or 3 would fit. It's a faster cycling parasite.

Also as far as loss of apatite that could just be contributed to the prazi as it is a well known side effect.

Thank you for your input. At this point I am fairly certain that it is lymphocystis. The symptom has been going on for well over two weeks and no other fish showed any sign of anything. Thank you for pointing out the side effects of prazi pro. I have never heard of it but I have restarted the carbon reactor since prazi pro has no impact on lymphocystis. I will do a 20-30% water change tonight and keep doing it for the rest of the week to keep the water as good as possible.