just scratches or should I be concerned

defasum · Mar 27, 2018

I have had this Naso Tang for approximately 4 weeks now. These spots have been getting worse since I acquired him. I didn't notice them when I first got him. He has been eating great and is very active in the tank. In fact, he is quite friendly and is always greeting me by coming as close to the glass as he can when I'm near.

I may get flamed for this but I did not quarantine him when I received him. I trust my LFS and I know he puts his fish through meds when he receives them. He is also my second introduction to a fairly new tank. His only tank mates are a pair of clownfish. The clowns appear super healthy and are eating well also.

The tank is approx 4 months since it was setup. Params are looking good. only issue I am seeing is high calcium but I do not dose yet so it must be my salt (RPM)

I am hoping these are just scratches from the live rock. at least that is what they appear to be to me. He has not been flashing or showing any signs of being sick.

NB Reefer · Mar 27, 2018

#reefsquad to the rescue. I think you may have to be concerned. Maybe @Humblefish or @4FordFamily can chime in.

Flippers4pups · Mar 27, 2018

Looks like black ich. Black small dots all over are a signs of it. White dots could be secondary infection or damage from the worms.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-diseases-101.189284/

MarsRover · Mar 27, 2018

Doesn’t look like scratches to me! Sorry for the bad news

4FordFamily · Mar 27, 2018

That’s definitely a parasite. With Naso Tang sensitive skin, it could be black ich, velvet, ich, or even all of the above. I definitely see ich, and discoloring from other parasites. Velvet may be at play.

That fish needs to be removed and treated in copper/CP (along with all other fish in the tank) and then the tank ran fallow for 76 days. If black spots remain, prazipro dosed 5-7 days apart in quarantine post-copper would generally take care of that.

Humblefish · Mar 27, 2018

Naso Tangs can be tricky to diagnose; I would use a 5 min FW dip as a diagnostic tool here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

Take another pic post FW dip, and let's see what has dislodged and what remains on his skin.

melypr1985 · Mar 28, 2018

I'll add that about 60% of the naso tangs I order in at the shop end up with this. It's very slow to progress and can kill them if it's not treated. It may take a while to kill them, but I've never been able to just feed them healthy foods with vitamins and them get over it on their own. Keep in mind that my naso tangs are always kept in the copper system and prazi is dosed once a week in there. I've always suspected it to be a bacterial infection and have treated a couple of the nasos with antibiotics with good success. A few of the customers who bought one with this have treated with the tripple threat (kana, metro, furan) and done well with that.

Just a little personal experience.

defasum · Mar 28, 2018

Thanks everyone for the help. After I posted the close up pics I realized it definitely wasn't scratches. I'll FW dip and monitor tonight when I get home. I'll also buy some prazi. Are there any other meds I should buy to prepare (Cupermine)? This is my first time medicating so I don't have the necessary goods. I'm reading everything I can here to educate myself.

MarsRover · Mar 28, 2018

defasum said:
Thanks everyone for the help. After I posted the close up pics I realized it definitely wasn't scratches. I'll FW dip and monitor tonight when I get home. I'll also buy some prazi. Are there any other meds I should buy to prepare (Cupermine)? This is my first time medicating so I don't have the necessary goods. I'm reading everything I can here to educate myself.

Definitely get copper safe in my opinion. And the API copper test kit. Needs. Copper safe is typically more gentle on the fish, plus, I find it a heck of a lot easier to read the test kit (cupramine’s test kit with coating the stick with dry powder doesn’t make any sense to me how they get a reliable dosage out of that powder...)

Usually good meds to keep on hand are:
Metronidazol (metroplex)
Kanamycin
Furan 2
Prazi (I do liquid prazipro but if you get your hands on dry prazi powder you can mix with other antibiotics when necessisary but with caution)
Chloroquine phosphate
Copper safe

Sounds like a lot but having them on hand when you need them is so much better and less stressful than having to go get them or order them when you have sick fish!

I also always recommend Selcon or something similar. I swear it’s magic in a bottle for keeping animals healthy.

Also, keep reading the stickies. I know it’s drinking through a firehose but eventually you get used to it and can use it like a text book for reference!

Humblefish · Mar 28, 2018

defasum said:
Thanks everyone for the help. After I posted the close up pics I realized it definitely wasn't scratches. I'll FW dip and monitor tonight when I get home. I'll also buy some prazi. Are there any other meds I should buy to prepare (Cupermine)? This is my first time medicating so I don't have the necessary goods. I'm reading everything I can here to educate myself.

I think I would heed the advice of @melypr1985 here. She sees a lot more fish coming & going on a daily basis than any of us. And if she says she has seen this before, and Kanaplex + Furan-2 + Metroplex cleared it in some cases then those are the meds I would be ordering. In addition to Prazipro + Cupramine + Salifert copper test kit, because you will need all of those sooner or later.