Large white spot on Goatfish

[Ev8siveaz]

I’ve never seen that happen before, but it ought to grow back.
I just saw the eel - any worries about predation with it?
Jay

I've had him for 3 years and he's never went after another fish. I keep him really well fed though.

I was told that white eyed moray eels only tend to go after burrowing fish.

 

[Ev8siveaz]

@Jay Hemdal I just got home from a week vacation. I had someone watch the tank for me and feed the fish. The goatfish looks back to normal but I did notice that my fairy wrasse seems beat up. Does this look like disease or aggression to you? Lots of "raw" looking patches.

 

[Ev8siveaz]

Confirmed with person that watched my tank per a video from yesterday that those marks weren't there. They must have happened today.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Confirmed with person that watched my tank per a video from yesterday that those marks weren't there. They must have happened today.

Sudden appearance of lesions like that are often due to tankmate aggression - can you post a list of what fish are in with it? We may not be able to tell you who the culprit is, but we can probably rule some of them out.

Jay

 

[Ev8siveaz]

Sudden appearance of lesions like that are often due to tankmate aggression - can you post a list of what fish are in with it? We may not be able to tell you who the culprit is, but we can probably rule some of them out.

Jay

I figured it looked like aggression. Ive seen smaller marks on him like this from time to time but never that many. personally think it would be my hogfish. He can tend to be mean when he doesn't get fed a lot. Being that I was gone, I'm not sure how much was really fed. My stocking is:

Orangeback fairy
Blue throat trigger
Cuban hogfish
Green bird wrasse
Racoon butterfly
Yellow goatfish
White eyed moray
Chocolate chip star

The previous smaller ones have healed. Should I let this run its course?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I figured it looked like aggression. Ive seen smaller marks on him like this from time to time but never that many. personally think it would be my hogfish. He can tend to be mean when he doesn't get fed a lot. Being that I was gone, I'm not sure how much was really fed. My stocking is:

Orangeback fairy
Blue throat trigger
Cuban hogfish
Green bird wrasse
Racoon butterfly
Yellow goatfish
White eyed moray
Chocolate chip star

The previous smaller ones have healed. Should I let this run its course?

None of those are super aggressive, but all except the goatfish starfish and moray could possibly be the culprit.
I’d just keep an eye on it.
Jay

 

[Ev8siveaz]

None of those are super aggressive, but all except the goatfish starfish and moray could possibly be the culprit.
I’d just keep an eye on it.
Jay

Thanks Jay! Merry Xmas!

 

[Ev8siveaz]

@Jay Hemdal

Happy new year. The raw patches on the fairy wrasse have healed completely. He made a full recovery.

The goatfish still has me stumped. His barbel is almost fully healed. He eats great, is fat for a goatfish, has nice clear eyes, and is very active. The thing I don't understand is that, ever since returning from my vacation, he has not been bright yellow. His colors are dull and almost looked like he's stressed. He acts normal so I don't really feel he acts stressed at all. I am going to let it play out as he's eating like a pig, super active, barbel is healing nicely, and has clear eyes. Just wanted to post a vid to show his color and see your thoughts. I would love for him to be that vibrant yellow that he was before.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal

Happy new year. The raw patches on the fairy wrasse have healed completely. He made a full recovery.

The goatfish still has me stumped. His barbel is almost fully healed. He eats great, is fat for a goatfish, has nice clear eyes, and is very active. The thing I don't understand is that, ever since returning from my vacation, he has not been bright yellow. His colors are dull and almost looked like he's stressed. He acts normal so I don't really feel he acts stressed at all. I am going to let it play out as he's eating like a pig, super active, barbel is healing nicely, and has clear eyes. Just wanted to post a vid to show his color and see your thoughts. I would love for him to be that vibrant yellow that he was before.

IMO - that’s normal for a goatfish in captivity to fade like that. I’ve never been able to maintain them in good color for any real length of time.

Jay

 

[Ev8siveaz]

IMO - that’s normal for a goatfish in captivity to fade like that. I’ve never been able to maintain them in good color for any real length of time.

Jay

That's good to know. He seems normal other than the color. Thanks for the input. There really isn't much info on them that I can find.

How long did yours last in captivity?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

That's good to know. He seems normal other than the color. Thanks for the input. There really isn't much info on them that I can find.

How long did yours last in captivity?

Not long, not more than a couple of years for a bicolor goatfish as I recall.

Jay

 

[Ev8siveaz]

@Jay Hemdal I found this interesting and thought you may too. I was doing some more research and found this in an article written on the yellow goatfish. It seems that when they mature they turn to this coloration. I guess it is perfectly normal. First time I've seen this anywhere but it literally has the saddle as described.

 

[Ev8siveaz]

@Jay Hemdal In your experience, how long can it take to fully grow back a barbel? I've noticed his barbel is a little longer but hasn't grown much and that happened almost a month ago now. I did read that it may not grow back or if it does will most likely be shorter anyway. Pic for reference.

First pic is 2 weeks ago. 2nd is yesterday.