Need some advice from you guys

[RyanEFC]

Hello my blue tang has white spots am not sure if it is sand as my diamond goby likes to make a lot of mess, he’s eating an acting normal but has been paying a few visits to my cleaner shrimp

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello my blue tang has white spots am not sure if it is sand as my diamond goby likes to make a lot of mess, he’s eating an acting normal but has been paying a few visits to my cleaner shrimp

The picture isn't quite clear enough to make a firm diagnosis. Some of the spots are small enough to be ich, but the one large spot on its black stripe could just be a mucus plug. The trouble is, when the focus is off, the sizes of the spots gets changed.

Can you try a short video? Youtube links work pretty well for that.

Jay

 

[RyanEFC]

This any better mate

 

[RyanEFC]

This any better mate

Video won’t work sorry

 

[Cell]

Video worked fine for me, but it looks like your original pic was just a screen shot from the video. You got pretty much the only viable shot from that video to see what is going on. Maybe try just taking a new picture or a new video.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This any better mate

The spots seem too large to be ich, they are probably mucus plugs. Blue tangs get them quite often. The key to tell for sure is to watch the spots and their location: if the spots come and go and change location and change relative numbers, that is probably ich. If the same big spots are on the fish in the same location after 48 hours, then it isn't ich.

Jay

 

[RyanEFC]

The spots seem too large to be ich, they are probably mucus plugs. Blue tangs get them quite often. The key to tell for sure is to watch the spots and their location: if the spots come and go and change location and change relative numbers, that is probably ich. If the same big spots are on the fish in the same location after 48 hours, then it isn't ich.

Jay

Thanks jay am fairly new to the hobbie so if it is mucus plugs what sort of treatment is they I don’t have a QT tank as I don’t have room thanks ps I did ad a UV steriliser to my set up today as the LFS recommended it

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks jay am fairly new to the hobbie so if it is mucus plugs what sort of treatment is they I don’t have a QT tank as I don’t have room thanks ps I did ad a UV steriliser to my set up today as the LFS recommended it

Here is a write up I did about this, not much is known about the though:

Idiopathic mucus plugs/cones: Fish sometimes develop excess mucus that excretes from the
producing skin cells and rather than spreading out along the body, rises up as a cone or a plug. These
presumable develop from some sort of skin irritation. If you do a skin scrape on them, all you see is
mucus. They do show up on dark colored fish more often, probably because the contrast makes them
easier to see. The cause(s) for this is unknown. In some cases, they just go away, in other cases, the fish
dies - but in those cases, it is probable that there was a secondary issue. There may be some correlation
between copper sulfate use, or a reaction to a previous skin infection. There is also some strong
correlation between this issue and the species of fish; surgeonfish, tetras and Anabantids are all known to
develop this. Many people misdiagnose these mucus plugs as Cryptocaryon or Lymphocystis, but the
plug or cone shape to the mucus is diagnostic to some degree.

Jay