Rabbitfish Diagnosis

[TrishK]

We’ve had this guy in QT about a week and just noticed these spots today. They appear to be on only one side of his body. Does it look like ich? Not showing any other side effects of ich.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It’s a viral issue known lymphocystis. It is triggered by poor water quality (which could have been the pet store) and inadequate or poor diet
What are you feeding?
What test kits are you using?
How was fish acclimated/introduced ?

 

[TrishK]

It’s a viral issue known lymphocystis. It is triggered by poor water quality (which could have been the pet store) and inadequate or poor diet
What are you feeding?
What test kits are you using?
How was fish acclimated/introduced ?

I acclimated him the same way I do all my fish. Let the bag reach temp. Made sure salinity and PH and ALK matched QT water. Added 1/2 cup of QT to bag water (which I put both bag water and fish in acclimation box). Added 1/2 cup of tank water every 10 mins or so until water had doubled. Used a plastic handheld colander to switch him to the tank....water is clean and filtered well and has been established for almost 2 years with live rock (QT tank). We use Hanna for testing.

I feed him algae sheets daily, frozen mix of mysis, brine and numerous other stuff in the frozen mix along with vitamins and glucan.

I give spirulina flakes, veggie flakes and formula 2 pellets. He’s fattened up in just the week we’ve had him. Still very skittish though.

Is there a way to treat this or will it go away on its own?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I acclimated him the same way I do all my fish. Let the bag reach temp. Made sure salinity and PH and ALK matched QT water. Added 1/2 cup of QT to bag water (which I put both bag water and fish in acclimation box). Added 1/2 cup of tank water every 10 mins or so until water had doubled. Used a plastic handheld colander to switch him to the tank....water is clean and filtered well and has been established for almost 2 years with live rock (QT tank). We use Hanna for testing.

I feed him algae sheets daily, frozen mix of mysis, brine and numerous other stuff in the frozen mix along with vitamins and glucan.

I give spirulina flakes, veggie flakes and formula 2 pellets. He’s fattened up in just the week we’ve had him. Still very skittish though.

Is there a way to treat this or will it go away on its own?

Provided it IS lympho, will fall off in a few short weeks. I suggest to eliminate the possibility of flukes
Simply give it a 4-5 min freshwater dip with temperature same as display tank and return fish to display
Look on bottom of dip container and see if you see what looks like sesame seeds or fish scales. Those are flukes.
Acclimation should have been at least 1 hr with little bag water but fish seems to have endured it

 

[TrishK]

Provided it IS lympho, will fall off in a few short weeks. I suggest to eliminate the possibility of flukes
Simply give it a 4-5 min freshwater dip with temperature same as display tank and return fish to display
Look on bottom of dip container and see if you see what looks like sesame seeds or fish scales. Those are flukes.
Acclimation should have been at least 1 hr with little bag water but fish seems to have endured it

I added water every 10 mins at least 6-7 times so it was right around a hour. He came in a big bag of water.

If it were flukes wouldn’t they have showed up before now? I got him a week ago Tuesday, so 9 days ago

 

[vetteguy53081]

I added water every 10 mins at least 6-7 times so it was right around a hour. He came in a big bag of water.

If it were flukes wouldn’t they have showed up before now? I got him a week ago Tuesday, so 9 days ago

Flukes have cycles and can be delayed visually

 

[TrishK]

Flukes have cycles and can be delayed visually

And you’re sure it doesn’t look like ich? I took another picture. I do see spots on his other side now. He tends to hide against the glass when I look so I was having a hard time seeing that other side.

Or if it was ich he’d have lots more spots? We’ve dealt with ich before and it looks very similar. They do appear to be raised bumps from what I can tell.

 

[Uncle99]

Does look like mild case of ick to me.
If they just disappear in the next few days, I’d transfer him to a cleaned QT to separate him from the parasite.
Kinda like a TTM treatment.

 

[TrishK]

Does look like mild case of ick to me.
If they just disappear in the next few days, I’d transfer him to a cleaned QT to separate him from the parasite.
Kinda like a TTM treatment.

Yeah...I put some prazi in the water earlier so I think after 24 hours I may just go ahead and do the TTM just to be safe. I've read it's rare for foxface to get ich but hate to take any chances and would hate for him to die on me. My first one I got was very skinny when I got him and died day 2 of QT so I'd really like this one to pull through.

I will say, if it's ich, the spots seem much larger than I've seen on my other fish with ich....

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dots are more pronounced not to mention more clear than a phone screen. Quarantine will be best recourse and copper safe rather than straight copper. REMEMBER: Anytime copper is added, monitor with a copper test kit and a reliable one (Not API)

 

[TrishK]

Dots are more pronounced not to mention more clear than a phone screen. Quarantine will be best recourse and copper safe rather than straight copper. REMEMBER: Anytime copper is added, monitor with a copper test kit and a reliable one (Not API)

I have a Hanna checker but I’ll probably go the TTM route