Singular spot the whole time in QT

[myersb33]

Hey everyone I have a purple tang in qt rn and it has a single spot on its dorsal fin and has since I got it. Not gotten worse or better in any sense I’ve been watching the fish like a hawk. No medication has been dosed and the singular spot hasn’t changed. It also doesn’t really protrude the way ich does. Here’s the picture please let me know what you guys think!! All the other dots in the pic that aren’t circled are just from the HOB filter dropping water back in

 

[Sharkbait19]

Could you get a closer picture? It’s hard to make out what it is in the shot.
How long has the tang been in qt?

 

[myersb33]

Could you get a closer picture? It’s hard to make out what it is in the shot.
How long has the tang been in qt?

It’ll be two weeks tm I can try but I haven’t been able to get a closer pic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I also can't see it clearly, but if it has been there for two weeks, it is probably just a broken fin ray. That said, observational quarantine misses a LOT of diseases, and needs to be at least 45 days long, 60 is better. A proactive copper/prazi quarantine is more effective at eliminating disease.

Jay

 

[myersb33]

I didn’t wanna copper qt just cause i believe it was wild caught so I wanted to be careful that being said I’m still only a couple years in and have only had a handful of fish. Would you say copper qt is safe with something like that?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I didn’t wanna copper qt just cause i believe it was wild caught so I wanted to be careful that being said I’m still only a couple years in and have only had a handful of fish. Would you say copper qt is safe with something like that?

With all the gravel and rock I see in the picture, you won't be able to use copper very easily...carbonate rocks pulls copper out of the water.

Purple tangs are pretty prone to flukes and ich. If it were my fish, I would treat it with something before moving it to a display tank with other fish. As long as there are not invertebrates in its tank, you could use chloroquine or even hyposalinity.

Here is a link to our quarantine process:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[JGT]

With all the gravel and rock I see in the picture, you won't be able to use copper very easily...carbonate rocks pulls copper out of the water.

Purple tangs are pretty prone to flukes and ich. If it were my fish, I would treat it with something before moving it to a display tank with other fish. As long as there are not invertebrates in its tank, you could use chloroquine or even hyposalinity.

Here is a link to our quarantine process:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Jay, this has always intrigued me.

If I put a fish into a sterile tank and say I have them acclimate for 2 week or even a month. During that time, I see 0 signs of any disease such as ich or velvet. After the acclimation period, I dose the tank with copper at the proper dosage and then I see ich/velvet appear. Where did the ich/velvet come from? It’s not like ich/velvet can hide itself before copper was added. Thanks.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay, this has always intrigued me.

If I put a fish into a sterile tank and say I have them acclimate for 2 week or even a month. During that time, I see 0 signs of any disease such as ich or velvet. After the acclimation period, I dose the tank with copper at the proper dosage and then I see ich/velvet appear. Where did the ich/velvet come from? It’s not like ich/velvet can hide itself before copper was added. Thanks.

It showing up when you dose copper is coincidental. What happens is that ich can maintain a chronic disease for some time without it being very evident. Then, at some point it becomes acute and you think the fish just suddenly got sick, but it was harboring the parasite all along m.
Jay

 

[JGT]

It showing up when you dose copper is coincidental. What happens is that ich can maintain a chronic disease for some time without it being very evident. Then, at some point it becomes acute and you think the fish just suddenly got sick, but it was harboring the parasite all along m.
Jay

So you are saying that a fish can have ich without visible signs like when they are in the trophont stage?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So you are saying that a fish can have ich without visible signs like when they are in the trophont stage?

I guess I'm saying that people can easily miss the minimal signs (grin).

Jay

 

[JGT]

Ah, gotcha, thanks.

 

[myersb33]

With all the gravel and rock I see in the picture, you won't be able to use copper very easily...carbonate rocks pulls copper out of the water.

Purple tangs are pretty prone to flukes and ich. If it were my fish, I would treat it with something before moving it to a display tank with other fish. As long as there are not invertebrates in its tank, you could use chloroquine or even hyposalinity.

Here is a link to our quarantine process:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thank you for all your info I will be keeping it in observational qt for a few more days mainly because it looks a lot like a broken fin ray by looking at pics of broken fin rays you Identified I will be changing up my qt process according to this so thank you jay!!

 

[myersb33]

I guess I'm saying that people can easily miss the minimal signs (grin).

Jay

Hey jay could you take another look at this? We’re now at 3 full weeks observational qt and I finally got a better pic of the spot itself it appears to be right on a fin ray

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Sorry! I see a bunch of spots in the picture and I can't tell which are on the fish and which are in the water or on the glass.

Remember that observational "quarantine" does nothing to control active disease issues, and doesn't do much to protect the fish in your display once you add this fish to that tank.

Jay

 

[myersb33]

Sorry! I see a bunch of spots in the picture and I can't tell which are on the fish and which are in the water or on the glass.

Remember that observational "quarantine" does nothing to control active disease issues, and doesn't do much to protect the fish in your display once you add this fish to that tank.

Jay

I totally understand I just haven’t gotten my Hanna copper tester in the mail yet. I’ll circle it and re reply

 

[myersb33]

Sorry! I see a bunch of spots in the picture and I can't tell which are on the fish and which are in the water or on the glass.

Remember that observational "quarantine" does nothing to control active disease issues, and doesn't do much to protect the fish in your display once you add this fish to that tank.

Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If that is the only spot on the fish, then I would say this is just a broken fin ray. If the spot goes away and new spots show up elsewhere on the fish, that is more like how marine ich behaves.

Jay

 

[myersb33]

If that is the only spot on the fish, then I would say this is just a broken fin ray. If the spot goes away and new spots show up elsewhere on the fish, that is more like how marine ich behaves.

Jay

That was exactly my thoughts