Spots on desjardini sailfin tang

[Cody715]

So I added this tang to my tank about a week ago. After the first day, I noticed he had white spots on his body just behind his eyes, on both sides. Then he hid for the next 3-4 days in the tank, wouldn't really let me see him. Today, he's out and about, picking at the rocks like nothings bothering him and doesn't mind to much if I get close. He's not scraping and doesn't appear to be in distress at all. However, he's now covered in these spots. I found a fish at the LFS with the same symptoms and asked what it was. There answer was "stress". I'm not really buying this answer.

My first thought was ich, but from the pictures I've seen online, ich seems to be small bead like circles? My fish seems to have longer ovals. The other weird thing is, when I look at him face on, the white ovals don't seem to protrude off his sides, like they're flat with his body?

Second thought is flukes?

Sorry for the crappy photos.

Open to all thoughts... Thanks in advance.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Sounds like flukes.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

 

[Maritimer]

Flukes are a possibility -- I would also note that the fish seems very thin, and seems to have some Head & Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) going on. Photos taken under white / day lights would help to identify the issue.

~Bruce

 

[Cody715]

Alright, I finally caught him. Going to fresh water dip for flukes.

Here are some better photos.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Alright, I finally caught him. Going to fresh water dip for flukes.

Here are some better photos.

Yikes!!

Good luck with the dip!

 

[Cody715]

So no luck with the FW dip. Some small particles came off of him, but nothing the size of the flukes video. He still looks pretty much the same.

Any ideas?

 

[Maritimer]

The good news is that those spots don't look like ich or velvet ... the bad news is that I'm not sure quite what they _are_, aside from the ones that are HLLE. Possibly an abrasion or injury?

@Humblefish, @HotRocks, @Big G - does this look familiar to any of you folks?

~Bruce

 

[HotRocks]

The good news is that those spots don't look like ich or velvet ... the bad news is that I'm not sure quite what they _are_, aside from the ones that are HLLE. Possibly an abrasion or injury?

@Humblefish, @HotRocks, @Big G - does this look familiar to any of you folks?

~Bruce

I agree, definitely HLLE in the early stages.

The rest of the spots covering the body don't look parasitic in nature to me either. @Cody715 Do you have other fish in the same tank? Any aggression? Are you seeing excessive scratching? It looks more like alot of scratch marks/injuries.

Other thought is something bacterial possibly.

 

[Cody715]

@HotRocks Yes, I have 7 other fish. Some clowns, anthias, lawnmower blenny, a goby and a gramma but none seemed to bother him. If anything he chased them around a bit. All the other fish look good (hopefully they stay that way).

No excess scratching. I watched him for almost an hour, trying to get a better look at him and get those original photos. I didn't seem him scratch once. He was just happily roaming the tank picking at the rocks. Only sign of something wrong was the spots. I have him QT'd now. No real change.

Thanks again for all the advice @HotRocks @Maritimer @Humblefish

 

[Cody715]

Now that I'm reading up on HLLE, I did install a new carbon reactor to the tank around the same time as I added the fish. However, the tank was previously using BRS ROX 0.8 carbon and I simply replaced with a smaller reactor and added new carbon (same stuff). I don't know if this could be a contributing factor?