Things hanging off purple tang

[The Life Aquatic]

I picked up a small (2-3”) purple tang 10 days ago. He looked clean at LFS. I say that not to imply he was healthy but to share he did not have these physical signs.

Upon putting him (her?) in, I noticed these stringy things within 24 hours. They look like long grains of sand with a slight bulge in the middle. Semi transparent.

After researching I chalked it up to mucus plugs but now I’m not so sure. Over a week later and they haven’t cleared up, and today I spotted one much larger (2-3x) the size of the others.

The tang acts totally fine. Is eating like a pig. Was not quarantined (I know, I know). Other tank mates include a baby hippo tang and two clowns who are showing no signs.

I do have a fair amount of debris in the tank, my flow seems to always want to kick up a small amount of sand and I’ve noticed when grazing he “puffs” up some sand on the rocks. So I assumed this was debris getting on him but they all look uniformly the same and seem to come and go in different spots.

I’m still leaning towards mucus plugs but the new larger one has me concerned. Extremely hard to get a good photo or video but I gave it my best shot. And first photo has a rough drawing of the shape I see with my naked eye.

I tried catching him for a dip but couldn’t get him.

Does this stand out as anything obvious to anyone?

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Adding one zoomed photo which gives the best view given image quality.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Adding one zoomed photo which gives the best view given image quality.

May be pods but pics slightly dark and fuzzy to confirm. Give it a freshwater dip for 5 mins at same temp as display tank and see if these fall off

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Between writing this post 5 minutes ago and now, that big one has fallen off. They seem loosely attached…they sway as it swims and it doesn’t seem tough to dislodge them. I am truly perplexed. Will try and catch him for a dip but he is still pretty skittish and in a 7 foot tank so easier said than done.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Two more pics that show the shape well. I’ll stop spamming my thread after these:

EDIT 15 minutes after taking those pics, the “whatever they ares” are fully gone from that side. I’m going to assume it is indeed debris, maybe getting caught on the mucus/slimecoat. It’s odd they all take the same uniform shape but it doesn’t seem to be anything parasitic otherwise I couldn’t fathom them falling off so quickly.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Two more pics that show the shape well. I’ll stop spamming my thread after these:

EDIT 15 minutes after taking those pics, the “whatever they ares” are fully gone from that side. I’m going to assume it is indeed debris, maybe getting caught on the mucus/slimecoat. It’s odd they all take the same uniform shape but it doesn’t seem to be anything parasitic otherwise I couldn’t fathom them falling off so quickly.

Debris and even sand are candidates. Assure your filters are clean and running at optimum with adequate water flow

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Two more pics that show the shape well. I’ll stop spamming my thread after these:

EDIT 15 minutes after taking those pics, the “whatever they ares” are fully gone from that side. I’m going to assume it is indeed debris, maybe getting caught on the mucus/slimecoat. It’s odd they all take the same uniform shape but it doesn’t seem to be anything parasitic otherwise I couldn’t fathom them falling off so quickly.

Correct - if they were parasites, they would not dislodge like that. Mucus plugs can look pretty stringy. I think that's what they are.

Jay

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Bumping in case anyone else has seen these before. They are very uniform and distinct looking.

Now my clown has one, but I still don’t think they are parasitic as they don’t last for more than an hour. I’m convinced it’s some kind of debris, but the uniformity has me all confused (they all look nearly identical, just small size differences and some are more white and some are more fleshy colored)

I don’t want to start dosing or medicating unnecessarily so will likely just keep an eye on them. All are eating and acting fine.

Given how distinct they look I’m just curious if anyone has seen them.