What is this on blue tang?

[catfan73]

Not sure what this stuff on my blue tang is.
he seems happy and is eating a lot.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not sure what this stuff on my blue tang is.
he seems happy and is eating a lot.

Pic is very fuzzy but appears to be mucus cones with little threads either from exposure to copper or skin irritation.
If raised with dots, can be cryptocaryon irritants. (Need closer pics to confirm). There may be ich mixed in there as well one source of these mucus cones is often ich.
Do any of the other fish show these spots?
Fish sometimes develop excess mucus that excretes from the producing skin cells which rises up as a cone or a plug. These often derive from skin irritation.
Assure good water quality and for cure often good water quality will diminish it but treating with coppersafe and copper power may help at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.

 

[catfan73]

Pic is very fuzzy but appears to be mucus cones with little threads either from exposure to copper or skin irritation.
If raised with dots, can be cryptocaryon irritants. (Need closer pics to confirm). There may be ich mixed in there as well one source of these mucus cones is often ich.
Do any of the other fish show these spots?
Fish sometimes develop excess mucus that excretes from the producing skin cells which rises up as a cone or a plug. These often derive from skin irritation.
Assure good water quality and for cure often good water quality will diminish it but treating with coppersafe and copper power may help at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.

None of my other fish have anything on them at the moment. im going to try and get the blue tang out and watch the others for anything.

 

[vetteguy53081]

None of my other fish have anything on them at the moment. im going to try and get the blue tang out and watch the others for anything.

generally its isolated but the shorter the exposure to other fish, will offer best chance of them getting nothing from this

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Not sure what this stuff on my blue tang is.
he seems happy and is eating a lot.

Can you post clearer pics and possibly a video?

This does look like mucus plugs, common to this species. Those are caused by stress and usually go away on their own, but we need to rule out ich.

Jay

 

[catfan73]

Is this photo any better? wouldve been nice if the coral beauty didnt get in the way.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Is this photo any better? wouldve been nice if the coral beauty didnt get in the way.

Well - in this photo, it doesn't really look like ich or mucus plugs - some of the spots seem to have halos/rings around them. I do see some spots on the black stripe that I can't rule out as not being ich.

I would just observe the fish for a bit. With ich, the spots tend to come and go, change location, but generally increase in numbers over time, as well as spread to other fish. Mucus plugs just sort of stay in one spot and eventfully fade away. Flukes will cause a fish to scratch/flash on tank surfaces.

Jay