What is this on Moorish Idol

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

I got him last Thursday and he was fine. It’s one of my favorites in the tank. I noticed this a day or two ago. It’s all over it’s body on both sides.Now it’s worse, swimming erratically. All of my other fish are fine. No I don’t quarantine. I don’t have the knowledge too. I’ve had this tank going since Mar 18.

I love my tank, but dang this hobby is killing me and my fish. I’m about ready to give up. Can be really upsetting at times. I’ve never had such a hard time keeping animals. I saw two Idols at a LFS that looked like this and I declined. Actually the owner said he wouldn’t sell them to me the way they looked. Now mine looks exactly the same way. I’m tired of fish dying, wasting money and time maintaining this tank.

maroun.c · Mar 17, 2019

To start with id maybe do a freshwater dip to try to give a quick relief for the fish. This might be stressful and looking at your description of how fish looks might endup killing the fish. It might be caised by flukes or other parasites. Fw dip will cause them to detach especially from gills which would relieve the fishninstantly if it can take the stress. After that if fish stabilizes id do a full quarantine with an antibiotic course first then copper then prazi (in a quarantine tank)
My other concern is that this is a pro only fish choice and as u describe, uve been struggling to keep fish alive, this makes it a bad choice. Idols are difficult to feed in a tank so one in bad shape in a qt doesnt stand much chance im afraid.
I say take it slower with new additions, start with hardy fish, abd if u can start a qt that might help. People on the forum can support you with how to treat new additions if they fall sick in QT.

HotRocks · Mar 17, 2019

67chevellemalibu2 said:
I got him last Thursday and he was fine. It’s one of my favorites in the tank. I noticed this a day or two ago. It’s all over it’s body on both sides.Now it’s worse, swimming erratically. All of my other fish are fine. No I don’t quarantine. I don’t have the knowledge too. I’ve had this tank going since Mar 18.

I love my tank, but dang this hobby is killing me and my fish. I’m about ready to give up. Can be really upsetting at times. I’ve never had such a hard time keeping animals. I saw two Idols at a LFS that looked like this and I declined. Actually the owner said he wouldn’t sell them to me the way they looked. Now mine looks exactly the same way. I’m tired of fish dying, wasting money and time maintaining this tank.

Sorry to hear of your struggles

I'd need a better picture to be sure, it looks to be something secondary to velvet.

What other fish do you have?

Keeping expert level fish such as a Moorish idol is probably going to prove difficult without QT. They have about zero resistance to parasites and other ailments, they are also finicky eaters with super high metabolism.

Can you upload some pics under full white light? Does he have a dusty appearance?

There are many great resources in the "Sticky" threads atop this section of the forum in regards to QT if you are interested.

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

I added a better picture, but it says I don’t have permission to access. Weird

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

HotRocks said:
Sorry to hear of your struggles

I'd need a better picture to be sure, it looks to be something secondary to velvet.

What other fish do you have?

Keeping expert level fish such as a Moorish idol is probably going to prove difficult without QT. They have about zero resistance to parasites and other ailments, they are also finicky eaters with super high metabolism.

Can you upload some pics under full white light? Does he have a dusty appearance?

There are many great resources in the "Sticky" threads atop this section of the forum in regards to QT if you are interested.

Yes, dusty appearance on both sides.

drstardust · Mar 17, 2019

Sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, this is what fish who succumb to velvet look like in the terminal stages. There may be superimposed bacterial infection where the velvet invaded. A sad case. If you have the time and energy to set up a quarantine and learn to do it properly, it may be the very thing that recreates a joy for this hobby again. Best wishes to you.

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

I am losing the joy. Pretty heartbroken right now.

drstardust · Mar 17, 2019

I get it

HotRocks · Mar 17, 2019

67chevellemalibu2 said:
Yes, dusty appearance on both sides.

Yeah, buddy that is velvet with a secondary bacterial infection. You will want to get the rest of your fish moved to a QT ASAP and treat them if you want to keep them.

Emergency Treatment Protocol I'd recommend:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/#post-2499437

Hemmdog · Mar 17, 2019

Sorry for your situation OP

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

I just don’t have the time, experience or knowledge to qt. I’ve read many threads where people are losing fish in qt too. Now I know why I never wanted to get into saltwater. I knew it was way more difficult than freshwater. Saltwater is very frustrating.

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

drstardust said:
Sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, this is what fish who succumb to velvet look like in the terminal stages. There may be superimposed bacterial infection where the velvet invaded. A sad case. If you have the time and energy to set up a quarantine and learn to do it properly, it may be the very thing that recreates a joy for this hobby again. Best wishes to you.

I thought velvet was a dusty goldish color? This is definitely white in color.

drstardust · Mar 17, 2019

67chevellemalibu2 said:
I thought velvet was a dusty goldish color? This is definitely white in color.

The dusty (sometimes goldish color) speckled pattern is from the actual parasitic infection (which can be white also, more often, in fact). The larger white blotches are how things look afterwards, when bacterial infection sets in to where the velvet parasite invaded.

HotRocks · Mar 17, 2019

67chevellemalibu2 said:
I thought velvet was a dusty goldish color? This is definitely white in color.

The goldish sheen is seen way before the white spots appear IME. It also can appear as if the fish has faded color not necessarily gold.

It's definitely velvet you are dealing with. Unfortunately I have seen it on quite a few Moorish idols.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/

maroun.c · Mar 17, 2019

How are ur other fish doing . If velvet ud be seing fish deaths in coming 48 hours

JenniferMcK · Mar 17, 2019

67chevellemalibu2 said:
I got him last Thursday and he was fine. It’s one of my favorites in the tank. I noticed this a day or two ago. It’s all over it’s body on both sides.Now it’s worse, swimming erratically. All of my other fish are fine. No I don’t quarantine. I don’t have the knowledge too. I’ve had this tank going since Mar 18.

I love my tank, but dang this hobby is killing me and my fish. I’m about ready to give up. Can be really upsetting at times. I’ve never had such a hard time keeping animals. I saw two Idols at a LFS that looked like this and I declined. Actually the owner said he wouldn’t sell them to me the way they looked. Now mine looks exactly the same way. I’m tired of fish dying, wasting money and time maintaining this tank.

I feel your pain so much. We spend so much money on these fish and it's like one thing after another happens with them. I'm pretty new to the hobby and after my first 3 fish died I almost quit the hobby. Then I started researching all the diseases these fish get and what I can do to prevent and treat. By following a qt procedure with every fish before it hits the dt, I've managed to have to some pretty healthy fish. I now start with ruby reef rally dip fist thing and then follow @HotRocks procesure with every fish. It's expensive to keep all the meds on hand and with water changes every day, but figuring it's better than losing fish in the long run. Just yesterday I drove an hr and half to a respectable lfs other than the petco that is closer and what I saw amazed me. They had sick fish in almost every tank with ich, velvet, and bacterial infections. Made me wonder why lfs don't just take the time to qt and treat these fish bc they know that these fish are sick and they are just selling them anyway. If I had the money and the time I'd start my own store and do proper qt and treatment before selling. Any who I hope your fish makes it and if it don't I have you truck on and find a good qt procedure to ensure you have healthy fish. It's a lot of work I've come to find, but when my kids go up to the dt and family and friends come over and ooh and awe at the dt, it makes it worth it to me. Best of luck to ya!

maroun.c · Mar 17, 2019

Quarantining is of course a bit challenging and you do kill some fish in quarantine, sometimes even more than the tank, but then whichever fish that passes through QT and is allowed observation time and some time to get used to prepared food and fattens up, will stand more chance in your tank and also you will be protecting your investment as a velvet outbreak can kill a full tank in less than 48 hours for example.
many people will help you on how to setup and maintain a QT and also how to treat individual fish based on symptoms. it is difficult but makes for a nice challenge and a great feeling when you manage to treat and cure a sick fish and it makes it to your tank as well as long term in your tank.

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

maroun.c said:
How are ur other fish doing . If velvet ud be seing fish deaths in coming 48 hours

I noticed the change Thursday or Friday. All my other fish are fine. No one looks like the Moorish did. No spots, marks, lesions, abrasions. Eating and swimming fine. I just don’t understand how a fish can appear to be healthy, swimming, it was eating pellets, Nori, fresh clams and than have such a drastic downward spiral.

maroun.c · Mar 17, 2019

if really velvet I would have expected the fish to be dead now and other fish to already be showing severe symptoms. did it eat since addition?

67chevellemalibu2 · Mar 17, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
I feel your pain so much. We spend so much money on these fish and it's like one thing after another happens with them. I'm pretty new to the hobby and after my first 3 fish died I almost quit the hobby. Then I started researching all the diseases these fish get and what I can do to prevent and treat. By following a qt procedure with every fish before it hits the dt, I've managed to have to some pretty healthy fish. I now start with ruby reef rally dip fist thing and then follow @HotRocks procesure with every fish. It's expensive to keep all the meds on hand and with water changes every day, but figuring it's better than losing fish in the long run. Just yesterday I drove an hr and half to a respectable lfs other than the petco that is closer and what I saw amazed me. They had sick fish in almost every tank with ich, velvet, and bacterial infections. Made me wonder why lfs don't just take the time to qt and treat these fish bc they know that these fish are sick and they are just selling them anyway. If I had the money and the time I'd start my own store and do proper qt and treatment before selling. Any who I hope your fish makes it and if it don't I have you truck on and find a good qt procedure to ensure you have healthy fish. It's a lot of work I've come to find, but when my kids go up to the dt and family and friends come over and ooh and awe at the dt, it makes it worth it to me. Best of luck to ya!

I agree on the LFS. I’ve seen many sick fish, even dead ones in their tanks. I’ve even pointed them out to employees.