Need help identifying white spot on tang

HiJacK · 11/10/2008, 09:16 PM

I bought a yellow eye kole tang about a week ago from a lfs, and the guy at the store told me that the white suff was a scratch and should go away in a few days. After a week, it's still there and I think it's gotton worse. The kole is constantly rubbing himself against the tank and l/r.

Everyone that has come over said it's not a scratch nor ich. It looks powdery and white. He won't eat any of the foods I've given him (seaweed, mysis, spectrum pellets, or formula two pellets), but he is grazing on the l/r and glass for algea which is good.

I'm planning on calling the lfs to see if I can get an exchange, but if this is something that will eventually go away or treatable with medicine, then I might try to save him. I would hate to try to catch him due to all my rockwork. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Here are some pics. Bare with me (I'm not a professional photographer). These are the best pics I am able to take. The guy won't stay still, so it's hard...

OC CJ · 11/10/2008, 09:24 PM

to be honest i can't really tell from the pictures but your description of white and powdery plus his behavior of rubbing on the rocks is consistent with ich.

HiJacK · 11/10/2008, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OC CJ
to be honest i can't really tell from the pictures but your description of white and powdery plus his behavior of rubbing on the rocks is consistent with ich.

few reefers came by to look and they were 100% positive that it wasn't ich, because one of the guys had ich on his fish so he knew what it looked like.

Dooly · 11/10/2008, 09:40 PM

i can't tell from the pictures either, the belly does look like it got scratched up pretty bad, the side looks like a small gash or possibly something parasitic.

If he is not eating, I would definitely try prazipro loaded live brine. Just buy live brine shrimp, soak a small amount that you are going to feed that day in prazipro, and feed it to the fish. If it doesnt eat live brine, i dont know what to tell you. If it does, you can move on to mixing with mysis after that, just feed very small amounts.

theloud1 · 11/10/2008, 09:53 PM

do you have another fish that might be beating him up?

HiJacK · 11/10/2008, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dooly
i can't tell from the pictures either, the belly does look like it got scratched up pretty bad, the side looks like a small gash or possibly something parasitic.

If he is not eating, I would definitely try prazipro loaded live brine. Just buy live brine shrimp, soak a small amount that you are going to feed that day in prazipro, and feed it to the fish. If it doesnt eat live brine, i dont know what to tell you. If it does, you can move on to mixing with mysis after that, just feed very small amounts.

yeah, sorry about the pics. It took me a long time just to take the ones above. I took like 20 or so photos and those were the best ones. I'll see if I can get better pics for you guys.

Honestly, I don't think its a scratch, but that's what the guy at the lfs kept telling me also.

btw, is this the product you're talking about:

http://www.uskoi.com/prazipro.htm

I've never bought live brine before. They sell these at any lfs or only certain ones? So I'm guessing that he brine dipped with the prazipro would entice the kole to eat, but would it help get rid of the white stuff? I've heard the kent garlic dip helps finicky fish eat also.

HiJacK · 11/10/2008, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by theloud1
do you have another fish that might be beating him up?

only other tank mates are a pair of false ocillaris clowns and they leave him alone. Actually, the kole would hang out with the clowns every once in a while.

also, he was already like that when I purchased him. They told me it would go away.

Dooly · 11/10/2008, 11:15 PM

prazipro is medication, not an attractant for fish to eat. it works well with internal parasites and some external. live food in itself should be enough to entice the fish to eat if he won't eat anything else. don't dip the prazipro, just soak the live brine in a few cups of your tank water and a couple doses of prazipro for about an hour and feed to your fish.

the only places ive purchased live brine is tongs and carson tropical fish.

my purple tangs whole face turned white/scratched when he messed with my anemone, but it cleared up within a couple of days..

DVNO · 11/10/2008, 11:49 PM

my yellow eye was sold to me with what was allegedly a scratch, but now he has white spots all over...needless to say, i will not take the LFS's word for it anymore. i simply wont buy the fish unless it looks perfect now.

goodtimes2 · 11/11/2008, 12:33 AM

I have a purple tang , and when he gets excited and swims fast through the rock openings, he does occasionaly have white scraps that looks like what your pictures show, but it heals in a day or so.

Good luck

HiJacK · 11/11/2008, 12:35 AM

@Dooly: thanks for the info. I'll give the prazipro and brine a shot. I have been trying to google this problem and cannot find anything similar yet. All of the documentation that I have seen on ich describes a substance that looks like grains of salt or sand, which I'm pretty sure it's not. My cousin thinks it's some sort of fungus possibly?

HiJacK · 11/11/2008, 12:38 AM

@gootimes2: the kole had those whites marks when I purchased him about a week ago. There are no signs of improvement. If not, I think it's getting worse. I also thought it was going to go away in a few days like the guy at the store said, but go figure

HiJacK · 11/11/2008, 05:25 PM

Update...

So I called the lfs and talked to the guy that sold me the fish, and he wanted me to email him some photos. After he and his boss analyzed the pictures they called me back. They said it was a bacterial infection, and not a parasite infection. They were like 100% sure. They advised me not to use prazipro, because it's used to treat parasites. Instead, they wanted me to use a medication called Melafix by API.

They gave me 2 options. I can either bring the fish back for half credit or treat the fish myself. I told them I would try to treat the fish and if it doesn't go away, I would bring it back.

They also told me I can use Pimafix to treat for fungi infections, but was optional. I will be trying the Melafix and give it about 3 days to see if it clears up. I'll keep everyone posted with the results.

HiJacK · 11/11/2008, 06:55 PM

So after talking to a few guys about my options, I've decided to take the fish back to the store and not deal with the stress any more. The guys are advising me NOT to dose the tank with the Melafix because I would be killing some of the bacteria that I have already established. This is not good since I am adding more fish in this Thursday.

The part that frustrates me about this whole situation is that I was midlead/misinformed about the bacteria infection. They said it was a scratch and would go away in a few days. I've decided to attach a copy of the emails that have been going back and forth between me and the lfs...

"so i looked at the pictures of the fish and it looks like it has developed a bacterial infection. basicly you have 2 choices you can treat it, or you can bring it back in. as i told you over the phone our guarantee is for 24 hours. anything after that we give 1/3 credit of what we sell the fish for. i talked ot my boss and he said that if you want to bring the fish back in i can give you 1/2 credit. if you decide to treat it i would use melafix. its a bacterial medication that is 100% reef safe and should do the trick. call me if you have any questions.
-matt"

How am I suppose to bring the fish back in "24 hrs" when they told me to "give it a few days" to go away? Does this sound logical to you? At least own up to the mistake and say something like "hey we're sorry we misinformed you... go ahead and bring the fish back and we'll give you an even exchange or something". They'll most likely try to treat the fish and resell it for full price. I wouldn't be surprised if they sold the fish "as is" to someone else. This whole process has been depressing and frustrating.

11/10/2008, 09:16 PM	#1
HiJacK Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 191	Need help identifying white spot on tang I bought a yellow eye kole tang about a week ago from a lfs, and the guy at the store told me that the white suff was a scratch and should go away in a few days. After a week, it's still there and I think it's gotton worse. The kole is constantly rubbing himself against the tank and l/r. Everyone that has come over said it's not a scratch nor ich. It looks powdery and white. He won't eat any of the foods I've given him (seaweed, mysis, spectrum pellets, or formula two pellets), but he is grazing on the l/r and glass for algea which is good. I'm planning on calling the lfs to see if I can get an exchange, but if this is something that will eventually go away or treatable with medicine, then I might try to save him. I would hate to try to catch him due to all my rockwork. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks! Here are some pics. Bare with me (I'm not a professional photographer). These are the best pics I am able to take. The guy won't stay still, so it's hard...

11/10/2008, 09:24 PM	#2
OC CJ Crushed coral > sand Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 2,118	to be honest i can't really tell from the pictures but your description of white and powdery plus his behavior of rubbing on the rocks is consistent with ich. __________________ CJ Current Tank Info: 66g, 20g sump, RO Elite 150INT, ATI 6x24w with 2xReefbrite XHO, CalRx with custom reg, 2 x gyre 130 controlled by Full Apex, DIY chaeto reactor

11/10/2008, 09:40 PM	#4
Dooly Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Southern California Posts: 2,108	i can't tell from the pictures either, the belly does look like it got scratched up pretty bad, the side looks like a small gash or possibly something parasitic. If he is not eating, I would definitely try prazipro loaded live brine. Just buy live brine shrimp, soak a small amount that you are going to feed that day in prazipro, and feed it to the fish. If it doesnt eat live brine, i dont know what to tell you. If it does, you can move on to mixing with mysis after that, just feed very small amounts.

11/10/2008, 09:53 PM	#5
theloud1 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: fontana ca Posts: 440	do you have another fish that might be beating him up?

11/10/2008, 11:15 PM	#8
Dooly Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Southern California Posts: 2,108	prazipro is medication, not an attractant for fish to eat. it works well with internal parasites and some external. live food in itself should be enough to entice the fish to eat if he won't eat anything else. don't dip the prazipro, just soak the live brine in a few cups of your tank water and a couple doses of prazipro for about an hour and feed to your fish. the only places ive purchased live brine is tongs and carson tropical fish. my purple tangs whole face turned white/scratched when he messed with my anemone, but it cleared up within a couple of days..

11/10/2008, 11:49 PM	#9
DVNO Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 55	my yellow eye was sold to me with what was allegedly a scratch, but now he has white spots all over...needless to say, i will not take the LFS's word for it anymore. i simply wont buy the fish unless it looks perfect now.

11/11/2008, 12:33 AM	#10
goodtimes2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: San Juan Capistrano Posts: 998	I have a purple tang , and when he gets excited and swims fast through the rock openings, he does occasionaly have white scraps that looks like what your pictures show, but it heals in a day or so. Good luck

11/11/2008, 12:35 AM	#11
HiJacK Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 191	@Dooly: thanks for the info. I'll give the prazipro and brine a shot. I have been trying to google this problem and cannot find anything similar yet. All of the documentation that I have seen on ich describes a substance that looks like grains of salt or sand, which I'm pretty sure it's not. My cousin thinks it's some sort of fungus possibly?

11/11/2008, 12:38 AM	#12
HiJacK Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 191	@gootimes2: the kole had those whites marks when I purchased him about a week ago. There are no signs of improvement. If not, I think it's getting worse. I also thought it was going to go away in a few days like the guy at the store said, but go figure

11/11/2008, 05:25 PM	#13
HiJacK Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 191	Update... So I called the lfs and talked to the guy that sold me the fish, and he wanted me to email him some photos. After he and his boss analyzed the pictures they called me back. They said it was a bacterial infection, and not a parasite infection. They were like 100% sure. They advised me not to use prazipro, because it's used to treat parasites. Instead, they wanted me to use a medication called Melafix by API. They gave me 2 options. I can either bring the fish back for half credit or treat the fish myself. I told them I would try to treat the fish and if it doesn't go away, I would bring it back. They also told me I can use Pimafix to treat for fungi infections, but was optional. I will be trying the Melafix and give it about 3 days to see if it clears up. I'll keep everyone posted with the results.

11/11/2008, 06:55 PM	#14
HiJacK Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 191	So after talking to a few guys about my options, I've decided to take the fish back to the store and not deal with the stress any more. The guys are advising me NOT to dose the tank with the Melafix because I would be killing some of the bacteria that I have already established. This is not good since I am adding more fish in this Thursday. The part that frustrates me about this whole situation is that I was midlead/misinformed about the bacteria infection. They said it was a scratch and would go away in a few days. I've decided to attach a copy of the emails that have been going back and forth between me and the lfs... "so i looked at the pictures of the fish and it looks like it has developed a bacterial infection. basicly you have 2 choices you can treat it, or you can bring it back in. as i told you over the phone our guarantee is for 24 hours. anything after that we give 1/3 credit of what we sell the fish for. i talked ot my boss and he said that if you want to bring the fish back in i can give you 1/2 credit. if you decide to treat it i would use melafix. its a bacterial medication that is 100% reef safe and should do the trick. call me if you have any questions. -matt" How am I suppose to bring the fish back in "24 hrs" when they told me to "give it a few days" to go away? Does this sound logical to you? At least own up to the mistake and say something like "hey we're sorry we misinformed you... go ahead and bring the fish back and we'll give you an even exchange or something". They'll most likely try to treat the fish and resell it for full price. I wouldn't be surprised if they sold the fish "as is" to someone else. This whole process has been depressing and frustrating.