cottony growths

[Shellyfish]

I have a juvenile emperor angel in QT with cotton like growths on the edges of several fins. Am I correct in thinking this is a fungal infection? Or is it bacterial? I'm using furan 2 as it says it treats cotton like growths, should I be using something else?

[HumbleFish]

If it's on the edges of the fins, then it "sounds" like Lympho (no big deal/no meds required).

A pic would help confirm/deny this.

[Shellyfish]

It is on the edges on the fins. I'll try to get a decent picture. What is lympho? Does it go away on its own?

[Shellyfish]

I've got a video, please excuse the poor quality and the yellow tint (furan). The most noticeable growth is on the end/edge of the dorsal fin, but there are some on other fins as well. I've never dealt with lympho so any info would be appreciated!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODkANwcgGDw

[HumbleFish]

Yeah, looks like Lympho to me (pretty bad case of it btw). Only thing you can do is maintain excellent water quality (i.e. extra water changes), and start soaking his food in vitamin supplements (i.e. Selcon, Zoecon, Vita-chem). Basically, you are just trying to boost his immune system so it can fight the virus off.

[Shellyfish]

Well that's wonderful. I pulled him out of the DT to treat with furan. Should I bother continuing the treatment? Will the other fish that he was with get it? Should I leave him in QT or move him back to the DT? What can I expect with this?

Thanks!

[Shellyfish]

Or should I just see if I can return the fish? I have a pretty good relationship with my lfs.

[HumbleFish]

You can discontinue Furan-2 treatment. It should go away with a little TLC (ref my previous post). Lymphocystis is basically fish herpes; it's a virus, with no known cure, that seems to flare up from time to time. IME, it seems to mostly happen when a fish is stressed. Once a fish has it, they will always have it. Whether or not it is transferable is debatable.

This article (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa181) contains more in-depth info.

[Iowafisher]

Great advice

[Shellyfish]

Awesome Article. Has anyone here had experience with a fish like this? Should I bring this fish back or just keep up with water quality? Do flare ups happen often? Also once cleared up are the growths completely gone?

[tanked37]

Yeah, looks like Lympho to me (pretty bad case of it btw).

I am by no means a fish disease expert, but I have had some experience dealing with them. I thought Lymphocystis was commonly mistaken for Ich because of the white like bumps on the fishes body, gills, and fins (the kind of small white bumps that look like you could just easily pick them off). Now Ich is not raised off the skin like a bump but is a white spot so that's why ppl confuse it. Anyway, to me, that video does not look like Lymphocystis, and I don't think anyone would confuse it with Ich (get my point). It looks like a fungal growth or bacterial infection. Lymphocystis is small white dots like a pimple. That looks like a growth of some kind in the video. Am I wrong here?

[Iowafisher]

I would treat with antibacterial just to be safe

[Shellyfish]

Well I'm on day 3 of the furan 2 so I may as well complete it. It doesn't look any better to me though, it may look worse.

[HumbleFish]

I am by no means a fish disease expert, but I have had some experience dealing with them. I thought Lymphocystis was commonly mistaken for Ich because of the white like bumps on the fishes body, gills, and fins (the kind of small white bumps that look like you could just easily pick them off). Now Ich is not raised off the skin like a bump but is a white spot so that's why ppl confuse it. Anyway, to me, that video does not look like Lymphocystis, and I don't think anyone would confuse it with Ich (get my point). It looks like a fungal growth or bacterial infection. Lymphocystis is small white dots like a pimple. That looks like a growth of some kind in the video. Am I wrong here?

Lympho can be various sizes. Extreme cases can be as large as a grape (or larger). Ich is more like a fine dust; think sprinkled salt or sugar. Fungal infections are very rare in s/w fish; bacterial infections are usually on the body. The fact that these are white cauliflower-like growths, and are on the tips of the tail/fins are clear symptoms of Lymphocystis. IMO & E.

Shelly - Odds are once he goes into the DT you won't see this again. Or at least not this bad. However, if he gets stressed (say, starts fighting with another fish) it could flare back up. Personally, I would keep him... but I like a challenge.

[Shellyfish]

Ok, so going forward, a few more questions (sorry, I know I ask a lot)
1. Do I keep him in the QT until he heals up or should I put him back in the DT?
2. I have 2 more doses of furan I'm supposed to give, today and tomorrow, do I continue or stop?
3. He is sharing the QT with a purple psuedochromis who is supposed to go into my reef, what do I do with this guy? Keep him in the QT until the Angel is healthy or can he go into the reef like he was supposed to?

Thanks!

[HumbleFish]

1. Do I keep him in the QT until he heals up or should I put him back in the DT?

How long has he been in QT? Personally, I would keep him in QT the usual amount of time (for me, 6 weeks). I would run him thru your usual QT regimen.

2. I have 2 more doses of furan I'm supposed to give, today and tomorrow, do I continue or stop?

Sure, why not. You started it; might as well finish it.

3. He is sharing the QT with a purple psuedochromis who is supposed to go into my reef, what do I do with this guy? Keep him in the QT until the Angel is healthy or can he go into the reef like he was supposed to?

Whoever went into QT last (angel or the pseudochromis); the QT clock restarted with that fish.

[Shellyfish]

Ok, the angel went in last so I guess the pseudochromis will be keeping him company.

Thanks so much for all the help! Hopefully the angel does well

[Shellyfish]

Ok, any opinions on this? I just read that quick cure is supposed to help with lymphcystis?

[Deinonych]

Lympho is a virus, so any antibiotic administered will have no effect (just like in humans). Best to just ride it out and provide good water quality and nutrition for your fish.

[Shellyfish]

That's kind of what I thought, but quick cure is not an antibiotic... I used to use for ich in freshwater fish. It's malachite green and formalin. I'm not sure how it would work, but it does say it does.

[MrTuskfish]

I am by no means a fish disease expert, but I have had some experience dealing with them. I thought Lymphocystis was commonly mistaken for Ich because of the white like bumps on the fishes body, gills, and fins (the kind of small white bumps that look like you could just easily pick them off). Now Ich is not raised off the skin like a bump but is a white spot so that's why ppl confuse it. Anyway, to me, that video does not look like Lymphocystis, and I don't think anyone would confuse it with Ich (get my point). It looks like a fungal growth or bacterial infection. Lymphocystis is small white dots like a pimple. That looks like a growth of some kind in the video. Am I wrong here?

As Humblefish said above; Lympho can be about any shape and size. IME, its rarely as small as ich. I've seen it the size of a small strawberry. It has a texture like miniature cauliflower and this may look fuzzy at first glance. Its often confused with fungus, which is very rare in fish.

To the OP: there is no reason to medicate lympho. Its a virus and antibiotics don't touch viruses.

[MrTuskfish]

I would treat with antibacterial just to be safe

Why? Antibiotics don't touch viruses.

[Shellyfish]

Ok, I won't bother with the quick cure. Just good food and clean water. :)

[Shellyfish]

So just a little update. When I checked the angel today the growths were gone! They were all there yesterday and nothing today. I do see a few spots on his tail fin.. not sure if this is left over lympho or ich. He will be staying a little longer in his QT home just to be sure.

[ryguy886]

My juvi emperor angel had the same small white bump on his pectoral fin, they went away as soon as he went into the DT. Although I swear my cleaner shrimp helped with that. Many hippo tangs usually have this also, and it does just go away with super clean water and overall low stress levels for the fish. Hope he is on the up and up from here.