Coral Angel issue - getting bad

[BigBadBrain]

I apologise for posting without reading the posted search on the white cotton affliction but the search isn't working for me (I have made my donation to become a premium member but it hasn't gone through yet so search priority is low).

I have a Coral Beauty Angel which has been quite healthy until now. It is developing white cotton puffs at the base of the pectoral fins and on a couple places along its sides.

It sounds as if this is a known issue but as I said, my access to the search function is blocked and trying to sort through posts to find a similar problem is not working.

I'd appreciate any help (like a link to threads discussing the illness).

BBB

[leebca]

I'm unsure of your diagnosis so I'm unsure of where you recommend to look. By "white cotton affliction" do you mean fungus? Lymphocystis? or something else?

This site has some photos to look at:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/viraldislymph.htm

Good luck! :rollface:

[Pandora]

I agree; fungus & lympho are top on a differential diagnosis. I think given that there are patches on the body and base of the fins, rather than the tips (especially if it truly has a "fluffy" appearance), I would lean towards body fungus. Here are 2 of my own photos from my photo archive at: http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html

fungus:
http://www.fishpalace.org/fungus_chuckshobbiespets.jpg

lympho:
http://www.fishpalace.org/unknown2_me.jpg

[BigBadBrain]

It appears to be fungus rather than Lymphocystis. It is more of a fluffy appearance (although not as bad as the previous picture) but it is pure white and at the root of the fin. The fin itself has suffered considerable damage. No apparent change in respiration but it is scratching on rocks and hovering over snails as if looking for a cleaning (tipped slightly to one side and remaining very still - why it is choosing sand sifting snails is beyond me).

We are going to the LFS for anti-fungal this morning.

BBB

[Rondelet]

Have a close look to make sure you are not confusing "fluffy" with excess slime/mucous. Generally speaking, fungus is rather rare in seawater. Your Coral Beauty could be reacting to a parasite.

[BigBadBrain]

This is the best photo I could capture - it looks worse in person than on the picture. You can see the fin damage already.

http://www.outbackers.com/forums/uploads/1138315519/gallery_508_44_1138318214.jpg

[Pandora]

Rondelet made a great point. Now seeing the pic, I think he had it right, it does look more bacterial in nature. Sometimes they can get a nidus of infection that gets rather slimey, with some tissue sloughing off, that could be mistaken for other things (in fact, I think I mention that on the top of my page, too). Do you have a hospital tank? How is he behaving otherwise?

[BigBadBrain]

Behavior is normal (for a Coral Beauty). A little more hovering near snails and crabs - reminds me of fish that hover close to a cleaner shrimp or wrasse to indicate they are ready for cleaning (but I must say I've only seen the cleaning process a few times in other tanks, I'm no expert and we don't have a cleaner shrimp of our own yet).

She is a little more reclusive than normal but she sure was enthused about the shrimp treat I fed her - no lack of appetite or shyness when the food came out.

One other thing we noticed was that her head color seems lighter than it was previously. That may be one of those changes you don't notice until something else draws your attention.

[BigBadBrain]

I forget to add - we have a QT that we use for the hospital.

[Rondelet]

What are you water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?). Also, I'm assuming the caudal fin is curled over in the picture and not mostly missing! Doesn't look like fungus or lymphocystis, might be bacterial - but it's hard to tell from the picture. The fin damage to the pectoral may be from water quality? Or nipping from some other fish? Looks more 'stress' related.

I would put the fish in your Q/Hospital tank and keep feeding some high quality stuff - like frozen shrimp etc. You might consider adding a vitamin supplement or 1,3 Beta Glucan to the feed to help boost the fishes' immune system. Beta Glucan is a yeast extract sold in speciality health food stores. Also, keep in mind that Coral Beauties require a lot of greens in their diet. So it would be prudent to feed something like ON Formula 2 or some other diet high in green stuff.

You might consider an antimicrobial treatment as a precaution. You could try Maracyn/Maracyn II as per the label instructions. However, I'm not a big fan of treating with antibiotics by adding them to the water as I don't feel believe it is efficacious, unless the condition is ulcerative. For suspect systemic bacterial infection much better results are obtained by administering antibiotics orally. I would suggest trying something like Aquarium Products Gel-Tek Tetracycline, adding it to the feed and seeing if you can get your fish to eat this.

Hope this helps.

[BigBadBrain]

The caudal fin is fine - the only one with a problem is the pectoral. Both pectoral fins are affected.

Water parameters are:
ammonia < 0.25
nitrite is undetectable (reads 0)
nitrate is undetectable (reads 0)

Diet consists of Formula 2, Prime Reef, and Frozen Shrimp on a rotation. I feed them once every two to three days. All the fish are healthy and growing until this began. I will drop some Formula 2 and shrimp in for the next couple of days to help boost the diet. I also have vitamins I can mix with the food. I'll look into the tetracycline as well.

Thank you for your help. I'll post any changes.

BBB