Sick Fish, Looking For Id Of Disease

[aaronus]

A pangasius catfish of mine has something white growing on his caudal fin and head. I don't have much time before going to work, so I'll write what I can and come back later to fill in details as needed.

1. I don't know my water parameters, besides the temperature: 73 degrees F. I recently brought this down from about 76 degrees, a week before the disease.
2. The white spot is small and doesn't appear to bulge off of the fish.
3. I haven't changed water much this last year, although I have done it twice in the last month. The fish haven't shown any sign of disease until two days ago (Nov. 26, 2008).
4. No chemicals or treatments to the water, except a tablespoon of aquarium salt when I saw the illness.
5. Tank mates. 3 Pangasius cats about 4" each, 5 pencilfish, 6 penguins, 3 cory cats. And little snails as always.
6. 29 gallon tank, has been set up for multiple years.
7. No recent additions of fish, however I just added some decorative plants and rocks that I had sitting around from old tanks. Could be a problem there.

I'm in western Washington, USA.

The pangasius catfish isn't showing any abnormal behavior, except he MIGHT have rubbed against some plants to scratch himself, as if it was ick.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Probably a "not to worry" situation.... Do you have any "sharp" rock edges in your tank??.... Rubbing itself against plants can also mean rubbing itself against rocks... A slight infliction may occur.

 

[aaronus]

I'm pretty sure it's not a wound. It's on the head and on the caudal fin.

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to write the readings down for you.
Invest in some, liquid test kits.

You need to being doing a gravel vac and water change once a week.
If stocking light and good filteration you can sometimes get away with once a fortnight.
Leaving tank months is not good fish will become ill.

The spots on the head and fins are they the size of a grain of salt.
If bigger do they have any redness to the spot.
Do the spots resemble a cauliflower or a cluster of eggs.

 

[aaronus]

The spots are bigger than a grain of salt, and there are a few of them of them, similar to a cluster of eggs. Altogether the area of spots is about 3/16 of an inch or 1/3 of a centimeter. There isn't any redness.

 

[WILDER]

Need to read this article to rule it out.

Lymphocystis



Symptoms:

Fish infected with Lymphocystis will present with clusters of whitish, berry-like growths on the skin and fins. These "clusters" may resemble small clutches of eggs or cauliflower (hence, it is sometimes called Cauliflower Disease). They will be clearly visible and may even become extremely large. This disease often affects the fins first.



Cause:

Viral infection. The virus will eventually kill the fish if it is unable to mount a strong enough immune response as the virus rampages through the fish’s tissues, destroying its cells.



Treatment:

As with all viral infections, there is no suitable cure or efficacious treatment; however Quick Cure claims to be helpful. I have also heard of people who trim the fish's fins, followed by several baths in Malachite Green. Fortunately, this disease is uncommon and in some cases, infected fish are able to recover quickly without treatment.

Lymphocystis is highly infectious. When infected cells from the fish’s skin or fins burst the virus is spread throughout the aquarium and can remain contagious for periods of up to two months. Fish not showing symptoms should be removed from the aquarium and placed in quarantine, away from other fish, for at least 60 days. Note, remove uninfected fish, not the other way around because the aquarium has become contaminated. The infected aquarium should be emptied and thoroughly disinfected before returning any fish to it. Do not use soap to clean the aquarium.