Any OTHER reasons for a salt-grain speck on a fish?

novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I've had a Potter's angel in QT for a couple weeks now. He's acclimating slowly, eating a little each day (and pooping, so he may also be picking off the new LR I put in this tank). But he's had this single white speck on his flank since I got him. Just one. At first I assumed ich, but held off the copper treatment to see if it would fall off. It never did. I gave the fish a freshwater bath for 3 minutes (during which I discovered he had gill flukes!!) but the spot never dropped.
It looks for all the world like a grain of sand. It didn't come off with gentle rubbing on his flank while he was in the FW bath, and it's still there right now. I'm almost wondering if it's a deformed scale, or possibly a parasitic copepod? There have been no additional spots develop. I'm currently dosing with prazipro to deal with the flukes, and his color has really come back in spades since the flukes started dropping. But that silly little spot.....still there....any ideas what else it might be??
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Ick will not fall of from fresh water bath (and 3 min is not long enough to do any good, I believe it is 15min), the white coating you see protects them. If you dip them in formalin then this will strip away that coating and kill the parasite. But formalin is very toxic and should be done as last resort (in my mind). I prefer hypo, angels do not do well in copper.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Yes, but......2 weeks?? No ich life cycle I've ever read about would imply a parasite hanging on for that long. 3-7 days, maybe, but we're on day 14 as of today. Seems excessive, no?
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Beth, I thought of lympho as well, but the instances I've seen of lympho have been slightly bigger, and more "tumor" looking...which, for all intents and purposes, it is. My Midas had a small lympho spot on its fin that cleared up after a week or two after it was introduced into the DT. I'll try to get pictures, but this spot is TINY (smaller even than a typical ich spot) and the fish is pretty active.
Truthfully I'm actually optimistic about this guy. He's fairly active, I've seen him eat mysis and brine (frozen and live) even though he only eats small bits at a time, and since the freshwater bath/Prazipro treatment, his coloration has really increased. I didn't even realize he WAS faded until I saw how bright he's gotten. Hoping for a good QT, but this spot is worrisome.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
The spot is on his right flank, near the lateral line towards his caudal fin. I really don't see it in the video (that small) but you might be able to make it out. Otherwise this is just a vid of a fish in a tank:
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
Does it ooklike this, all over the tail fins

or like this
on the fins
or like this
See the larger white spots?
 
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