Blue Hippo, sick??? with what???

[jerseyguy]

Well, I'll start off by saying ive been on here a long time and i usually do a lot more reading then I do posting, obviously. I am always appreciative of the help and knowledge of this site.
Having said that. I recently moved a neglected tank....cleaned it up. New sand, 50% new water..cycled it and etc. Clean up crew is in. This hobby can truly be frustrating, and algae takes to the glass and etc. My question is, and I tried to take the best pics that I could seems like the spots look darker, on the fish they are lighter. I just dont know what this is. The fish seems happy as can be, he eats, he plays. Ill be testing the water and let you know the results, just wanted to get these up ASAP. I have an algae clip, feed it flakes and frozen mysis/brine and etc.
It is about 1.5-2" and I have read all the negatives on this. The tank size is 72 gallons, and I understand one day it will have to come out. Been in there about 3 weeks, with a clown fish and a Jamaican Anemone. Because of the move I dont have a QT tank, but in order to saves its life I would gladly bring it somewhere where it can be treated properly. Ok enough talk, does anyone know what is going on? Not sure if its ich or HLLE or something else. If the pics are inconculsive I will try my best to get better ones.

Thanks again everyone!!!

 

[beth]

What color are those spots? Can you describe the texture, appearance a bit more. Is the fish still eating? Post your water readings.

 

[jerseyguy]

Hi, thanks Beth. The spots right now are darker. I just looked, and it seems as if its right eye has a film over it too. It just doesnt look like any of the pics I have been able to find on the forums. Like I said its darker...was more of a white blotchy thing, but now its a little darker. Doesnt seem to be doing too well right now. The fish is still eating like prized fighter. Ill have the water readings tomorrow. I have a red sea kit and a few of the tests are a PITA, but nitrates, nitrites and ammonia were all perfect. Ill have specifics. Salinity is 1.025/1.026. This is with a refractometer. Right now its resting a little. Im going to try and give it some garlic soakd algae sheets before I turn the lights off.

 

[granny]

Whats interesting is that the 'spots' correspond to the location of the fish's internal organs. Are these on the outside or are we looking at the 'inside' of your fish???

 

[jerseyguy]

Thats a fair point. I will try and get some better pics. I must have taken about 50 pics, all different ways, I see your point though. Is something eating away at its flesh? I mean, does anyone think it might be ich at this point? It is so hard for me to explain what it looks like.

 

[granny]

No, its not ich. Not sure what it is, but my gut instinct is perhaps internal parasites?? Ate a bucketload of black algae? A fungal infection-fish cancer????
If none of your other fish are affected and this fish appears healthy in all aspects except its appearance, Id just keep taking excellent care of it and see what happens. UNLESS Beth or someone has seen this exact situation before, can ID it, and has treated it successfully. Perhaps you have a mutant Tang!
Got to run, time for American Idol!

 

[spivey911]

Hope u dont mind me interrupting but I have a small blue hippo too & he has a whitish spot that sticks out from his eye anyone know what this could be? All water params are great & no recent changes!

 

[brad pitt]

that looks internal bleeding or some kind of parasite is eat the insides of ur fish.

 

[t316]

Really need those water params

 

[beth]

Darker doesn't really indicate the color of those spots. Dark red, dark black, dark brown? Do you have a quarantine tank?
I'm thinking this is a bacterial infection, and that your pictures are not exactly capturing that. Are you using actinic lighting?
If the eyes have a whitish glaze, that is usually an indication of an eye infection.

 

[al mc]

It appears that the distribution of the lesions not only is over organ areas but over the gills and dorsal midline in front of the dorsal fin. I would suspect external illness. While I do not have the experience of some others that post here, i do feel it is infectious..most likely bacterial. Personally, if no one else
has a better idea, I would make sure the water parameters are OK in your DT
(no ammonia or nitrites and 'trates' less than 20). If they are OK, then I would move the fish to a QT for treatment with an antibiotic, like Maracyn (sp). If QT is impossible, keep in the DT and treat with garlic/vitamin soaked foods.

 

[jerseyguy]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Water parameters are as follows.
Nitrates=0
Nitrites=0
PH 8.2-8.4
Ammonia=0
SG 1.025/1.026
Water Temp 76 degrees
I will try and have some updated pictures a little later when he is swimming around more freely. The one side looks much better, and the other side looks worse. The spots are definitely an almost black color. Up towards the dorsal fin though there looks to be some erosion of the fish, whitish color. The right eye has a blackish film over it with a white circle. Ill get some pics later, to hopefully show it better.

 

[beth]

The blackness of that is what is really weird. You sure it is not dark red? What are you using to measure salinity?

 

[fish4ever]

A friend of mine had the same problem, or looks to be the same. We treated him in a quarintine tank(so I hope you have one

). The black spots under the right lighting and angle actually looked deep red. We treated him for an internal bacterial infection. His fish is still doing great after 5 years.
But to be safe, specify all of you observations in complete detail, so others like Beth can be sure to help you acurately.