Blue throat trigger question

[gianluca1970]

I recently got an 8 inch blue throat trigger. He was quarantined for 3 weeks, didn't show any signs of anything and was placed in my main display tank. He has been in there now for about a month. Everything is going fine except what I have been noticing from time to time is that in the morning after the lights first come on he seems to have some white spots on him that look like ich. However, by the time I get home from work he doesn't seem to have any spots on him whatsoever. None of my other fish are displaying any white dots. Has anyone experience this sort of think with blue throats? I've been debating if I should take him out of the main tank. The problem is that I'm not sure if he has anything. I know some tangs, especially naso tangs, sometimes disiplay block dots when the lights first come on but supposedly that is normal.

 

[MrTuskfish]

If the spots come and go so fast, I wouldn't worry unless there are other symptoms (rubbing, scratching, heavy breathing, etc.) or other fish showing the same thing. A pic would really help. If this is ich, or a similar parasite, all fish will have to be treated---not just the trigger. BTW, 3 weeks isn't long enough to be in the QT. Parasites have a life-cycle that can take much longer to appear. IMO, 6 weeks is about right.

 

[gianluca1970]

Thanks for the information. He is not showing any other signs of anything. He is eating like crazy, active, and i have not seen any scratching. Plus, like I said before, none of my other fish are showing any signs of anything. I guess for now I'll just keep an eye on things and see if any other symptoms start showing up. If I have learned anything in this hobby it is that less is more. What I mean by that is that the less you disturb things the more likely that things kind of sort themselves out. One thing that is weird is that I think my blue throat is afraid of the dark. I have VHO lights that stay on most of the day. When they go off I have some LED moonlights that come on and stay on until 11:00PM. What I have observed him, almost on a nightly basis, is that when the LED moonlights turn off at 11:00PM he starts splashing around almost like he is panicking. All my other fish go and hide in their caves when it gets dark. He instead, keeps swimming around the front of the tank as long as he sees a little light. I've gone to check him out when it is pitch black and he does hide between some rock work. But as soon as he sees a little sliver of light he starts swimming around. And again, when that sliver of light goes off you can hear him splashing around. It's kind of weird but i wonder if he is just getting really stressed out during the night which might explain why he has dots in the morning. Again, I'm not sure what the dots are but if it were ich I would expect to see it when I get home after work and the dots are always gone by then.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Many fish show color patterns when the lights first come on. Most triggers wedge into a rocky spot at night. Who knows why certain fish do certain things?