Diagnosis please

[jonboy1984]

Hi. I'm new to the forum and the hobby. I'm hoping someone can help me with this marking on my powder blue. He had a notch missing out of his fin when I got him which has healed but this white lump has started appearing for the last month or so. He eats well on brine shrimp and seaweed.
Aquarium has been set up around 4 months
Salt 1.024, ph 7.9, no2 0.1, no3 25, p04 0.2
Last fish was added around 3 weeks ago which died 2 days ago for no apparent reason.
Unfortunatelu i dont have a qt tank yet.

Thanks in advance

 

[ThRoewer]

Could be Lymphocystis, but hard to be sure from the pictures. It may also be something else.

The tang also seems to have ich (that's a rather safe bet with this species).

 

[jonboy1984]

I thought about ich but it only has that 1 isolated blotch which has been there for some time. The fish that died recently was a regal which has no visible signs of ich at all. I'm also running uv if that helps

 

[ThRoewer]

With this species you can safely assume that any newly imported specimen has ich with a confidence level of at least 95%.
The spots on your fish are even visible on the rather blurry pictures.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[piusma]

It's time to invest in a QT setup. You're also at the very beginning of your journey with your tank so it is easier to start over with a proper QT routine than to do that a few years down the road.

I don't know what's on it's fin but I am concerned how skinny your powder blue is. If you said he's eating well, he might have other internal parasite being this skinny.

Regardless you should plan for a cheap QT setup now because dead fish = $$$ as well. If you can't eliminate what's in your tank, then you're just going to be throwing money out constantly. Let alone dealing with the stress of dying fish.

I'd try to catch him and observe him in a QT environment and treat for ick if present or prazipro for whatever he might have internally.

 

[ClownReef®]

He also looks incredibly starved.

Why people set up fancy aquariums before setting up a bare bones QT system is beyond me. QT EVERYTHING, EVERY TIME.

 

[snorvich]

He also looks incredibly starved.

This and it does have ich. Also that species of fish should not be in a 190 L tank.

 

[jonboy1984]

Thanks for your help and advice thus far. As said previously...i am just starting out in this hobby and I will make mistakes ( probably as most of you have) so there's very little point in shoulda, woulda coulda.
Since setting up my tank I have read that a qt is necessary and I'm in the process of setting one up. I have however followed the advice of my lfs from whom I bought all my equipment and tank. They did explain to me that this species do get large but as a juvenile it would be fine in my setup and I would have to move it on at some point in the future. I have come here for advice as I have realised there is a problem so if you have got any actual advice rather than commenting just to have a go then please let me know. Thanks

 

[scooter31707]

I would also soak it's food with some Selcon for the Lympho and make sure water quality is in line.

 

[jonboy1984]

I would also soak it's food with some Selcon for the Lympho and make sure water quality is in line.

Cheers bud. Will I get that at lfs?

 

[scooter31707]

I some do sell it and some don't. You can find it online too.

 

[snorvich]

Your LFS sold you a fish suffering from ich and malnutrition. That species will not survive, even as a juvenile, in a 190 liter tank.

 

[ladyshark]

There are some great threads re QT and ich. Most use the TTM procedure, which some do with a couple of 5 gal buckets and the right equipment. If you start that process now, you may be able to get rid of the ich in time. Do a thread search for TTM and check out snorvich blogs

It is my understanding that brine shrimp is not very nutritious unless it is soaked in vitamins/selcon etc. If you want to feed frozen, better to feed PE Mysis Shrimp or Rod's frozen food--has better nutrients and variety. Switching from brine may help fatten that little guy up!

Hope this helps. I have heard powder blues can be tricky to keep.

Keep us posted!