Does this look like lymphocystis?

[jnc914]

FWIW, my Achilles was covered and looked exactly like your PBT. I put the Achilles into Hyposalinity and used a week straight of Paraguard, and after 4 weeks there are no more white dots. In my case I would have to guess it actually was Ich, and the hypo ( a very strict 1.009 salinity) helped to get rid of it. My Achilles has another 2 weeks in the hypo to ensure it doesn't come back.

 

[Untamed12]

I suppose it is time to get to work on trying to catch him. I'll also need to setup a hospital tank in case I actually get him.

 

[theyoda55]

It seems there has been a battle of the fish masters in here (just kidding).

Anyways...Well, about the crypto vs lympho... well you could definetely have both. And from what i can gather, lympho has no real treatment, so diagnosing it just tells you that you can do nothing. BUT, it also looks like you have crypto, so start treatment for that. WIth any of the diagnosis', treating for crypto would be a good option.

Though, if all of that is cryptocaryon, then you might want to remove all the fish into seperate tanks that are removed from the display. Who knows how many encysted crypto there are in all your tank's nooks and crannies. Every fish is at risk of being infected (if they arent already).

And about the fish acting normal, they either numb to the parasites or maybe they somehow "got used to it". Maybe they adjusted to throw off just the right amount of mucus at the right times to prevent a lethal infestation. When a fosh gets ich, it starts mucusing like mad, but mucus doesnt come out of thin-air, i mean, thin-water. It takes energy to do anything, including making a mucus coat. So maybe SOME of the reason why a fish gets really dreary and tired and lathargic w/ an infestation is that is has gone through its energy reserves. You said you feed him a good variety of food, vitamins, antibiotics, etc., well maybe you're successfully stopping any secondary infections while keeping up the fish's energy.

NOTE: These are just ideas that i said in order to get "out of the box". I know its not all necessarily likely, but it seems possible to me. You dont have to agree with all of it, but if it helps in any sort of way, im happy. Plus, ive been watching a whole lot of "House" recently, every symptom counts.

 

[discusone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14130581#post14130581 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmaneyapanda
You got me Jay. You are right, everyone else is wrong. Everyone is an "armchair fish doctor", but you. It is right, because you have said so before. Goodbye.

Thats it,stomp your foot,and go away and play somewhere else.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14230131#post14230131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by discusone
Thats it,stomp your foot,and go away and play somewhere else.

Thanks for your valuable insight into this thread. I wont deal with Mr. Hemdal anymore. I still participate in the forum. If you dont like me ignore me. Just like I am ignoring you, from now on.

 

[JHemdal]

Untamed12,

As I think I said early on; really - the only definitive way to figure this one out is to catch the fish up, do a wet skin scrape, look at it under a microscope and then decide if it is Cryptocaryon, Lymphocystis, or the mucus plugs I mentioned before - or perhaps decide that it is some combination of these problems. I know that using a microscope is not always a possibility for home aquarists, but I do not see another course of action - using digital images of the whole fish will just not give enough information.

It certainly does look like the fish is getting worse, so you need to move on this and do *something*. However, IMO, if this was a runaway case of Cryptocaryon, that fish would be dead by now and other fish would have similar problems - so you may want to look at other possible causes.

Jay

 

[Untamed12]

This fish has now died. It continued to behave normally and eat well right up until death. Breathing rate increased over time...and there was a dramatic weight loss in the final few days.

Elapsed time from first symptom...about 2 months. This shot was from the day before death.

Aside from the Achilles Tang showing ich (which has been the case for over a year now), no other fish shows any sign of any problem.

 

[mandynm]

Did you even attempt to treat for anything?

Sorry to hear your loss, the poor fish looks awful in that last shot.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

I almost want to say some type of fungal infection, now.

 

[Chibils]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14348299#post14348299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mandynm
Did you even attempt to treat for anything?

Sorry to hear your loss, the poor fish looks awful in that last shot.

Attempt copper in a 400G full-blown sps reef on something that was never positively id?

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14351205#post14351205 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chibils
Attempt copper in a 400G full-blown sps reef on something that was never positively id?

Thats what QT is for.

 

[Untamed12]

I did what I could. The fish refused to be caught and I was not about to dismantle/kill everything else in order to catch and treat him.

I fed him every edible medicine I could find, including massive amounts of fresh crushed garlic.

I won't be adding another Acanthuras Tang until I'm sure ich is no longer present in the tank.

 

[Untamed12]

Maybe I didn't mention it, but he fish had been in the display for over 1 year....he wasn't a new fish.

 

[mandynm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14351324#post14351324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DamnPepShrimp
Thats what QT is for.

Precisely.

I think I would still be worried that, without a positive ID, that something else in the tank would catch it and end up with the same demise.

 

[Untamed12]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14351599#post14351599 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mandynm
Precisely.

I think I would still be worried that, without a positive ID, that something else in the tank would catch it and end up with the same demise.

Of course, I worry about the same thing. So far, the good news is that no other fish has shown any similar symptom in the nearly 2 months that this fish first began to show signs that something was wrong.

If another fish were going to "catch" whatever it was, I would thing the chances of doing so are now less.

If there is an upside to losing this fish, it is that the crypto now has only 1 good host in the tank (achilles tang). That might knock the population of the parasite down a notch.

 

[snorvich]

Well, if you can keep everything stable with no symptoms for 11 weeks, you can rest a little easier if in fact this was crypto. Personally, I don't think it was any one thing; there is a possibility that the fishes reduced defenses allowed more than one disease to flourish. But, I am not a fish disease expert, just one who has been doing this for a while.

 

[Mentat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14351599#post14351599 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mandynm
Precisely.

I think I would still be worried that, without a positive ID, that something else in the tank would catch it and end up with the same demise.

Sad truth, something wiped out this fish inmune system and by the time it died, had "everything." Stress can do that (chronic or acute) and viruses too. Maybe owner gets lucky and the pathogenic bloom is very specific so it does not affect other fish in system... or maybe not.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

That looked exactly like the fish I mentioned previous. we did a scrape and looked at it under the scope, and only saw crypto. I thought it was brook added in, but we did not see anything. Nonetheless, sorry for your loss. watch those other fish closely. As I mentioned, my firends tank lost ALL the fish (including clowns, and other fish which were healthy for YEARS).

 

[Untamed12]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14354499#post14354499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmaneyapanda
That looked exactly like the fish I mentioned previous. we did a scrape and looked at it under the scope, and only saw crypto. I thought it was brook added in, but we did not see anything. Nonetheless, sorry for your loss. watch those other fish closely. As I mentioned, my firends tank lost ALL the fish (including clowns, and other fish which were healthy for YEARS).

Yes, I have been assuming that there was some additional problem (additional to crypto). That is very interesting. Thanks.