Help ID white spot... not Ich?

[quahreef]

So I have a group of fish going through QT that I purchased in December. I started with a Prazipro treatment on the QT for the fish. After about a week and a half noticed Ich on one of the fish. Was in denial for a few days then started a Hyposalinity treatment. After holding at 1.09 for about 2 weeks all signs of ich was gone.

Great! Everyone is eating great! After about 5 weeks now I'm thinking its time to start raising the salinity. But low and behold I see WHITE dots!!! Cursing my luck I've picked up a new Copper test and getting ready to raise salinity and do a Cupramine treatment. But then I look closely and the dots appear too big to be ich. In addition its only on the main body not the fins. Finally their is only one fish showing signs, the swallow tail angelfish. He was eating like a pig but now is not.

Details : 70Gal QT, Sponge Filter, PVC shelter, bare-bottom.

Fish in QT: Swallowtail Angelfish Male, Longhorn Cowfish, 3 Anthias, Copper-band.

Can anyone identify these spots?

 

[quahreef]

I decided to try dosing PraziPro again. Anyone have thoughts on treatment? Should I go ahead and raise the Salinity and switch to Cupramine treatment? Should I raise Salinity fairly fast so I can start treating with copper faster?

 

[ThRoewer]

Does the fish show any signs of discomfort?

These look like they are relatively loose on the skin. If it was my fish I would try to wipe one of those dots off with a Q-Tip and look at it under the microscope.

Since the fish are still in hyposalinity my first guess would be that it may be bacterial - it kind of looks like puss bubbles.

I would slowly raise the salinity. Ideally do a tank transfer before that to make sure all possible ich cysts are removed from the fish's environment.

When the salinity is at 1.018 you can stop and see how the fish does.

I would advise against copper. If you are sure it is ich better do tank transfers (TTM). If it isn't ich copper may actually make it worse

 

[mattcoug]

I had something similar on a French anglefish. Over a couple months I tried copper hypo pratzi cp formalin, none had any effect. I then randomly tried metro and it cleared right up. I tried to get a smear under microscope, but it seems like a mucus bubble. I was never able to find a reference to any disease or parasite that matched so I call it white pyramid disease.

 

[mattcoug]

white pyramid disease - cured with metro

 

[quahreef]

Is metro safe to use in hypo? The fish seems lethargic and not eating for the past 48 hrs

 

[ThRoewer]

Is metro safe to use in hypo? The fish seems lethargic and not eating for the past 48 hrs

API General Cure (contains Metronidazole) is also used for ponds and freshwater, but I would check the actual product you are using first before putting it into the tank.

I would also start raising the salinity, but probably stop at 1.018 and keep it there for as long as the fish are in QT.