Rollins4Miles
New member
I adopted an orbiculate batfish from a local reefer in my club almost four weeks ago. I didn't have a spare tank large enough to qt the big guy so of course - right into the display he went. Now I have a problem...
A few days ago I noticed what looked like a real bad case of crypto on my purple tang. "Hooray" was my first thought. I noticed the batfish looked spotty as well, but not a typical appearance for crypto. I've read a lot of threads and articles and what I've concluded is that crypto/flukes/velvet can all, at some point, show the exact same symptoms of one another.
So I've come here to ask for guidance. The physical symptoms are white crystal objects on the purple tang - typical appearance of crypto. The colors of some fish have turned pastel in color. The batfish has some of the white crystals, not a lot and not grouped together, and also has some larger oval shaped white spots. The batfish is also producing excess mucus. The purple tang and the batfish both look like they could have sores on their bodies.
The behavior of the fish is a bit off of the norm. They still all eat like pigs, which is usually a positive sign in my book. The odd behavior is a group will gather in front of the one powerhead and hangout. At times the purple tang will kind of sit low in a corner with another tang and hangout for a while. There's not a lot of rubbing on the rocks by any of the fish. There is some twitching of the heads, rubbing of the eyes with the pectoral fins, but nothing aggressive like I've witnessed before (I've had fish snap sps because they were rubbing so hard). I figured if it were velvet I'd have at least one casualty after almost a month of the introduction - not a scientist though.
I've attached some pictures so you all can see. I used the flash as I don't know how to use the camera yet with the blue lighting from the aquarium.
It's a 220g display / 40g sump and all major params are okay. I've have water mixed either for a qt or water change.
A few days ago I noticed what looked like a real bad case of crypto on my purple tang. "Hooray" was my first thought. I noticed the batfish looked spotty as well, but not a typical appearance for crypto. I've read a lot of threads and articles and what I've concluded is that crypto/flukes/velvet can all, at some point, show the exact same symptoms of one another.
So I've come here to ask for guidance. The physical symptoms are white crystal objects on the purple tang - typical appearance of crypto. The colors of some fish have turned pastel in color. The batfish has some of the white crystals, not a lot and not grouped together, and also has some larger oval shaped white spots. The batfish is also producing excess mucus. The purple tang and the batfish both look like they could have sores on their bodies.
The behavior of the fish is a bit off of the norm. They still all eat like pigs, which is usually a positive sign in my book. The odd behavior is a group will gather in front of the one powerhead and hangout. At times the purple tang will kind of sit low in a corner with another tang and hangout for a while. There's not a lot of rubbing on the rocks by any of the fish. There is some twitching of the heads, rubbing of the eyes with the pectoral fins, but nothing aggressive like I've witnessed before (I've had fish snap sps because they were rubbing so hard). I figured if it were velvet I'd have at least one casualty after almost a month of the introduction - not a scientist though.
I've attached some pictures so you all can see. I used the flash as I don't know how to use the camera yet with the blue lighting from the aquarium.
It's a 220g display / 40g sump and all major params are okay. I've have water mixed either for a qt or water change.
