Raccoon Butterflyfish Possible Ich Only One Spot? ?

[Dcash88]

I just started restocking my fowlr and got a 3" raccoon butterfly as the first fish. I've had him for 10 days, the first 4 he would only pick off the rock. On the 5th day he ate fresh clam and hias been eating fresh clam, fresh shrimp, and frozen Mysis ever since. The tank is 135 gallons with a 55 gallon sump, about 150lbs of live rock. Salinity 1.024, pH 8.3-8.4, nitrates 2ppm, temp 80, and alk 7-8dkh.

Yesterday I noticed a single white dot on the tip of his tail. Today it is still there and I'm wondering easy it is. I'm not sure if it has been there all along and I just noticed it yesterday or if it's new but it is the only white dot on him. He is acting normal, eats well twice a day, and is extremely active. I don't know how active butterfly's normally are but he swims back and forth all day long. Any thoughts on if ich can just be one spot or a way to find out what it is? Any help or thoughts about what it is will be appreciated.

 

[Dcash88]

forgot to add pics. the dot is at the very end of the tail.

 

[HumbleFish]

I can't really tell anything from the pics, but it sounds like Lymphocystis to me.

 

[SDguy]

Yeah, if we're talking about that blemish at the end of it's tail, just wait and see. When ich rears it's ugly head, it's no so questionable

 

[Dcash88]

Sorry i had to lower the quality of the pics to make the file small enough to upload. Yeah the blemish at the end of the tail is what I was talking about. Do you have any idea how long it takes for ich or lymphocystis to spread? Can lymphocystis stay as one dot throughout its cycle?

 

[HumbleFish]

Sorry i had to lower the quality of the pics to make the file small enough to upload. Yeah the blemish at the end of the tail is what I was talking about. Do you have any idea how long it takes for ich or lymphocystis to spread? Can lymphocystis stay as one dot throughout its cycle?

Lympho is a virus which usually goes away on it's own. Soaking fish food in vitamin supplements (Selcon, Zoecon, Vita-chem) seems to help.

 

[Dcash88]

Thank you, ill post the outcome when something happens.

 

[Dcash88]

Its been about 10 days since I noticed the spot and it is still the only one. He is also still acting normal and eating well twice a day. From what I have read lympho is usually caused by poor nutrition or poor water quality. I assume it is due to poor nutrition because he was very skinny when I got him and didn't eat for a while.

Does the fact that it is not spreading mean that the irritant has been removed?

How long can lympho take to resolve?

 

[HumbleFish]

Its been about 10 days since I noticed the spot and it is still the only one. He is also still acting normal and eating well twice a day. From what I have read lympho is usually caused by poor nutrition or poor water quality. I assume it is due to poor nutrition because he was very skinny when I got him and didn't eat for a while.

Does the fact that it is not spreading mean that the irritant has been removed?

How long can lympho take to resolve?

Symptoms can be gone in a few days or persist for months. Lympho is a virus which the fish carries for the rest of it's life. Symptoms may "flare up" from time to time, or you can go years without seeing anything. But the virus is always there.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Nothing to do with the lympho;; but I'd get some greens into his diet, like spirulina pellets or occasional feedings of Formula II. Butterfly fish are omnivores and need their veggies.

 

[Dcash88]

Yeah I have been trying to since day one but he is pretty stubborn. I try frozen formula, nori, and spirulina regularly but he is not so fond of them. Hopefully with time and add I get some more fish in there he will get use to it.

From your avatar I assume you like and possibly have a harlequin tusk? I have been very interested in those and initially wanted to rebuild my tank around one because I think they are beautiful looking fish. However the more I read about them I am getting discouraged because many people say they are shy, timid, and introverted. I don't really want to spend that much on a fish and have it hide all day. What's your experience with this?

 

[Dcash88]

Just to let everyone know the dot is gone today so it must have fallen off. For anyone else that may get a butterfly with lympho it took mine 20 days to get rid of it with no special treatment, just making sure I had good water parameters and feeding twice a day.

The only two things that changed were the nitrates nitrates were at 2ppm but were quickly reduced to 0ppm and kept there, I don't know if that is enough to matter but just throwing it out there. The other thing is he was alone in the tank for the majority of the time and within days of adding a tankmate (a saddleback butterfly) the dot fell off and he stopped pacing so much.

So again don't know if these things had anything to do with the lympho or if it was just stress from collection, shipping, and acclimation but would be interested to see what others think