epsaxon
New member
A few weeks back my purple tang developed these white circular patterns on both sides near the tail. Sorry for the quality but I only have an ipad camera but, please see the attached photos.
He has been in the tank for over a year, is eating fine and swimming fine. In other words, he is acting normal. It is a two year old FOWLR tank, chemical filtration is Phosguard, Purigen and carbon, dosed with Reef Fusion 1 and 2, parameters are are good however nitrates vary between 5 and 10 ppm. I use a protein skimmer and do 20% monthly water changes using RS Reef Crystals. The only thing that has changed recently was a switch from ON Formula 1 and 2 pellets to a mixture of ON Formula 1, Formula 2 and Prime Reef flakes. I should also mention that all the other livestock show no signs of any illness and the last new fish was added over six months ago (after a 30 day Paraguard QT treatment).
At the time, I QT'd him in a cycled 20gal and treated with a formaldehyde and malachite green solution. Treatment lasted 7 days with the white areas disappearing about half way through. He remained in QT for another week and the white patterns returned. I then tried Ruby Reef Rally with the same results. White pattern cleared during treatment but reappeared a few days later. He spent six weeks in QT and did not seem to get any better or worse so I returned him to the DT where he seems to be doing just fine despite the white blotches.
It has me puzzled what is going on. I am hoping someone can provide further insight and an useful solution to permanently 'cure' him.
He has been in the tank for over a year, is eating fine and swimming fine. In other words, he is acting normal. It is a two year old FOWLR tank, chemical filtration is Phosguard, Purigen and carbon, dosed with Reef Fusion 1 and 2, parameters are are good however nitrates vary between 5 and 10 ppm. I use a protein skimmer and do 20% monthly water changes using RS Reef Crystals. The only thing that has changed recently was a switch from ON Formula 1 and 2 pellets to a mixture of ON Formula 1, Formula 2 and Prime Reef flakes. I should also mention that all the other livestock show no signs of any illness and the last new fish was added over six months ago (after a 30 day Paraguard QT treatment).
At the time, I QT'd him in a cycled 20gal and treated with a formaldehyde and malachite green solution. Treatment lasted 7 days with the white areas disappearing about half way through. He remained in QT for another week and the white patterns returned. I then tried Ruby Reef Rally with the same results. White pattern cleared during treatment but reappeared a few days later. He spent six weeks in QT and did not seem to get any better or worse so I returned him to the DT where he seems to be doing just fine despite the white blotches.
It has me puzzled what is going on. I am hoping someone can provide further insight and an useful solution to permanently 'cure' him.
