WTF is that!?!

[xnmuller]

There seems to be a strange fungus (or something) on the side of my Blue Regal (Lipsey) that wasn't there yesterday. What could it be and how do I treat it. Please keep in mind I do not have a QT tank and the display does contain some SPS, LPS and softies as well as inverts.

Any and all help is appreciated.

[Enigma]

It resembles lymphocystis to me, but I may see it places it isn't: my female Darwin occ. suffers from it, so I may be hyper-aware of it.

[xnmuller]

Originally Posted by Enigma

It resembles lymphocystis to me.

Thanks for the ID. I looked up a few other photos on the mighty google and it does look similar. Have you been successful in treating it? If so what worked for you?

[Reef_Geek]

lymphocystis is a virus, thus there is no medication for it. Only the fish's immune system can keep it curbed.

Some have had limited success physically removing the nodules (finger nails, scraping with a tool, cutting off fin tips).

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by xnmuller

Thanks for the ID. I looked up a few other photos on the mighty google and it does look similar. Have you been successful in treating it? If so what worked for you?

I haven't treated it. My Darwin has had two outbreaks. Both cleared up on their own. The first cleared up in five weeks. The second (just this week) cleared up very quickly: in four days.

I don't know what brought on the first bout. The second bout was no doubt brought on by my Chemiclean usage. It is caused by a virus, and it is kind of like herpes in humans: if the fish is stressed, the sores will arise. The fish will always carry the virus. It usually clears up on its own, but secondary bacterial infections can result and kill the fish.

[Reef_Geek]

if you see it getting fluffy or fuzzy in structure, then it's probably not lymphocystis (or has become secondarily infected). If it is nodules like cancerous growth, then it is likely lymphocystis.

[waynemah]

Do you have any other tangs in the tank? My Regal had almost exactly the same thing, it started out as a small gash from a fellow tang and turned into something similar to what you have pictured. I left him alone and fed as much as possible, the wound is now almost 100% gone and it took about 2 weeks.

[Reef_Geek]

yeah, WTF is that?

if it were me, 2 choices

1) keep my fingers crossed and do nothing. Worst case scenario, it's a sunk cost of $50. Doesn't look like anything too contagious. Doesn't look like lymphocystis which is typically at fin edges and mouths. Might have scraped himself on something and got infected. Likely bacterial/fungal and you don't want to use medications for either in your main system

2) catch it and keep in an isolator (like a net pen, a floating tupperware box with lots and LOTS of holes), and daily, grab him in a net, and use a cue tip to smear the spot topically with a fungicide like mercurochrome (get at your pharmacy, use at your own risk, some species less tolerant than others). Rinse the fish in a bucket before putting back into tank, don't want medicine in main tank. Good luck with catching it. It took me to 3 hours to catch mine.

OR (I don't do this, but some people do)

3) hospital tank with full out in-water medication