Foxface Disease - Please help ID (Photo)

[Sherman]

Just like it says.... Anyone recognize this? He's acting normally, and eating well. I've had him about 4 to 6 weeks, and he came from a local hobbyist's tank, where he was for several months.

Possibly related (?), he's never eaten nori in my tank. Within his first week, he decimated all bubble algae populations, and now only eats Spectrum Pellets (LOVES these) and Cyclopeeze flakes. He'll also eat frozen mysis. I've tried three different kinds of nori, each dry, each soaked in garlic, and each soaked in Selcon. He won't touch any of them. I've seen him peck at a floating piece, then spit it back out.

 

[wrightme43]

I sure dont know. Almost looks like it got stung.

 

[Sherman]

Interesting idea! I have a hammer, torch, and frogspawn in this tank. Thanks for the idea, I'll be watching this closely.

 

[wrightme43]

Well cool. I hope it heals up.

 

[big t]

Well i don't know what it is, but it looks kinda like he is growing corraline. I know that dosn't help, sorry

 

[mmkeeper]

Do you have any cleaner shrimp? i don't know what it is, but they might be able to pick it off of him.

 

[steve-s]

What other fish do you have in there, was anything added within the last month and do you remember what fish the hobbyist you got him from had?

Please post all water quality numbers, chemistry and some tank set up info.

Cheers
Steve

 

[charlesr1958]

Being put into a new environment, I would suspect abrassion damage or most likely being stung / bitten by another creature. Notice that all the damage is near the tail fin, and knowing that alot of species will "fan" their tails at intrudors or anything they feel is being aggressive, I suspect it had done so at "something" and came out the loser.

My best first guess would be a coral, the "C" shaped wounds and the white faded spots on the tail look very much like what a sting would do. Just watch for secondary bacterial infections appearing, which would need quarantine isolation to be treated for.

What other inhabitants are in the tank with it?

Chuck

 

[Sherman]

Thanks for the information, everyone!

Tank is a 38g sumpless (don't call tang police)
2x150w DE 14000K
Remora skimmer
good flow (2xSeio 620)
Carbon

Inhabitants:
~40 various snails
~20 scarlet hermits
3 emerald crabs
1 peppermint shrimp

2 cinnamon clowns
1 bicolor blenny
1 six line wrasse
this foxface

Temp 78
pH 8.0-8.4
SG: 1.026 (refractometer)
calcium: 425ppm
dKH: 10.6
Mag: 1320
Nitrates: 25ppm (just tested, since he eats so heavily. I'm addressing this now)

I recently added a calcium reactor, and have been watching it extremely closely. dKH has never been outside of the 10.0-11.2 range since installed. The tank he came from had a pair of GSM, pyramid BF, yellow tang, purple firefish. As mentioned above, the nitrates have spiked since adding this guy. Typically, they're below 5ppm. This foxface eats twice as much as everything else in the tank combined.

Here's the most recent full-tank shot, 2 months ago. Notice the large hammer down center, and the frogspawn and torch at the ends. The torch is about 3x that size now, and in the center back, behind that bright green stag.

 

[charlesr1958]

I would have to suspect a coral sting still, no other inhabitants that you have could mark the fish as such. Does the foxface sleep or have a favorite hiding spot that would be very near any of the corals capable of stinging? Looking at your tank, which is awesome by the way. It looks like that coral overhang near the frogspawn looks like a great foxface hiding/sleeping place, and with the fishes tail brushing into a coral all night, it could be easily stung.

Other than a sting, the only other possible I can think of is something like a parasitic isopod, but those would be readily visible so I doubt that, and it would not be just the tail area effected.

 

[Sherman]

I mentioned the torch in the back, behind the green stag... that's where the foxface sleeps. One of the cinnamon clowns sleeps in the frogspawn cave, the other behind the hammer.

FWIW, I finally got a response from WWM, and they agree it's either bite marks or coral sting. I guess that's what I'm going to go with.

Thanks for all the help, guys! I'll post if anything changes.

 

[steve-s]

Do some reading on Vibrio and Uromena. I'm not completely convinced it's a sting but it very well could be. At the very least be watchful of bacterial infections and do some large water changes to get those nitrates down. I'm actually quite surprised your SPS's are doing so well at that level. Have you/can you have the reading verified?

Not a tang I know but your fish selection is less than desirable. No Siganus species belongs in such a small tank. You are seriously risking long term health by doing so.

Cheers
Steve

 

[charlesr1958]

As noted, bacterial infections would now be my big concern (other than it needing a larger tank), that and if it keeps sleeping within range of a coral capable of stinging it, it could be an ongoing battle which the fish will eventualy lose. You might need to move the torch coral and replace it with a like sized piece of rock so that the foxface still has its sleeping place but with no danger of being stung.

By the way, can I have your permission to use the tail area of the photo within my Fish Disease ID and Treatment page? I dont have anything within it discussing this topic and would like to include it.

Chuck

 

[Sherman]

Charlesr, you may certainly use the photo, thank you for asking.

Steve-s, your tank size warnings aren't falling of deaf ears. I knew that before I got him. He's particularly small right now, and I'm already in the planning phase of a tank upgrade to a 150g.

 

[steve-s]

Good to hear. Please keep us informed of the fish progress. If the problem gets worse or does not abate let us know.

Cheers
Steve

 

[charlesr1958]

Thanks! and as Steve mentioned, please let us know how things go with the fish.

Chuck