I noticed lumps on the side of two fish in my tank. I took pictures, they only came out so/so. I hope some one can identify the issue from them...
The first two images are a flame hawk and the second image is a 6 line wrasse. The flame hawk was added to the tank on 10-08-08 and the 6 line wrasse was added on 10-09-08. Both purchased from the same LFS a day apart. These are 2 of 3 fish purchased. I also purchased a blue sided fairy wrasse and it seems fine, no visible bumps.
Since you don't have a QT you have no choice but to leave them where they are.
By all means, I would not add any livestock to the tank, keep water in check, coat food with garlic and vitamins, feed them at least twice a day in smaller amounts instead of one large dump, make sure your temp is okay and see if maybe they are being harassed.
While tending to all of this I would throw a QT together because you will need it again.
There are a few parasites that imbed under the scales of fish to feed on the fish's fluids. Some big enough to be seen extending out from under the scale, some not. All raise the scale as in your photos. I suspect you brought them home already infected. Without a hospital QT there's not much you can do but wait it out. It's possible, but not highly likely, that the parasite will mature, drop off and not become a problem. The reason I say this is because some parasites need an intermediate host such as a snail. Only time will tell.
This incident is repeated over and over everyday around the world. It could be mostly avoided if a few simple rules were followed. In a word, it boils down to research. What are the three most important things in keeping live animals, especially marine aquariums? Research, research, research!!! I cannot stress it often enough nor hard enough. Research is the key to knowledge. Knowledge, put into practice, is the key to success. Knowledge gained without prior research is costly because it comes at the expense of trial and error. Having a properly set up hospital QT has been recommended repeatedly. Never the less, many will not take this sage advice and trudge on in the hobby losing countless numbers of fish (and other animals) all the while declaring "how hard SW tanks are to keep". When in reality they are not hard at all, if you know and follow the rules.
Speaking of RULES, have you read my little tome called, "NINE SIMPLE RULES"? If you haven't you should (In my humble opinion.). It will teach you more than nine rules. You will learn how to purchase healthy fish and keep them healthy. It's your RESEARCH project for today. I've been told it is so important to some that they copied and pasted it into Word Perfect, printed it out and keep it visible as a constant reminder. I was honored when I began hearing that. Here's the link to the article - Nine Simple rules to Healthy Fish.
While this response may not help your current situation, my hope is that you read the article, learn from it and prevent this from happening in the future. Success is all about knowledge.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
I'm at the office, so I'm not totally sure. I think i'm going to try Rod's Food (original formula). rroselavy recommended it in this post: Feeding a Reef tank
Dick, thanks for keeping those tips current. I've read them a few times over and notice they all deal with tidbits you hear from other experts so its nice to have them all in one spot. While there is no fool-proof way, tehse simple rules do great to minimize risks of failure down teh roa exponentially. I've notcied I always go into a fish store with a sceptics eye and am looking for them to prove me wrong. 90% of the time from just a quick glance, you notice a lot of bad stuff, from poor activity, distress, illnesses, etc., If you can't trust the LFS for these issues, I do beleive Dr F&S Liveaquaria is a great choice. Granted you have to trust their selection and handling cuz you can't see it, but no other place I know offers a 30-day gurantee on livestock.
__________________ Brian
Man I am HOOKED on DIY...I'd build me a fish from scratch if I could
I've read your article in the past, it sounds like I should give it another read.
I'll research a QT and what the minimum requirements are.
For now I'm going to research purchasing a better quality food and keep a close eye on them.
You really don't need a lot in regards to a QT tank, min 20g is recommended and if you can get around 30+ even better. Simple flourecent lighting, heater and an inexpensive yet servicable filter. Constant water changes to keep water quality up, can also be incorporated with your DT changes, so they are used to the system water. This way you can employ higher temps hyposalintiy and in worse case scenariarios, meds. I think if you take Dick's spa approach and think R&R for the fish, you be successful.
Check out the local Craigslist. You'll always find some parent that bought a FW setup an now are getting out cuz their kids don't do it anymore. I know my LFS has 20 tanks for $18 and you can get a decent hoodlight for $20, heaters can be bought for around $10 and you can get a simple HOB filter for $10-20. I think being resourceful you can get everything for under 50 bones and beats having to rebuy expensive fish.
__________________ Brian
Man I am HOOKED on DIY...I'd build me a fish from scratch if I could
You can also check out your local thrift stores or even wallmart or another store they have sells all the time. I got my QT from goodwill for $10 and baught everything lights and filter for $30. Everything added up to $40 that $40 will pay for itself in time when it saves me from major fish loss due to ick or another disease. Hope this helps alittle more
I'm starting to think my Purple Tang may be the culprit. It doesn't seem like wounds, but the purple seems to be pestering them. Not real serious aggression, but constantly zipping towards them when she goes by and she corrals them w/ her side, but I've never seen her swipe out them w/ the barb....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amphibious
Speaking of RULES, have you read my little tome called, "NINE SIMPLE RULES"?
~~
Here's the link to the article - Nine Simple rules to Healthy Fish.
I read the sticky topic in The Talkingreef Community > Fish > General Fish Discussion >
I feel like I followed them pretty well. Although they are substantially different than the link you posted above. There is only a brief mention of "quarantine" with no explanation.
That's because the link I posted goes to my web site where I can add content as I desire and had expanded the article to include my thoughts on QTing.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
We are all here to help and certainly not to make you feel bad.
We have all had our share of problems and we have all certainly jumped in and said it will be okay this time. You are certainly not alone nor are you the only person that keeps a tank that doesn't quarantine.
No matter what it is in life we all have to go through the learning stages and the trial and error stages. We wouldn't be human otherwise...
Off my soap box now -
Purple tangs can be aggressive - they use the tactics you describe to show dominance in the tank. Maybe it is stressing the others out enough to cause an outbreak of a parasite.
I have a yellow that is a huge bully to all creatures in the tank until she feels she has beaten them down enough.
Are the other fish still feeding, swimming and acting normal?
If so, I would keep a watch on them, give them a variety of vitamin enriched food and see what happens.
I would also make sure that I kept sheet algae in the tank for the tang most of the time so it is not going hungry and that is the cause of the aggression. Tangs graze throughout the day in the wild and must be able to do the dame in the aquarium.
I only pull a fish out of the DT and put in the hospital tank when I see no other way to pull them through an event. For some of mine, tangs, it is more stressful on them to move around their home to be able to nab them out of the tank and put elsewhere.
This is certainly not everyone's point of view but as you do with you children - you have to make informed decisions based on your experience with the animals in question, research and use your instinct to help you out.
Lumps on Fish 
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Photo by Max Strandberg