Help!!! My Yellow Eye

Today, I noticed that my Yellow Eye Tang has a big white spot next to its fin.  It has a few little white specs too.  I'm assuming this is ich.  It eats all the time, picking at the algae on the rocks and on the glass.  It's just as active as it has always been.  The only other fish I have in the tank is a domino and it looks good.  The yellow eye has been in the tank for about 5 wks.

What should I do? :'( :-/

 

Do you have a quarantine tank? If so move it there.

If not, watch it carefully for any changes in behavior ie., labrored breathing, listlessness, etc. It really doesn't look like ich to me. Ich appears as almost white salt specs on the surface of the skin.

Do you have cleaner shrimp?

 

Gamma can't tell from that pic.
Check this link out:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mccarty_and_peters/coral/Dis-list.htm

What I see just looks like the bone that sticks out near the fin. They use it as a weapon to stab other fish when threatened. I mention this in case you didn't know about it. I had a tang stab a butterfly fish to death with it.

matt

 

I do have a qt. I'll move him out as soon as I can.

As far as the bone that sticks out near the fin, no I didn't know that. He is really calm in the tank. As I said the only other fish I have in the tank is a domino and they get along very well. It looks almost like an abrasion. Nothing has really changed as far as his behavior.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

The calcwraous bone for cuting other fish, hence the name "surgeon" is at the rear of the lateral line just before the tail fin, not by the dorsal fin. Just to clarify!

 

In the qt should I medicate him w/ anything or should I just wait it out?

 

Don't medicate if you don't know what it is. If it's an abrasion it should heal on its own.

 

keep an eye on your kole and see if the white spots dont dissapear after a few hours after turning t he lights on. my kole always had white spots on him and i had the horrible thoughts of ick all the time but i noticed that they would dissapear then be back the next morning. i found out when he would hide for the night he was near the sand and it would stick to him. just someting to look for before jumping the gun

 

i don't think it's sand, but the white specs have dissappeared. the large white spot that you see in the picture has gotten a little smaller, but it's taking a while. he eats just as he has before. no change in behavior.

 

Great news, keep us posted!