Whitish tissue at insertion of the pectoral fin

[mleibowi]

Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?
I noticed whiteish almost free floating material attached to the pectoral fin by the body. There’s a white halo around in the fin itself. I noticed it 1 day ago. Nothing unusual as I can tell. It doesn’t seem to be using the fin as much as the contract real side.


2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds).
The fish otherwise is healthy. Again not using that fin as much and odd white halo. I wonder if it’s bacterial or fungal? Again, eating well and otherwise acting normally.

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

None

Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
120 gal with 20 sump. Tank is almost 2 years old. 9 discus, 3 6-8”+, 5 5”+, one stunted at 4”. I have about 20 cardinals, 3 sterbai, 1 bushy nose pleco full grown.

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
At this point 1-2x/per week 80%, full sand siphoning.


6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
2 years, sand about 2” depth

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
No I don’t.

8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
I use prime and add it to the tank prior to adding my tap water.

9. Parameters and water source;
Ph is 7.8, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10ppm, temp 84F

Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.


- temp _____

- ph _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

- well water ____

- municipal water __X__

- RO water ____


10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
I had 8 cardinals quarantined for 1 week that I treated with prazi and flubendazole as they were “wild caught”. They are all healthy and thriving. The LFS, also treated the fish empirically with prazi.


11. Please tell us what you feed your fish and how often. This can be critical information for solving the problem so be as specific as you can.
I feed Al’s spinach FDBW, generally 3 cubes per day, vibrabites a pinch once a day, and occasionally Hikari frozen brine shrimp and frozen discus cubes once every 2 weeks.



12. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.

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[seanyuki]

Rotated

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[jeep]

At first glance, it looks like typical water quality issues. But, eruptions in similar to this into the muscle of the pectoral fin are sometimes an indication of tumor growth.

I would start off by treating as a water quality issue and up water changes and add a little salt at 3TBS per 10g. Keep a close eye out and update if there's any reduction or progression.

If it increases, you may want to try an antibiotic like nitrofurazone or even kanamycin. Although kanamycin is best for internal issues, it can help in this situation if it's an infection that is working way into the fish.

[mleibowi]

Thanks Jeep. I wish I could say it’s just a bacterial node. I’ll put him in quarantine sooner than later

[bluelagoon]

I think it's a virus and cannot be treated. Looks like Lymphocystis or cauliflower disease.

[jeep]

I think it's a virus and cannot be treated. Looks like Lymphocystis or cauliflower disease.

Lymphocystis is what I was trying to think of. I would definitely QT.

[bluelagoon]

It can spread from fish to fish. Some can have it and never show symptoms. It may clear on it's own but can take time. Similar to the way planters wart in humans live when in HPV inters the skin. Plenty of fresh water will lessen the viral count. I've been keeping fish for about 55 years and came across this twice over the years but was in angel fish.

[mleibowi]

Trying salt and antibiotics. Let’s see how it goes. Overall, she is doing well. If it doesn’t improve, should I euthanize?

[jeep]

It's up to you. You can possibly improve the condition but if this is a virus you must remember that it can be manageable but it's not curable and it is contagious, but so are bacteria, even aeromonas. It all depends on the pathogens count and the other discus' immune system. Slacking on water changes is not an option!

[mleibowi]

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Sorry these aren’t great photos by any means. So I treated this gal with kanamycin for 1 week with salt. I didn’t raise the temp of the tank in case it was bacterial so it’s around 82F. It’s better but not resolved. I’ve stopped treatment and continuing to quarantine her with salt. She’s eating great. Not sure if the best next steps. I’m open to suggestions.
Thanks!

[brewmaster15]

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Sorry these aren’t great photos by any means. So I treated this gal with kanamycin for 1 week with salt. I didn’t raise the temp of the tank in case it was bacterial so it’s around 82F. It’s better but not resolved. I’ve stopped treatment and continuing to quarantine her with salt. She’s eating great. Not sure if the best next steps. I’m open to suggestions.
Thanks!

It looks like lympocystis to me as well, and really should not be responding to the kanamycin at all if it is. If you feel that it did improve , I would not stop with the kanamycin, carry it out another week. It is possible that this isn't viral as it looks and that its bacterial. That location is tricky because its where the bones, body and connective tissue meet.Bacteria nodules from an injury may be possible.

al

[mleibowi]

Read up on lymphocystitis. Man- I may have to cull to prevent the others from getting. It sounds like generally it’s self limiting, but it can infect my other fish. Who knows it may have already… I’m not sure I want to put it back in the main tank. What are people’s thoughts?

[LizStreithorst]

I agree with your assessment. I'll hope along with you. The fish would do better in a BB tank. A BB is so much cleaner.

[mleibowi]

I have a sand substrate in main display tank and it’s a lot of work siphoning not just want on top but the debris that worked its way into the sand. I don’t like BB tanks but I hear your point and are well aware, thanks Liz.