Scaled fish disease....Pics Added

[abe77901]

I have a problem with my main tank, my scaled fish are dying off. I currently have my large zebra eel, a small moray, a blue dot puffer, a spiney puffer, a small lion and a kole tang. I had lost my queen angel to whatever this is, but I thought I had taken care of it with large water changes and running carbon. All parameters are fine.

The problem, well I checked on the fish last night, no problem, well i went home for lunch and looked in as the light came on. My kole tang looks like it was in a major street fight with Hulk Hogan and lost. He looks as thou he is peeling. Yeah like a sunburn. Just real ruff looking. As in the past with my queen angle and a naso tang, i'm almost positive it will perish too. Like i said almost overnight they drop off then die. I at my witts end. Almaost ready to say ____ it!!!!!! Any help appreciated.

Like I said it affects the scaled fish only, everything else is fine...or so it seems.

[GaryP]

I would suggest calling Richard at CB Pets. ASAP. He's the best guy I know on fish diseases. His number is available on the pet store listings.

[Richard]

Darn that "guest" thing!

[abe77901]

I read the symptoms and saw pictures of the parasite, it really doesn't look like its what I have. ARGH.......just frustrated....well i got home at 4pm and he's gone, i've included pics of the fish so maybe someone can pin the problem or disease, out of the water he looked ok, in the water he's peeling. Oh well so **ssed off right now, i just want to throw it all in, its not the money thing, its the fish dieing that really just irritate the hell out of me..... :angry

[MikeyBoy]

If you find a cure, let me know, I think I have lost some fish to the same thing.
The fish look kind of pale, and whiteish....then like they are peeling.......had it....they died......

Ditto ditto......suks

[CD]

Abe - could you refresh my memory on your tank size and equipment? Also if you could post water params and temp.? I had a bad experience with overcrowding in a 75G tank we had just prior to our upgrade, and lost an Atlantic Blue tang (along with 5 others after her)...the ABT looked exactly like what you are describing - looked like the after effects of a sunburn and was literally peeling flesh. I truly thought some horrid disease was ravaging my fish. Started out as marine ich on the ABT, then her extreme stress (pacing) with the added overamped bio-load took out the others. Some of the fish made it through without a trace of illness (other than increased stress for awhile) including two other tangs.

W.

[abe77901]

Wendy, i have a 110 gallon with a 30 gallon sump fowlr. As for the bio load i have a zebra moray, and small speckled moray, a small lion, a med. blue dot puffer, and a med. spiny puffer. I really don't think its over crowding, what do you think? I mean the fish go down over night, one minute their fine, I come back and BAM the thing looks like it lost a 20 rd. fight to Mike Tyson...then it dies...just really frustrated here...and it seems to only attack scaled fish for whatever reason..

[CD]

Hmmm...OK, well a 110G isn't exactly a small tank, but you've got poisonous predators in there (for the most part) which are all very messy eaters and that will produce a lot of poo. When you say "medium" on the puffers, about how many inches would you say they are? IOW, I know the Blue Dots don't usually get all that large, but a "med." Spiny (they can get really large) could be upwards of 18". How big are the eels and lion (in inches)? Do they all have plenty of room without getting in each other's way? Would you say your tank looks peaceful, or are there quarrels between the inhabitants? Is there any way you could post a full tank shot pic of your display? Also the water params (I asked about these before)? Some backround on you maint. schedule wouldn't hurt either...how often you do water changes, what kind of filtration you have, do you run carbon...more info, all the better.

I was doing some reading on puffers (since we've never owned one), and apparently the Spiny puffers have a pretty nasty toxin in their skin, gonads, spines and internal organs called tetrodotoxin. I can't find specific information on how this toxin would react with other fish's flesh in a closed system, but I can't imagine that it would be good. I'm actually kinda surprised you had that Kole in such an aggresive system in the first place...tangs would generally do much better in a non-aggresive set up IMHO.

Anyway - if you could elaborate on the info requested, that would be a great. I'll do my best to try and help!

W.