Need help identifying what this could be.

[saminator0107]

Hello, this is one of my warmouth sunfish. He is in a native aquarium with some other similar native fish as him. He has had some weird coloration on his tail these past 3 weeks or so. I first noticed it was on his tail but now has very slowly spread to part of his body. It doesnt seem to effect his swimming, attitude, or appetite, he seems normal behavior wise. All other fish are perfectly normal with no "white" on them. Aggression is minimal, no fighting or anything like that. Obviously there is a tad every now and then as these fish are very similar to keeping cichlids, just terrortorial based. No fin nipping, biting, etc, just the occasional "get out of my area" chase. 

 

Water parameters are what they always have been. No ammonia, nitrates are minimal, ph is generally around 7, etc. Nothing abnormal. This fish has been in the tank for nearly 8 months, along with his other friends. I will sometimes feed live minnows, but not too often, maybe once a month or two. 
 

 

It looks like he may have "shed" his scales. Not sure why. I have waited to see if it will go away on its own and so far nothing yet, although it does look a bit better than a few days ago.

 

I tried to get better pictures than this, but his tank mates love to photo bomb 🙂

Edited August 27 by saminator0107

[Tony s]

Honestly, looks a bit like columnaris. Didn’t realize such a large fish could get it also. @Colu for answers

[Colu]

Given the fact it's been three weeks it's less likely to be columnaris it would have killed your fish by now it Could have a bacterial component I would recommend doing a course of kanaplex or maracyn2 @saminator0107

[saminator0107]

On 8/26/2024 at 8:05 PM, Colu said:

Given the fact it's been three weeks it's less likely to be columnaris it would have killed your fish by now it Could have a bacterial component I would recommend doing a course of kanaplex or maracyn2 @saminator0107

Okay, as i have never done that before im assuming i should do it in a bucket or something? Ill look into getting some tommrow from my LFS. 

 

Also im not too familiar with columnaris, if it does turn out to be that is it deadly and can it spread to the other fish? 

[Tony s]

On 8/27/2024 at 1:13 AM, saminator0107 said:

Also im not too familiar with columnaris, if it does turn out to be that is it deadly and can it spread to the other fish? 

I’m pretty sure we’re not actually certain what’s going on there. It does look bacterial in some respects. The only way we’d know for sure is if it spreads. And yes, columbnaria is contagious, but a lot of that depends on the health of the individual fish. Like most diseases. And can be fast moving as well. But it can look like that. But as colu said, it’d probably be dead already. 
 

you have a couple of options for treatment. You could put him in quarantine. Depending on size, a small tote with an air stone or 2 in it. Meds reduce the amount of available oxygen. And A heater if he needs one. Then run your meds course, following directions as per the label. If no other fish has symptoms, probably the cheapest way. Second way is to treat the whole tank. Expensive for 75 gallons. If using a tote, you may need a lid on top if he’s a jumper. 

[saminator0107]

On 8/27/2024 at 12:55 AM, Tony s said:

I’m pretty sure we’re not actually certain what’s going on there. It does look bacterial in some respects. The only way we’d know for sure is if it spreads. And yes, columbnaria is contagious, but a lot of that depends on the health of the individual fish. Like most diseases. And can be fast moving as well. But it can look like that. But as colu said, it’d probably be dead already. 
 

you have a couple of options for treatment. You could put him in quarantine. Depending on size, a small tote with an air stone or 2 in it. Meds reduce the amount of available oxygen. And A heater if he needs one. Then run your meds course, following directions as per the label. If no other fish has symptoms, probably the cheapest way. Second way is to treat the whole tank. Expensive for 75 gallons. If using a tote, you may need a lid on top if he’s a jumper. 

Yeah just did some research on columnaria, and i dont think thats it either. No other fish have any symptoms. I have an extra 30 gallon i can set up for the time being, which is probably what ill end up doing. Worse case scenario i can get a big plastic tote to use. Im going to go to my LFS tommrow when they open up to grab some meds. I think he may have gotten sick from a feeder fish. Thats the only thing that has really "changed" as far as anything goes really. Im considering stopping giving them feeder fish. They dont need the feeders i just give it to them as a treat every now and then. And its also cool watching them hunt as you domt get to see that when these fish are in ponds, lakes, etc.

Edited August 27 by saminator0107