# [Help] White Spot / Growth on angelfish



## JaM3z (Feb 26, 2009)

Well i seperated him into my 10 Gal quarantene tank and added 4 teaspoons of marine salt to the water, as soon as a put him in the white lump on the side of him had fallen off and left behind a red sore.

Ive added some maracyn to the tank also and will just monitor him for a few days to see if the sore heals up.

Anyone have any idea as to what the problem could be?


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

I hope you don't mean you used a mix for a reef tank when said "marine salt".


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## JaM3z (Feb 26, 2009)

rmc said:


> I hope you don't mean you used a mix for a reef tank when said "marine salt".


By salt i mean sea salt, as in the "pure" salt you would get left over if boiled salt water from the ocean.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

JaM3z said:


> Well i seperated him into my 10 Gal quarantene tank and added 4 teaspoons of marine salt to the water, as soon as a put him in the white lump on the side of him had fallen off and left behind a red sore.
> 
> Ive added some maracyn to the tank also and will just monitor him for a few days to see if the sore heals up.
> 
> Anyone have any idea as to what the problem could be?


The fact that the lump "fell off" in salt water makes it sound to me like it may have been a parasite of some sort.

I think you're doing exactly what you should, and I'd just keep an eye on him and make sure the water quality stays good for a few weeks.


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## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

I would keep the water clean, can't see much from the photo you provided, hard to tell.
Is the Angel behaving normally(eating, moving, no other problems?) I wouldn't go crazy with all the meds.
If other fish is ok, then chances are it is not bacterial.
Pimafix and melafix would help the wound, if meds involved i like the jungle meds(external and internal)
Hope all will be OK.


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

That type of salt contains a lot more than just sodium chloride and will likely raise the ph well above 8.0 Most reef salts are designed to buffer the water to a ph of 8.4 which is far above the comfort zone of most angelfish.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

He said he's using Sea Salt, which is just about as pure NaCl as you can get. :icon_smil


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## JaM3z (Feb 26, 2009)

Well i cant work out whats up with this still, my water quality is in my opinion perfectly crystal clear with a PH of about 7.2 which is CO2 controlled, i have a inline UV filter and do water changes of 30% monthly, amonia is 0ppm.

No other fish are showing signs of stess and are just perfectly happy, yet why my angelfish got this "pimple" in the first place is rather worrying. I think ill keep him in quarantene until he is 100% and there is no redness aroud where the lump was.


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## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

It could be anything, a cut, aggression, or a parasite, just in case would give jungle parasite food to eat for a couple days and see.
keep up with large water changes.


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## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

I had the same thing happen to an angelfish of mine a few months ago. No other fish were sick, and she acted completely normal, but she had a little white 'pimple' on her side behind one of her pectoral fins. I didn't have a quarantine tank to put her in, so I left her in the main tank, turned the temperature up from 78 to 85, and salted the water pretty well. Just like yours, it fell off, left a nasty looking red wound, and healed up within a week. It never happened again, and I haven't seen it before. I have no idea what it was. Maybe a bite from another fish that got infected and made an abscess?


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

lauraleellbp said:


> He said he's using Sea Salt, which is just about as pure NaCl as you can get. :icon_smil


I think you should Google it.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

We cook with sea salt. Most of the sea salt you buy at the grocery store is NaCl, and generally only the more expensive mined salts have the fancy mineral contents (and come in different colors and flavors). You usually have to get those at gourmet stores.


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

You REALLY should Google it.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

LOL I did.

We also cook with sea salt so I've got some on the kitchen counter. It's NaCl.


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_salt

Sea salt is primarily composed of the following ions[5], listed in order of descending abundance by weight:

Chloride (Cl-) 55.03% 
Sodium (Na+) 30.59% 
Sulfate (SO42-) 7.68% 
Magnesium (Mg2+) 3.68% 
Calcium (Ca2+) 1.18% 
Potassium (K+) 1.11% 
Bicarbonate (HCO3-) 0.41% 
Bromide (Br-) 0.19% 
Borate (BO33-) 0.08% 
Strontium (Sr2+) 0.04% 
Everything else 0.01% 

Although the salinity of sea water varies quite a bit worldwide, the relative abundances of the constituent ions remain the same.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

rmc said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_salt
> 
> Sea salt is primarily composed of the following ions[5], listed in order of descending abundance by weight:
> 
> ...


Right, the majority is NaCl. None of the rest of that is gonna cause a problem for fish. It's the "gourmet" salts that have the various higher mineral contents that turn the salts different colors and flavors. Some of those may be iffy... :smile:


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

And if it isn't refined the minerals can raise the ph well above 8.0 which can effect fish, especially softwater species such as angelfish.

The ph of sea water is usually around 8.4 and only the water is eliminated through the evaporation process. Thus, pure sea salt will buffer water back to that same ph level.

Mined salt is actually closer to pure NaCl than sea water and will not alter the ph nearly as much. I use water softener salt which is mined and considered 99% pure.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

rmc said:


> Mined salt is actually closer to pure NaCl than sea water and will not alter the ph nearly as much.


Shouldn't that be the other way around? Since ocean water is pretty uniform in composition, but in the ground other things can leech in?


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## rmc (Dec 6, 2005)

Variations in minerals will affect the color and clarity of the salt crystals. Only the cleanest veins are used for table salt and softener salt. I think there would be less contaminants in mined salt than what the Mississippi and other rivers are dumping into the oceans.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That makes sense... so I guess it depends on source and processing.

(I still think the bottom line is that it will work fine for a medicinal treatment, though. :smile


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## JaM3z (Feb 26, 2009)

Well all is well with my angelfish now, i had him in my salt dosed tank for 4 days then waterchanged and had him in a tank with primafix and medifix and he's fine so ive put back in my main tank now.

Thanks all the comments, yet ive still no idea what on earth was wrong with him in the first place.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Glad he's doing better!! :thumbsup:


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## mjolnir28 (Oct 2, 2011)

I know this post is old but just in case anyone's keeping up with it or for people googling it, this sounds like lymphocystis to me aka cauliflower disease. Its caused by the virus lymphocystivirus from the family Iridoviradae. Its a self limiting viral disease. Its actually the number one viral disease that affects aquarium fish. The virus causes certain cells to multiply and causes a lump. It usually goes away on its own. Its not very contagious and when it is its usually spread via direct contact. But it is recommended to quarantine the affected fish until 1 month after it has completely healed to avoid any transfer of infection at all. It is rarely lethal and when it is its usually BC of a secondary infection or if the lump impairs eating. Hope this helps someone in the future.


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