The Puffer Forum

My knight goby, who I first thought might have developed ich (see http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/vie ... php?t=4456 ), appears to have what my fish books describe as lymphocystitis bilaterally on each pectoral fin.

So, my books say no treatment...do I need to worry, cull the fish, or just let him be...

Thanks,

Eric

PS - The water parameters are unchanged from the prior posting. Tankmates are one figure 8 and one dalmation molly. Tank is 29 gallons.

What is the SG?

It's at 1.006 (just checked).

Eric

1.006 is fine for knight gobies.

Lymphocystis is not rare in benthic fish. It's theoretically caused by a virus, but it is generally believed that the virus only becomes a problem if something else goes wrong.

In the North Sea, it is very common on flounders and other flatfish, and has been (though not universally) attributed to heavy metal pollution. So there may be an environmental issue. I've seen it on a geriatric Awaous goby. Possibly the problem is a dirty substrate, or some contaminant on the substrate that filtration/water changes don't remove, or the bacteria that grow on the substrate.

Lymphocystis is (normally) not dangerous to the fish (it's the equivalent of warts on humans) and can, eventually, go away by itself. Some books recommend slicing off infected tissue. The fins should grow back. I can't be bothered to do that and stress my fish, for what is fundamentally an unsightly rather than catchy or debilitating disease.

Cheers,

Neale

Neale - thanks for the information. I'll just keep an eye on things at this point. The gravel is aragonite, and I vacuum it regularly (i.e. - weekly with water changes). However, we are in a drought in my part of the US, and I wonder if we could be getting something odd in our water because any farm run off wouldn't be as diluted (our water is from the Missouri river). Everyone else in the tank looks fine, though, but I'll be sure and do an extra heavy vacuum job tonight when I change water.

Eric

Hmm....just a thought but if your not sure if its the water maybe get some bottled or something, just for now.?

I decided to net the little bugger and get a really close up view of what's on his fins...and it looked almost like a white, small worm on each fin. So, I grabbed a flash light, some fine tweezers, and pulled them off. He's now swimming fine, but hiding whenever he sees me.

Hopefully that will take care of things. I'd really prefer not to dose the tank.

Eric