White cotton spot on pectoral fin

[tgeist]

Has anybody ever seen anything like this? I wish I could send a pic, but the fish is too fast. I have a black & white striped damsel in a 55 gallon tank - I am almost done with the cycle - about 4 weeks or so. He has a puff of white on his pectoral fin. He is clean on the rest of his body and quite healthy. The other two damsels are perfectly fine. I know my water quality has been poor, but he has had it since I got him. There used to be two spots, now there is one big one (2 mm) What is this? and does anybody have a treatment? A freshwater bath is out of the question - I can't catch him!!!!

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Tough to tell w/o a picture but it may be a common ailment known as lymphocystis. It's a viral infection, most often seen in species like angels, tangs and butterflies, but it does occur in others. Kind of resembles a white clumpy growth (some equate it to cauliflower) but it can be less pronounced. It's common in newly imported fish as a result of substandard water quality during shipping. It will normally clear up on it's on given good water and diet. Keep an eye on it, do some decent water changes and see if it clears up.

 

[tgeist]

Thanks for the info jdubbya. I'm just going to wait rather than start with chemicals