Green clown gobies are sick, need help

[Fishguy2727]

My green clown gobies are sick. It has been going on for a few weeks now. At first it seemed to barely come up, then almost go away a couple times. It looked like regular white spot at first, but as it has gotten worse it doesn't seem like white spot (marine ich). It looks more like a virus to me. The white spots are not ON the surface but below it. The white spots will cause a bump but there is a visible thickness between the white spot and the surface of the skin/scales. This should be visible in the photo. I think the original stressor was temperature during water changes, which has been fixed. Now the tiger goby has it and the female percula has a trace of it. Any ideas?
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2129.jpg

[Gayle]

Does it resemble cauliflower in anyway?

[Fishguy2727]

No, I know what disease you are talking about (and of course can't remember what it is called).

[labnjab]

I don't know, but I hope they get better

[iZinedane]

i dont know about that sorry,
but i hope they get well soon thumbs2:

[Gayle]

Ok well it is not Lymphocystis then. They appear to be under the skin, IDK if it would be viral. I am leaning more towards bacterial, or possibly some sort of ectoparasite. Have you tried to feel the bumps, see if they are hard or fluid filled? Maybe if they wipe off or pop? If you have a lab you can use, try doing a skin scrape. You made need to do a control on a fish from another tank as all fish in this tank me be affected, just not showing signs yet.

Here is one site that offers pretty good info, take a look at it, it may help:
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_diseases/skin_disorders.html

[Fishguy2727]

Bacterial is usually red and not restricted to cysts, pustules, etc. Doesn't look like any parasite I know of besides white spot, which it does not seem to be. This really looks like pox to me which makes me think viral. I only know of fish pox in koi, but I don't know that there isn't a marine form. Catching these guys is not an option.

[Gayle]

Well you know Koi Pox is a Herpes Virus, and we all know how those go. Just because it may not have been documented yet (that I found), does not mean that there is not a herpes that effects marine fish (a new strain, or an old that jumped species). Sorry things are getting worse. So what are you going to do?

[Fishguy2727]

It looks like all I can do is wait it out.

[Gayle]

Well if it is a virus, it should sort itself out, hopefully with no deaths. Have you given any treatments?

[Fishguy2727]

No. There are very few options for reef tanks. I am not going to tear the tank apart to get them out. The available reef 'safe' options are 1-debated about how truly reef safe they really are and 2-not always effective. I have seen fish get worse after these treatments.

[Gayle]

Yeah, well I guess that nature is just going to have to run its course. Are they showing any signs of recovering yet? Stupid question, but would there be any type of food you could feed them to boost their immune system? Like vitamin C or anything?

[Fishguy2727]

I feed NLS already, but additional supplementation for a short term shouldn't hurt.

When it was just the gobies it seemed to almost go away twice. After that it kicked in to high gear and has just spread and gotten worse.

[Gayle]

Well when the virus sheds the other fish are getting it, and they are just passing it around. So if one had it for a day, then began to shed it, the next fish would get it probably 2-3 days after the first, and be a few days behind the first in recovery. When the first recovered the second fish would still be shedding and the first could get it again. I just do not know how this one sheds, or what it even is, so that is just my guess. Their immune systems may be too weak to build up enough antibodies, or are just flat out can not keep up. Or even more spooky maybe it is a retro virus. Those can get very nasty.

[Gayle]

Sorry to post again, I just found these, they are worth reading

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/83/10/2469

http://books.google.com/books?id=lBltoKDaBVEC&pg=PA554&lpg=PA554&dq=marine+fish+retrovirus&source=bl&ots=5SHsRiICdP&sig=vf---uIVuajUMOV5PrWtEtoVWdM&hl=en&ei=lnUVSofKAqCW8wSukdjHAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3

http://books.google.com/books?id=N_vHsFAjPwUC&pg=PA251&lpg=PA251&dq=marine+fish+retrovirus&source=bl&ots=U7ty9uGK30&sig=yolxXgnjl88Df8Ufr9n5Lb4A_vk&hl=en&ei=lnUVSofKAqCW8wSukdjHAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

[oldhead]

You could try feeding them garlic laced food to see if that promotes an immune response. Sorry to hear about your issues.

[coachfraley]

Sorry to hear about your fish!

[Gayle]

So is there any news on the fish?? Getting any better???

[Fishguy2727]

Definitely not any better. Progression definitely matches a virus, but not lymphocystis. The distribution across the body is different.