Purple Tilefish

[FishyReef]

Anybody ever had long term success with this fish? I purchased one from DD last week (after 2 prior attempts) and it arrived on Tuesday. Acclimated it and it was super fiesty, trying to jump out of the bag while acclimating, etc. We subsequently named it "Sassy" :D Netted it to move to the tank, it wiggled out of the net and landed on the floor. Caught it in about 15 seconds and got it in the tank. Yesterday it came out to eat and was out swimming, and none of my other fish paid any attention to it. It was happily establishing territory, chasing my goby away from the rocks, etc. Today it is MIA. I have every opening on my tank fully covered with screening so there is no way it could have jumped out. I done a cursory search of the tank (looking underneath to see if it buried itself under the rocks, and looked behind the rocks with a mirror. Fed this morning and no sign of it. It was a visibly healthy and large specimen. Any ideas as to what happened?

 

[2XAl]

I lost a couple cardinals a few weeks ago, we chocked it up to a brittle star eating them. Do you have any inverts that could be predators?

 

[Ted]

Hope it just found a really kick ass hiding place...

 

[Steveg229]

I believe those fish can burrow themselves completely under the sand...? Lets stay positive and just assume that he is exploring his new home, or taking a long nap.

 

[FishyReef]

Well, he must have just found a very good hiding spot because he came out to eat for the second feeding. But, the very back tip of his anal fin has some large white tissue on it that doesn't look good. Can't tell if its cotton-like, fin rot, or something else. It doesn't really look parasitic, just like the fin itself is torn. It reminds me of starfish tissue when it starts to dissolve. I hope this is some injury from escaping the net the other day and not disease related. It ate a little mysis this afternoon. Good news is that its still eating (it did spit out several pieces but also ate a handful). I wish I could get a picture of the fins but it is very shy and darts into the rocks when I come near the tank, and only comes out for a few seconds at a time, and so far only 2-3 times total this afternoon. Any ideas what it could be, and whether it can fight this off?

 

[yote]

Sounds like its got lymphocystis.
Lymphocystis Disease of Fishes, by Dr. Adrian Lawler

Usually not fatal. If you can catch him, you can manually remove the viral cell sac with your fingers.

 

[little_fish]

You can also leave it and it should eventually go away. He will never be cured of the disease, but its not usually fatal

 

[Northstar24]

These guys are SUPER good at hiding. I had one for about two months in an uncovered tank before I found it under my stand. Its a really, really, beautiful fish. The color on them is simply amazing. Mine hid most of the time for the first few weeks. Give it time to settle in and you'll see it more. They are a very nervous / skittish fish and it takes them longer than most to settle in. I read a couple of articles on them before buying mine and all of them pretty much said that they are super jumpers so you have to have a tight cover, and that once you get them adjusted to the tank they're really not that difficult to keep

 

[FishyReef]

Thanks for the ideas Yote and LF. I'm honestly not sure its lymphocystis (though would be glad if it was since its mostly non-fatal). It doesn't really look like a tissue sac. The fin is torn and looks like its rotting away, the edges where there is fraying are turning white and hanging off. The fish has come out a few times today but not long enough for me to get a good look (or picture). I think it hasn't really figured out that I am the source of food yet and is very skeptical of my presence. From what I did see though it looks like more of the fin is gone so whatever is going on is progressing. I don't think there is any chance of catching it. Its just weird - this fish came from Divers Den where it was qt'd and conditioned, and obviously appeared and acted healthy enough for them to sell it, and it was eating well when it left their facility, so its hard for me to believe that it was sick when it arrived. None of my other fish have ever shown any sort of fin rot or viral issues (except for 2 of the 3 chromis I added when I started the tank, they developed weird black growths that we wondered if they were viral or fungal). This white symptom is not something I've seen on any of my fish in the past, and everyone else is acting and looking totally normally. I guess I'll just have to hope that (1) it goes away on its own or (2) if it doesn't and the fish dies, that it does so out in the open where I can retrieve the body. A 5" decaying fish isn't going to do my tank any favors LOL

North, their colors are absolutely stunning. I saw one in an LFS several months back and knew I had to have one at some point! Mine is showing more blue than purple right now, but I think that is probably stress related and it will look more purple when it settles in - even now though its an absolutely gorgeous irridescent periwinkle! I have screens covering everything and think I will buy some weak magnetic strips to really secure the screens down. I've been doing a lot of reading on them and read that some will torpedo out of the water and actually hit the ceiling! I plan on keeping mine securely in the tank :) Good to know that they are really good hiders and take more time than most fish to settle in. I'll take it as a good sign that he's coming out as much as he is then!

 

[FishyReef]

Here's what I've got for pics (apparently my tang wanted some face time too lol). These were the clearest I could get w/ my camera phone. It looks better in the pictures than it looks in person - it looks like there is far more rotting flesh in person.










Its out swimming more today, and appears to have the same type of tissue damage on its pelvic fins, though there it does look more like lymphocystis, so maybe that is what is going on. If so, great call Yote & LF!

If it is lymphocystis, it can fight it on its own as long as water quality is good and its eating? Is this a problem that will periodically recur, or is this something that once gone it won't come back? Yote, in the link you gave it said that lymphocystis can be species specific. In your experiences, is this something that I should anticipate showing up in my other fish now that the tilefish has it, or should the disease not spread to the other fish?

 

[Barch]

real pretty fish, I was looking at one the other day. I hope he gets better!

 

[Northstar24]

All i see in those photos is the lower pelvic fin, and it just looks torn. If its eating and its not stressed, I don't see why it wouldn't recover from that (at least based on what I can see from the photo)

 

[FishyReef]

Thank you for the reassurance North!

Whatever it was disappeared by Saturday and the tilefish has been out in front happily congregating and swimming with the other fish ever since! I'd never guess he was a shy fish. I'm telling you, Diver's Den fish are simply amazing :)