fish disease?

Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

Could be nerve dammage. Nerve dammage will do that.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/10/2006 1:37 PM:

Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

Wow, ten years!! That's great to keep livestock that long

Susan
"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
...
Could be nerve dammage. Nerve dammage will do that.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/10/2006 1:37 PM:

Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

"Susan" wrote in message m...
Wow, ten years!! That's great to keep livestock that long

That is actually not unusuall for marine fish...
I read here, not that long ago, somebody here
kept his blue tang for something like 15-16 years.

Nerve damage? What could cause that?




On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:11:05 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

Could be nerve dammage. Nerve dammage will do that.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/10/2006 1:37 PM:

Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

It can be caused by injuries. I've seen it most often in
african cichlids.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/12/2006 10:20 PM:
Nerve damage? What could cause that?




On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:11:05 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:


Could be nerve dammage. Nerve dammage will do that.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/10/2006 1:37 PM:


Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

Also the nerve damage I have seen has involved the change
of skin color, rather than missing scales.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Wayne Sallee wrote on 2/13/2006 5:49 PM:
It can be caused by injuries. I've seen it most often in african cichlids.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/12/2006 10:20 PM:

Nerve damage? What could cause that?




On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:11:05 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:


Could be nerve dammage. Nerve dammage will do that.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/10/2006 1:37 PM:


Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

In answer to the previous questions, Mark, I installed the GFCI. I'm
not a qualified electrician--I know just enough to be dangerous.
They're easy to install, though. George, believe it or not, there's
no ground. No ground rod outside, no cold water ground, nothing. The
house was built in 1927 and I've owned it for 5 years. I've meant to
install one, just never have. Pszemol, in your opinion, a ground
probe can't hurt, even if it's somewhat redundant with the GFCI and
may actually be beneficial, correct? Wayne, it could be an injury.
He has a tomato clown pestering him constantly, but it's been that way
for years.

I guess that without a definite cause, I'll try to treat him through
process of elimination and see what works. Everyone, thanks for your
help, and any additional thoughts would be welcome.

Grant


On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 23:29:17 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

Also the nerve damage I have seen has involved the change
of skin color, rather than missing scales.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Wayne Sallee wrote on 2/13/2006 5:49 PM:
It can be caused by injuries. I've seen it most often in african cichlids.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/12/2006 10:20 PM:

Nerve damage? What could cause that?




On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:11:05 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:


Could be nerve dammage. Nerve dammage will do that.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



wrote on 2/10/2006 1:37 PM:


Hi,

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area. He's been that
way for about 3 weeks, but he eats well and is very active, and
otherwise normal. All water parameters are normal. Anyone have any
idea what this is? I'm aware it's just a $4 damsel, but I've had him
almost ten years and I'm upgrading from a FO tank to a bigger reef
setup, and I'd like to see him make the switch. Any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

wrote:

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area.

Electrical leakage into the tank can cause this sort of thing. If all your
submerged equipment is on a GFCI outlet, this is almost certainly not the cause.
If you don't have a GFCI, get one. If it trips, unplug equipment and reset until
it doesn't trip. Replace the last item you unplugged.

If this is the cause, the scales may not regrow, but the fish will be ok.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 03:58:09 GMT, George Patterson
wrote:

wrote:

I have a yellow tailed blue damsel that appears to have lost all of
the blue coloring (scales?) at the top of his head and around his
eyes. So he's mostly blue, but black in that area.

Electrical leakage into the tank can cause this sort of thing. If all your
submerged equipment is on a GFCI outlet, this is almost certainly not the cause.
If you don't have a GFCI, get one. If it trips, unplug equipment and reset until
it doesn't trip. Replace the last item you unplugged.

If this is the cause, the scales may not regrow, but the fish will be ok.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

George,

All tank equipment is on a GFCI outlet. However, I live in an old
house. Most of the circuits are knob and tube style wiring. The
tank's circuit, as well as a few others, are updated wiring, but the
electrical panel is not grounded to anything. Is my GFCI useless?
What about a grounding probe? And is this the most likely cause of
the problem. Thanks for your input.

Grant