Am I just worrying too much? Tail Problem.

Hey all.

My axie has been moved from a 60l to a 180l just over a week ago. All biological media, sand and water from the old set up were placed into the new, so no hiccup in the nitrogen cycle has occured.

When moved into the tank his gills were forward and tail tip bent slightly. Since then I have reduced to external filter flow rate to about 30% of its maximum output, deflected the flow by adding a spraybar which is aimed downwards and bounces off of the two walls in the corner before going through the rest of the tank so the flow is conciderably reduced. Also the lighting has been changed to normal household flourecents which are reflected up so the tank is dimmer than it was in the first 48 hrs.

Temp was up to 21oC altohugh current temperature is around 19oC although I expect this to fall as we have been having a heatwave.

Anyway, with all those facts out of the way, his curled tail has a slight gray bobbling on the very tip. We're talking maybe 2mm of a 16cm axie. If any one here keeps marines, it looks slightly like Lymphocystis.

I have tried to take a pic, although its not great quality.

1st pic you can see a kinda close up:



2nd pic, you see the rest of the tail is strong and healthy



Any ideas?

Hi Jacksonuk,

Your axie is fine. Axie's have very delicate and friable tail fins that can get easily torn. However, they regenerate uneventfully in most circumstances. The slightly curled tail tip can be indicative of a recent stress in the environment. If the water parameters, temperature, currents, hiding places etc. are in check, the axie should resume back to its original state. The grey tippling could be just pigmentation or a bit of dead skin tissue.

I can assure you its definitely not lymphocytis. Lymphocytis is caused by an infectious virus called Lymphocystivirus that is host and tissue specific. They can only infect fish, and only on the skin and fins. They cause a hypertrophy (uncontrolled enlargement)of the tissues, causing a cauliflower like lesion. This virus cannot establish itself on axie tissues.

Cheers.

I agree with Rayson,

At worst it looks like a minor injury or abrasion but is morel than likely caused by the tank move.