CowFish turning white.

[jon doe]

A long time ago I had a cowfish that got ich and ended up dying.
This leads to why I don't think this new cowfish has ich. He seems to be turning white. He is getting big patches of white on his body. Nothing is falling off. He is still completely active and eating fine which gives me hope that maybe he is not dying. The bottom of him is about half white now. It reminds me of an anemone bleaching out.
Can anyone shed some light on this situation?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Usually when a fish loses color it's because it is stressed or it's sick. Any of these possible?

Also, pics help greatly with diagnoses.

 

[jon doe]

Here is one side of the fish with a good example of the white patches he is starting to show.

 

[goldenmean]

Jon Doe PM a moderator to move this thread to the fish Disease and treatment forum so that Lee will see.

 

[BigAl07]

*** Moved to appropriate Forum***

This will help you get the proper attention for the problem.

 

[leebca]

There is a high probability that there is a bacterial infection which is now allowing opportunistic pathogens to gain a foothold. The primary or secondary infection can be a type of systemic fungal infection.

The fish should be taken to a veterinarian that know ornamental marine fishes, or a college where they teach this. Each State has its own general means to identify ornamental fish diseases too. So contacting a State service could be helpful.

I'm concerned that if the problem isn't properly diagnosed, the fish will be lost. Failing to get a proper diagnosis, I would immediately put the fish into a hospital tank and treat with antibiotic. Spectrogram would be my choice since it contains two antibiotics and I would hope that one at least would help.

Second, the fish has got to be given top nutrition, fed often and also provided with immune boosters.

Third, in the quarantine/hospital tank the water must be kept absolutely high quality. Any signs of ammonia or nitrites should be cause for a very large (80%+) water change -- checking the water for ammonia and nitrites no less than 4 times per day.