teoso

Hi all, I purchased these pencil fish about a month ago. A few days after I put them in the tank, a few of them developed this white/gray/silvery patch around their dorsal fins. Attached are pictures of the fish that has the patches (sorry about the quality of the pictures, but unlike other pencils I had, these never stop moving!)

I have not noticed any decrease in appetite. In the last few days, I noticed one or two scratching themselves on plant leaves, but not incessantly. Last week I tried a round of KanaPlex without any result, now I'm trying MetroPlex, also without significant result after 3 doses. None of the other fish in the tank seems to be affected. Would be great if you all can help identify this mysterious disease, and tops on how to treat it. Thanks all!

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mistergreen

I would remove them in case it’s columnaris.

teoso

I thought it may be columnaris too, but it looks a bit different than pictures I see online. It's been about 3 weeks or so since I first spotted it, but no fatalities so far, and I can't tell if it's spreading to the other pencils or not. I fear that removing them will stress them out more than if I treat them in the tank.

mistergreen

Try salt dip treatment since you can’t dump in salt with all the plants.

teoso

Will try that, Thanks!

mollyfarmer22

I second this!

davemonkey

I third the salt dip. If you really want to try to treat in the tank, you could attempt to acclimate the plants with salt, or remove them to another container with your light.
I’ve acclimated certain plants (Crypts, Anubias, Buce, Java fern, and Creeping Jenny) to 1.25 TBS salt per gallon, treating ich once, but Ludwigias suffered badly, and I don’t imagine your moss would make it that far. Not sure about Vals.