Help! What is it?

[AmandaP]

All of my Acei have this problem. It starts out as a whitish spot and then starts sticking out and getting bigger. Then it will start coming loose and hang on by one end just kind of flapping there for a few more days then it will fall off. When I vacuum the bottom of the tank I find clear scale like things that have fallen off. The fish seam to be fine, eating and acting normal. Then there is a spot on the fish like scales misssing or something where it fell off. I treated with Melafix and it seams to get better but then starts all over again. No fish have died yet. Can anyone tell me what it is and how to treat it? I have had these fish for over 2 yrs now and the biggest one is over 6 inches. I hate to lose them now.I have moved them to hospital tank about 3 weeks ago. Here is a pictures although it is not very clear. In the pictures you can see the white spot just barely hanging on right before it falls off.

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

Fish lose scales sometimes. Especially africans with their aggressive behaviors. The melamix may be a bit overkill, just keep the water good and keep an eye on it. Happens to mine all the time.

 

[AmandaP]

But why do they have it all at the same time? And one of them has 4 or 5 of these spots all over his body at one time.

 

[guppy]

These look like scrape injuries, has one of your fish gotten more aggressive? Any new breeding activities?

 

[AmandaP]

No nothing usually or aggressive. All fish have been in tank for about same amount of time. They all grew up together and none are being more aggressive. Some mild chasing but that is all. The same usual amount of breeding that has been going on over the past 2 years. Tank mates are Jalo reef 1M/2F, Yellow labs 2m/2F and the 4 Acei. 3M/1f (started with 4 and only one turned out to be female, hard to sex these fish.) I am planning on adding more fish soon but want to make sure these all ok first. Maybe for some reason someone is being more aggressive and I have not seen it (although I am a stay at home mom and see the tank quite a bit during the day.)