Help! A white flaky spot on the back of my new bristle nose

I finally found an adorable bristle nose at a great fish place in Lancaster, PA. I brought him home and added him to my tank in the usually safe way. Since he hid right away, I didn't see him for a couple of days. When I did, he had fuzzy white on his back just behind the eyes. He's about 4 in. long and the spot was about the size of a quarter. Later when I got a closer look, the spot was less fuzzy and pink in the middle.

I did a partial water change this past weekend which gave me a chance to take another look at the spot. It is smaller and no longer pink. It is still white and looks a bit flaky.

Any thoughts on what the problem is. He was put in a tank with two larger goldfish (about 6" bodies) do you think they picked on him and he's healing or does he have some sort of fungus?

I loved him from day one and would be crushed if anything happens to him. Odd thing. I picked him because he had great bristles and was closer to a sand color with dark spots than the usual darker tone I'd seen. But after he was in the tank for a couple days, he was very dark. He's back to being a little lighter now. I'm hoping he gets back to the sandy tone. Why did his color change and is it related to the white spot?

Thanks for your help! Karen

Sounds like a fungus to me mate. Putting him into the tank would have stressed him a bit and given it a head start. I'd be treating the tank with some fungus meds, but see what the admins say first. A picture always helps if you can get one.

Bn's do have a capability to alter colour to blend with their surrondings.

I don't know if you have a heater guard on your heater as its possible the wound could be a heater burn. Although the Goldfish could be responsible.

Using a combination of MELAFIX and PIMAFIX should help the MelaFix will treat the wound and the PimaFix will treat any fungal infection. They can be used at the same time hence their popular name of the fix it twins

P.S I've moved this topic to the Pleco Hospital

Thanks for the information on how to treat as a fungus.

Can't be a heater burn since it's a cold water tank. Will treat in the next day or so and keep my fingers crossed.

Sorry there's no picture. He's hard to get out in the open and the only camera I have now is my phone...lousy pics.

Bummer about the color. I have black flat marbles on the bottom, so it makes sense that he's darker.

I'll keep everyone posted on how things go.

Thanks again everyone for your responses! Karen

Hi Karen,bristlenoses need warm water,a temp of approx 26c.I hope he gets better soon

Using the template really helps us in sorting out problems!

http://www.bristlenoseworld.com/t2961-important-read-before-posting-template-inside

In this case the clue was not in the initial post but further down when it would have been in the template. It needs a heater, this will help the fish fight off the illnesses and if you do go for a more hardcore fungus treatment remember to run it at half dose or it will kill the bristlenose

Thanks for the advise. Melafix & Pimafix worked great.

- I didn't read the recommendation for 1/2 strength until much later, almost full strength worked and didn't kill him. I have a 70 gallon tank and dosed for about 60 just because of the size of the dosing cap.

- Temperature concerns noted. I brought him in because it was recommended by several folks on another site who have one in their goldfish tank. The tank is in my home where it's usually 68F or warmer. The Dude seems to be okay with it. (I name all my fish...he's The Dude)

- While it appears the Melafix & Pimafix were the solution, a fishing line may have been irritating his skin as well. The Dude likes to lay up under a huge piece of driftwood during the day. I had a plant attached to it via a fishing line until the roots could grow on the wood. The line crossed over the area he would huge up into underneath...I think it's possible the line was rubbing across his back on a regular basis and exposing him to getting a fungus more easily. Not really sure, but I removed the line at the same time I started the medicine. That may have helped.

Thanks again. The Dude is thriving and doesn't seem to mind the cooler temperature.

p.s. Sorry for not using the template. Will do next time...hoping there's not a next time. Cheers!

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Hi Karen,they can live in lower temps but it slows their metabolism down for one.May I ask what you feed him?

Mostly he feeds on the algae that collects in the aquarium (he's the only algae eater and there's always algae) and the driftwood. I throw in algae tablets every day or so, and zucchini or cucumber now and again as well. It's a little tough to keep them on the bottom so I just ordered skewcumber to help.

melafix and pimafix are soft meds and can be run at full dose with bristlenose

karenleepa wrote:

- While it appears the Melafix & Pimafix were the solution, a fishing line may have been irritating his skin as well. The Dude likes to lay up under a huge piece of driftwood during the day. I had a plant attached to it via a fishing line until the roots could grow on the wood. The line crossed over the area he would huge up into underneath...I think it's possible the line was rubbing across his back on a regular basis and exposing him to getting a fungus more easily. Not really sure, but I removed the line at the same time I started the medicine. That may have helped.

It's also very easy for them to get their pectoral fins tangled in line attaching plants. As I found out once