Ben,
It certainly looks like Lymphocystis to me. The bad news is that there really isn't a medication to treat it. The good news is that with good water quality, a low stress environment and an improved diet it usually resolves itself. Also, this viral infection usually does not spread to other fish unless the water quality is pretty poor.
HUFA, Vitamin C and a little beta glucan are good additives to help return immune function to full capacity. You can get the HUFA from Selcon, for vitamins I like Zoe and Acquamarine makes Immune Boost which contains beta glucan. Are you using a powereful protien skimmer? How often do you feed the copperband? What are you feeding it?
Making a couple of water changes is a good idea. Is the Copperband compatible with all the other inhabitiants?
Don't use antibiotics at this point or copper for that matter. Both of them can suppress immune function making it counterproductive.
This is a little controversial, but anecdotal evidence indicates that reducing the salinity can help with lymphocystis. Reducing the gradient (common practice at commercail fisheries) between the surrounding water and the internal fluids of the fish relieves osmotic pressure. This makes osmoregulation less costly energywise, thereby conserving metabolic energy that can then be directed toward healing and fighting infection
Terry B
[ July 19, 2001: Message edited by: Terry B ]
