White dots on a Bushy Nose's interopercular spines?!?

[akb42]

Hi,

My male bushy nose pleco has developed strange white dots on the tips of each of his interopercular spines. It is definitely not ich & doesn't appear to be a cotton-like fungus either. It seems to be irritating him somewhat, as he is flaring & retracting the spines frequently today while he almost never does it normally. He has no other marks or injuries on his body & he is still eating well & acting normally (except for flaring his spines). The female looks healthy, as do the rest of the fish. I have not done anything to treat this (since I have no idea what it is) except for an extra water change this morning (probably 1/3 the water) & adding stress coat. Does anybody have any idea what this white stuff is & how to treat it?

Thanks,

Amanda

pH 6.9, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, GH & KH 75ppm, 25% water changes 2x/week

75 Gallon community tank (clown & yoyo loaches, various tetras, cherry barbs, red-tailed shark, 2 bushy-nose plecos, 1 royal pleco. Tank is 6 years old, has gravel substrate, filtration with 2 Aquaclear 300 filters (600 gph total), furnished with lava rocks, driftwood, live plants, slate rocks, etc. The last new fish added was the royal pleco, about 1 month ago. Foods: flake, shrimp pellets, algae tablets, frozen black worms, zuccini, sweet potato... I feed once every 2-3 days.

[Richard B]

Any chance of a pic? It is always easier with visual help