Ragged tang fins in quarantine

[germs101]

I apologise for the terrible photos. They move too fast. I hope you can see the dorsal and pectoral fins are showing some tatters. There are no other fish in qt other than the small Hippo that follows the mimic around like a baby. I've only just now noticed it. What could be the cause? What should I do?

 

[melypr1985]

That fins can be caused by many things... flukes, ich, velvet, fighting followed by infection. You can leave it and see if he heals up on his own, or dose an antibiotic like kanaplex for a minimum of ten days to heal it up. You really want to find out the root cause of it or it may keep happening. Are you treating for anything yet? Copper? Prazi?

 

[germs101]

I did TTM and have kept them in qt for observation for a little over a week now. The store they came from had them in Coppersafe and dosed Prazipro and something else (I can't remember now). I was going to do another round of Prazipro, but haven't gotten to it yet. I have some food I bought from the store that has antibiotics that I keep in my freezer. Is this what I should feed for 10 days?

 

[germs101]

My freezer food I guess it's metroplex.

 

[melypr1985]

My freezer food I guess it's metroplex.

Metroplex is good for intestinal worms, but not flukes which are external. Here's the thing about wrasses and the LFS. Wrasses are prone to worms (both internal and external). Now, even if they dosed prazi at the store and had him in copper, that doesn't mean we trust them to have done the correct dosages or to have maintained those correct dosages for any length of time (speaking of copper) right? We always say "Don't trust anybody's QT but your own". That applies to this too. When you get the fish home their QT starts from zero right there with you. You did TTM which is awesome! Though, if you did the full 12 days, then the flukes would have had plenty of time to grow and breed. Combining prazi with TTM would be ideal. I don't want you do give up on anything. I'd prefer we get your QT regimen locked in and worked out so that you don't have these problems again no matter what type of fish you buy.

 

[germs101]

So, should I FW dip in the morning to see if flukes present then dose Prazipro anyway? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do flukes make the fins tatter?

 

[melypr1985]

So, should I FW dip in the morning to see if flukes present then dose Prazipro anyway? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do flukes make the fins tatter?

Flukes attach to the exterior of the fish including the fins. They bite and feed off of the fish. This, the flashing and scratching against objects in the tank, and the resulting infection (whether mild or not) can cause the fins to appear tattered.

Yes, a freshwater dip would be advised to determine of flukes are a problem.

No question is dumb. Every question you asks, leads to something learned, which makes you smarter.

 

[4FordFamily]

Flukes attach to the exterior of the fish including the fins. They bite and feed off of the fish. This, the flashing and scratching against objects in the tank, and the resulting infection (whether mild or not) can cause the fins to appear tattered.

Yes, a freshwater dip would be advised to determine of flukes are a problem.

No question is dumb. Every question you asks, leads to something learned, which makes you smarter.

Yup and yup. Mel what did we say about being so helpful?!

 

[germs101]

Is it reasonable to believe velvet isn't the cause since my time with the fish has been over three weeks, or is it still a possibility? I'd much rather deal with flukes!

 

[melypr1985]

Is it reasonable to believe velvet isn't the cause since my time with the fish has been over three weeks, or is it still a possibility? I'd much rather deal with flukes!

Assuming the fish wasn't exposed to sub-therapeutic levels of copper before you bought it, then I'd say you are probably in the clear on that.

 

[germs101]

Assuming the fish wasn't exposed to sub-therapeutic levels of copper before you bought it, then I'd say you are probably in the clear on that.

A bright side! I'll post pictures of my FW dip in the morning.

 

[germs101]

Since the tang was super stressed during the FW dip, she was still enough that I could get a clear picture showing her fin issue. I see two possible white specs that may have fallen off, but they more than likely could have just been debris from keeping the bucket in the garage. They certainly don't look as large as the flukes I saw in the how-to FW dip video. The Hippo still looks healthy.

 

[melypr1985]

Well I just realized that I was commenting about wrasses up there and not tangs. I got the two threads mixed up a bit. The FW dip and all the info still applies, but anyway.. I wanted to clarify what I was saying since it doesn't really make much sense without it. lol

The good news is, that it doesn't appear that your tangs have flukes. I would say that this is a lingering bacterial infection from any ich that might have been present before TTM. Treat with Kanaplex or Furan 2 for 10 days straight.

 

[germs101]

Well I just realized that I was commenting about wrasses up there and not tangs. I got the two threads mixed up a bit. The FW dip and all the info still applies, but anyway.. I wanted to clarify what I was saying since it doesn't really make much sense without it. lol

The good news is, that it doesn't appear that your tangs have flukes. I would say that this is a lingering bacterial infection from any ich that might have been present before TTM. Treat with Kanaplex or Furan 2 for 10 days straight.

Lol, I figured as much [emoji6] I'd get mixed up sometimes with all of these posts too. I also saw that the advice applied to me anyway.

Would me ordering it via Amazon Prime and treat probably Tuesday be okay? Should I still do Prazipro?

 

[melypr1985]

Would me ordering it via Amazon Prime and treat probably Tuesday be okay? Should I still do Prazipro?

It just depends on how quickly the infection progresses. I hate infections because it's impossible to do more than generalize without a microscope and skin scrape. For now, I'll say to add vitamins to the food to help boost his immune system until the meds get there. Get the kanaplex or furan2 in as soon as you can and start treating quickly. So far, it hasn't moved too quickly so it must be a gram positive infection which is in your favor.

 

[germs101]

I ordered the Furan2 since I could get it delivered a day sooner than the Kanaplex. It will be here tomorrow afternoon. I have never used antibiotics with fish, so this is all very new to me. I read this article http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html and I wonder, would it be better for me to treat with both the Furan2 AND Kanaplex while also feeding with the food that has metro in it? If I did that the Kanaplex would start a day or two later. If the benefits of both at the same time aren't compelling, I'd be better off saving my money

So far the Hippo, who's also in qt, isn't showing any fish rot. Is best case scenario that after the 10 days of treatment these fish could go into the display finally? Obviously if signs and symptoms get progressively worse the qt time would lengthen appropriately.

 

[melypr1985]

I ordered the Furan2 since I could get it delivered a day sooner than the Kanaplex. It will be here tomorrow afternoon. I have never used antibiotics with fish, so this is all very new to me. I read this article http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html and I wonder, would it be better for me to treat with both the Furan2 AND Kanaplex while also feeding with the food that has metro in it? If I did that the Kanaplex would start a day or two later. If the benefits of both at the same time aren't compelling, I'd be better off saving my money

So far the Hippo, who's also in qt, isn't showing any fish rot. Is best case scenario that after the 10 days of treatment these fish could go into the display finally? Obviously if signs and symptoms get progressively worse the qt time would lengthen appropriately.

You can absolutely combine Kanaplex and Furan2. I don't see any reason to feed metroplex unless you see signs of intestinal worms. You can dose the metro in the tank with the other two meds for the widest spectrum of antibiotics we can come up with.

 

[germs101]

I don't actually have the metro, just the food it's in, but I'll definitely try to get the Kanaplex too! I'll probably be back for more questions then [emoji6]

 

[germs101]

I just noticed the Mimic tang flash it's gills on the tank floor. Does this mean it's still a bacterial infection?

 

[Humblefish]

I just noticed the Mimic tang flash it's gills on the tank floor. Does this mean it's still a bacterial infection?

More likely parasites or worms inside the gills.