Blocchi struggling with QT (flukes?)

[Dead2Me]

Started copper treatment on my little blocchi (3”) at 2.0ppm CopperPower. He was struggling. Laid at the bottom of the tank dark with labored breathing on his side. I reduced the copper to 1.10. With the intention of raising the copper slowly. The following day he developed darker areas. I noticed that he would sometimes stay near the air bubbles of the sponge filter. Yesterday he had been flashing and then laid at the bottom the tank with labored breathing. I put him in a 4 gallon bath w/ 3ml of PraziPro for 6hrs. He tolerated it really well. Coloring looked good and was swimming around. After the bath I put him in the QT tank with 1.5ppm of Copper. He swam around for a few minutes. Shown in the video and pictures. Then turned dark and laid on his side at the bottom of the tank struggling. I could have sworn that I saw little white spots on him. He was at the back of the tank. So I couldn’t get any good pictures. I reduced the copper again. I know it is definitely not ideal. And I need to get the copper to at least 2.25ppm. However, I can’t quite figure out if he has something underlying like flukes. Or if he is just sensitive to copper. He does eat well.

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[vetteguy53081]

Started copper treatment on my little blocchi (3”) at 2.0ppm. He was struggling. Laid at the bottom of the tank dark with labored breathing on his side. I reduced the copper to 1.10. With the intention of raising the copper slowly. The following day he developed darker areas. I noticed that he would sometimes stay near the air bubbles of the sponge filter. Yesterday he had been flashing and then laid at the bottom the tank with labored breathing. I put him in a 4 gallon bath w/ 3ml of PraziPro for 6hrs. He tolerated it really well. Coloring looked good and was swimming around. After the bath I put him in the QT tank with 1.5ppm of Copper. He swam around for a few minutes. Shown in the video and pictures. Then turned dark and laid on his side at the bottom of the tank struggling. I could have sworn that I saw little white spots on him. He was at the back of the tank. So I couldn’t get any good pictures. I reduced the copper again. I know it is definitely not ideal. And I need to get the copper to at least 2.25ppm. However, I can’t quite figure out if he has something underlying like flukes. Or if he is just sensitive to copper. He does eat well.

This fish is quite thin and appears to have a bruise/bacterial issue. Copper has no effect until it reaches 2.0ppm and Ramping slowly allows any given disease an opportunity to take hold of a fish. Get to 2.25ppm within 24 hours for a full 30 days as coppersafe is a safe amine form of copper.
Foods- what are you offering and is the fish eating?
The mark can be from netting or injury

 

[Dead2Me]

I’m feeding hikari enriched brine, small pieces of mysis and nori.

There are also dark areas like the one on his side that appear on his head right above the eyes and near his pelvic fins.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’m feeding hikari enriched brine, small pieces of mysis and nori.

There are also dark areas like the one on his side that appear on his head right above the eyes and near his pelvic fins.

These thumbprint marks are bacterial. Best treatment is seachem Kanaplex and I dont recommend mixing with copper. As for diet, add :
LRS Herbivore diet
Plankton
Formula 2 frozen
Seaweed flakes

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

 

[Dead2Me]

I’m feeding hikari enriched brine, small pieces of mysis and nori.

There are also dark areas like the one on his side that appear on his head right above the eyes and near his pelvic fins.

These thumbprint marks are bacterial. Best treatment is seachem Kanaplex and I dont recommend mixing with copper. As for diet, add :
LRS Herbivore diet
Plankton
Formula 2 frozen
Seaweed flakes

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

Would you recommend removing from copper and dosing kanaplex in the tank? Or kanaplex added to the food w/Focus? I did try to feed LRS. But the chunks were too big. I’ll try to make them smaller. And try the others you recommended.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Would you recommend removing from copper and dosing kanaplex in the tank? Or kanaplex added to the food w/Focus? I did try to feed LRS. But the chunks were too big. I’ll try to make them smaller. And try the others you recommended.

Do not add to food but you can add to water directly and leave coppersafe at 1.0 level and add kanaplex along with air stone

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Would you recommend removing from copper and dosing kanaplex in the tank? Or kanaplex added to the food w/Focus? I did try to feed LRS. But the chunks were too big. I’ll try to make them smaller. And try the others you recommended.

I'm concerned in that the tang is breathing quite fast, despite there being good aeration in the tank. If there is no ammonia, then gill parasites are the prime diagnosis. Pulling back on the copper will allow those protozoans to overwhelm the fish. I also think that the dark spot is a bruise or bacterial infection, but I don't think that is related to the rapid breathing. The tang *could* have gill flukes, but that is unusual to see in a recently acquired fish (unless it had the infection develop long before you bought it).

 

[Dead2Me]

There is no ammonia. Recommendation for treatment?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

There is no ammonia. Recommendation for treatment?

Get the copper back up to 2.25 ppm, and consider dosing with prazi at the same time - that's a bit risky, but will handle both main types of gill parasites. If the spot grows larger, then you'll also need to dose with an antibiotic, but three meds at once is even more risky. How long have you had this fish? Ultimately, it may have been in very poor shape when you acquired it.....

 

[Dead2Me]

I’ve only had him for 5 days. Should I increase the copper over 48hrs? Anytime I get above 1.5 he struggles. Lays at the bottom completely on his side,dark in color, and extremely labored breathing.

Right now I have the copper at 1.0 and added kanaplex.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’ve only had him for 5 days. Should I increase the copper over 48hrs? Anytime I get above 1.5 he struggles. Lays at the bottom completely on his side,dark in color, and extremely labored breathing.

Right now I have the copper at 1.0 and added kanaplex.

Tangs are fine with amine-chelated copper products like copper power or coppersafe. A slow ramp-up is a bad idea, because the disease will gain a stronger foothold while you are doing that. The slow ramp-up idea stems from people using ionic copper products, those can cause more issues with fish.

As I said though, this fish likely has multiple problems, and that makes any successful outcome much more difficult.

 

[Dead2Me]

Is it ok to increase the copper in the current tank with the kanaplex already added?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Is it ok to increase the copper in the current tank with the kanaplex already added?

Yes, but as I mentioned, there is more risk to using multiple medications.