Diagnosis Help - Flukes & Tangs?

[ChumBucket]

Hey all - I'm new to diagnosis and treatment... hoping to get a check on my thinking.

• Situation:
  • Transitioning to a larger tank (130g waterbox), fish and inverts currently. No coral (still in my nano...preparing to transfer).
  • Tank came with a few larger/established fish (large purple tang, large foxface, kole tang).
  • I purchased a ~5" powder brown from Dr. Reefs (QT protocol). I did not QT additionally myself upon receipt.
  • All fish have been in tank for ~3-4wk together. Did some musical chairs w/ acclimation box, but everyone is now getting along. Eating well. Fat.
• Symptoms:
  • The powder brown displays somewhat sporadic flashing. Primarily on sand. Seems to focus on it's gills, but also near it's dorsal fin (has to fully roll itself over)
    • Frequency is here and there, but I definitely see it throughout the day.
    • It's been doing this for the better part of 2-3 weeks.
    • No spots. No ich like marks. No heavy breathing. No redness around gills. Active/eating. Lots of Nori, selcon, mix of frozen.
  • More recently, the purple tang has also shown some sporadic flashing. Mostly near gills. Same story as the pbt - active, eating, no visible marks/ich. It's flashing less.
  • The powder brown is also spending some time "surfing" near my Mp40. It's not constant, and it's seems more fun than out of necessity, but it is still a red flag for me.
  • Other fish (kole, foxface, 2x clowns, long nose hawk, royal gramma, bicolor blenny, yellow watchman) - no symptoms, all good.
• Approach:
  • With no visible spots, and things being stable for ~3 weeks, I'm skeptical of ich/velvet.
  • I performed a FW dip per Humblefish/Jay H's outlines tonight on the powder. 5min. NO visible sesame seeds. Maybe gill flukes? I don't have a microscope to check.
  • I have made the assessment that this may be gill flukes. My next logical step is to treat the full DT with Prazipro.
  • I could remove and put in QT and give it the full treatment, but I'd like to do that only if the data supports.
• Other notes:
  • The powder brown had some cotton-like spots on the body over last 7-10 days. Those have pretty much healed. I suspected some kind of bacteria? Unsure if related.
  • I am definitely struggling with particulate in the tank. Need to dial in the filter socks/mech filtration. Could this be causing the flashing?

I'm about a year back into the hobby after a long (15yr) hiatus. Params are within range, I can outline if desired.

Ultimately, with the amount of info 'out there,' I'm hoping to get a vector check on where I should go from here.

Apologies for the novel - any insight appreciated!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all - I'm new to diagnosis and treatment... hoping to get a check on my thinking.

• Situation:
  • Transitioning to a larger tank (130g waterbox), fish and inverts currently. No coral (still in my nano...preparing to transfer).
  • Tank came with a few larger/established fish (large purple tang, large foxface, kole tang).
  • I purchased a ~5" powder brown from Dr. Reefs (QT protocol). I did not QT additionally myself upon receipt.
  • All fish have been in tank for ~3-4wk together. Did some musical chairs w/ acclimation box, but everyone is now getting along. Eating well. Fat.
• Symptoms:
  • The powder brown displays somewhat sporadic flashing. Primarily on sand. Seems to focus on it's gills, but also near it's dorsal fin (has to fully roll itself over)
    • Frequency is here and there, but I definitely see it throughout the day.
    • It's been doing this for the better part of 2-3 weeks.
    • No spots. No ich like marks. No heavy breathing. No redness around gills. Active/eating. Lots of Nori, selcon, mix of frozen.
  • More recently, the purple tang has also shown some sporadic flashing. Mostly near gills. Same story as the pbt - active, eating, no visible marks/ich. It's flashing less.
  • The powder brown is also spending some time "surfing" near my Mp40. It's not constant, and it's seems more fun than out of necessity, but it is still a red flag for me.
  • Other fish (kole, foxface, 2x clowns, long nose hawk, royal gramma, bicolor blenny, yellow watchman) - no symptoms, all good.
• Approach:
  • With no visible spots, and things being stable for ~3 weeks, I'm skeptical of ich/velvet.
  • I performed a FW dip per Humblefish/Jay H's outlines tonight on the powder. 5min. NO visible sesame seeds. Maybe gill flukes? I don't have a microscope to check.
  • I have made the assessment that this may be gill flukes. My next logical step is to treat the full DT with Prazipro.
  • I could remove and put in QT and give it the full treatment, but I'd like to do that only if the data supports.
• Other notes:
  • The powder brown had some cotton-like spots on the body over last 7-10 days. Those have pretty much healed. I suspected some kind of bacteria? Unsure if related.
  • I am definitely struggling with particulate in the tank. Need to dial in the filter socks/mech filtration. Could this be causing the flashing?

I'm about a year back into the hobby after a long (15yr) hiatus. Params are within range, I can outline if desired.

Ultimately, with the amount of info 'out there,' I'm hoping to get a vector check on where I should go from here.

Apologies for the novel - any insight appreciated!

Powder brown and powder blue are susceptible to skin irritation and may be associated with the itching which emerge into mucus plugs (the spots you may be seeing) and is often treatable with coppersafe at 2.25ppm. Due to shipping stress, changing temperatures, ALWAYS assume even with quarantined fish they have something and quarantine yourself as disease is not the fishs' responsibility, but ours. Treat at least 21 days being qt;d already but suggested is a full 30 days.
Please post video of the fish using bright white light intensity, no blue lighting ) and if fish is in display, you can now plan on leaving the display tank fallow/fishless for 6-8 weeks to assure there are no protozoans looking for a host fish, so any other fish in display, too should be treated

 

[ChumBucket]

Appreciate it - helpful feedback. I’ll see about a video tomorrow when lights are on

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey all - I'm new to diagnosis and treatment... hoping to get a check on my thinking.

• Situation:
  • Transitioning to a larger tank (130g waterbox), fish and inverts currently. No coral (still in my nano...preparing to transfer).
  • Tank came with a few larger/established fish (large purple tang, large foxface, kole tang).
  • I purchased a ~5" powder brown from Dr. Reefs (QT protocol). I did not QT additionally myself upon receipt.
  • All fish have been in tank for ~3-4wk together. Did some musical chairs w/ acclimation box, but everyone is now getting along. Eating well. Fat.
• Symptoms:
  • The powder brown displays somewhat sporadic flashing. Primarily on sand. Seems to focus on it's gills, but also near it's dorsal fin (has to fully roll itself over)
    • Frequency is here and there, but I definitely see it throughout the day.
    • It's been doing this for the better part of 2-3 weeks.
    • No spots. No ich like marks. No heavy breathing. No redness around gills. Active/eating. Lots of Nori, selcon, mix of frozen.
  • More recently, the purple tang has also shown some sporadic flashing. Mostly near gills. Same story as the pbt - active, eating, no visible marks/ich. It's flashing less.
  • The powder brown is also spending some time "surfing" near my Mp40. It's not constant, and it's seems more fun than out of necessity, but it is still a red flag for me.
  • Other fish (kole, foxface, 2x clowns, long nose hawk, royal gramma, bicolor blenny, yellow watchman) - no symptoms, all good.
• Approach:
  • With no visible spots, and things being stable for ~3 weeks, I'm skeptical of ich/velvet.
  • I performed a FW dip per Humblefish/Jay H's outlines tonight on the powder. 5min. NO visible sesame seeds. Maybe gill flukes? I don't have a microscope to check.
  • I have made the assessment that this may be gill flukes. My next logical step is to treat the full DT with Prazipro.
  • I could remove and put in QT and give it the full treatment, but I'd like to do that only if the data supports.
• Other notes:
  • The powder brown had some cotton-like spots on the body over last 7-10 days. Those have pretty much healed. I suspected some kind of bacteria? Unsure if related.
  • I am definitely struggling with particulate in the tank. Need to dial in the filter socks/mech filtration. Could this be causing the flashing?

I'm about a year back into the hobby after a long (15yr) hiatus. Params are within range, I can outline if desired.

Ultimately, with the amount of info 'out there,' I'm hoping to get a vector check on where I should go from here.

Apologies for the novel - any insight appreciated!

Are you seeing any fin flicking?

Grammas are really susceptible to gill flukes, so no scratching with that fish may be a good sign.

Sometimes, fish scratch for no reason, but that is sporadic and pretty rare overall. I presume there is no detritus floating around in the water? That can cause fish to scratch and flash.

One option would be to see how things develop over a week or so, but have some prazipro on hand. Then, if this persists, dose the tank one time with a full dose of prazipro (to the actual volume of the tank) with good aeration. After two days (not the next day) see if the scratching has gotten better. If so, that is diagnostic for flukes and you would then dose prazipro two more times - spaced 7 days apart.

Dosing Praziquantel (PZQ)

Using Praziquantel (PZQ) to treat flukes Overview In the early 1990’s, a researcher at the New York Aquarium published a paper on using Praziquantel (PZQ) to help control flukes, a parasitic flatworm. Also known as monogenean trematodes, these fish parasites can cause significant mortality in...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ChumBucket]

Are you seeing any fin flicking?

Grammas are really susceptible to gill flukes, so no scratching with that fish may be a good sign.

Sometimes, fish scratch for no reason, but that is sporadic and pretty rare overall. I presume there is no detritus floating around in the water? That can cause fish to scratch and flash.

One option would be to see how things develop over a week or so, but have some prazipro on hand. Then, if this persists, dose the tank one time with a full dose of prazipro (to the actual volume of the tank) with good aeration. After two days (not the next day) see if the scratching has gotten better. If so, that is diagnostic for flukes and you would then dose prazipro two more times - spaced 7 days apart.

Dosing Praziquantel (PZQ)

Using Praziquantel (PZQ) to treat flukes Overview In the early 1990’s, a researcher at the New York Aquarium published a paper on using Praziquantel (PZQ) to help control flukes, a parasitic flatworm. Also known as monogenean trematodes, these fish parasites can cause significant mortality in...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks Jay - really helpful.

I'm not seeing any fin flicking. The gramma is showing no signs of scratching.

I have definitely been battling detritus. Trying to get the mech filtration dialed in with this tank. I've stopped return, skimmer, and pumps at different intervals to try and rule out microbubbles. I'm not sure if it's just nori scraps/poop etc. I'm running a carbon reactor.

Could it be the detritus?

I have prazipro on hand and am leaning towards treating. I've posted a video of the flashing (purple tang. Couldn't get a vid of the powder). Powder flashing is similar.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay - really helpful.

I'm not seeing any fin flicking. The gramma is showing no signs of scratching.

I have definitely been battling detritus. Trying to get the mech filtration dialed in with this tank. I've stopped return, skimmer, and pumps at different intervals to try and rule out microbubbles. I'm not sure if it's just nori scraps/poop etc. I'm running a carbon reactor.

Could it be the detritus?

I have prazipro on hand and am leaning towards treating. I've posted a video of the flashing (purple tang. Couldn't get a vid of the powder). Powder flashing is similar.

All I can see is in the video, the purple tang gives a half hearted scratch. The fish in the pics all look good.

I guess I’d still say wait and then decide to try a prazi treatment.

 

[ChumBucket]

All I can see is in the video, the purple tang gives a half hearted scratch. The fish in the pics all look good.

I guess I’d still say wait and then decide to try a prazi treatment.

Roger that. Thanks for the input and for taking a look!