Do you think this is flukes?

[Rython]

This Orange Back Fairy Wrasse has been in QT for almost 2 weeks. He was treated with General Cure on day 3 and again this morning. Over the last few days he started appearing like he had a translucent layer over parts of his body. Today I got photos of his face up close and it looks to me like Flukes. They are pretty big though, and they have apparently not been phased by the Prazi in GC.

I've run through the other disease indicators but flukes is the only thing that I think fits. I'm about to freshwater dip him, but i'm unsure of what to do next if it is flukes. Prazipro? If not flukes, what could it be?

Thanks

 

[andys]

This Orange Back Fairy Wrasse has been in QT for almost 2 weeks. He was treated with General Cure on day 3 and again this morning. Over the last few days he started appearing like he had a translucent layer over parts of his body. Today I got photos of his face up close and it looks to me like Flukes. They are pretty big though, and they have apparently not been phased by the Prazi in GC.

I've run through the other disease indicators but flukes is the only thing that I think fits. I'm about to freshwater dip him, but i'm unsure of what to do next if it is flukes. Prazipro? If not flukes, what could it be?

Thanks

Give him a freshwater dip for 5 min and see if they fall off. If they do you have flukes. Treat with prazipro

 

[HotRocks]

This Orange Back Fairy Wrasse has been in QT for almost 2 weeks. He was treated with General Cure on day 3 and again this morning. Over the last few days he started appearing like he had a translucent layer over parts of his body. Today I got photos of his face up close and it looks to me like Flukes. They are pretty big though, and they have apparently not been phased by the Prazi in GC.

I've run through the other disease indicators but flukes is the only thing that I think fits. I'm about to freshwater dip him, but i'm unsure of what to do next if it is flukes. Prazipro? If not flukes, what could it be?

Thanks

Sure looks like flukes. FW dip will tell for sure (Let us know). You may have encountered a strain that is resistant to Praziquantel.

If so, Hypo or Formalin are going to be your remaining options.

 

[Rython]

Thing is, i've already treated with Praziquintanel. Prazipro is a slightly higher dose than General Cure, but GC is apparently still in the effective range, and wrasses are sensitive to Praziquintanel.

 

[Rython]

OK so Hypo if 15PPT for 5 days or longer?

Thanks

 

[HotRocks]

Sure looks like flukes. FW dip will tell for sure (Let us know). You may have encountered a strain that is resistant to Praziquantel.

If so, Hypo or Formalin are going to be your remaining options.

Yes directly from @Humblefish, linked below:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flukes-–-general-guidelines.224423/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hyposalinity.247596/

 

[Rython]

Awesome. Thanks @HotRocks. I know it's probably frustrating that i'm asking questions about stuff I could have read in the stickied threads. I actually did read them, but I've just seen posts from @Humblefish lately indicating that he intends to update some of them (which means there may be new information not yet in them). Also I know wrasses are tricky, so I just wanted to make sure there weren't any special considerations.

Anyway, thanks again. I'll update after the dip and then decide on formalin, which I posses but have never administered (it scares me) and hypo, which I have also never done and sounds like it might be hard to maintain.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ Do test for flukes by performing a 5 min FW dip: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

However, if that comes back negative treat with: Kanaplex + Furan-2 + Metroplex

You'll also want to do a 45 min formalin bath: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/formalin.290925/

I had an Exquisite die from a similar looking "infection"; but when I took a skin scrape postmortem, I discovered it was actually uronema. Apparently uronema presents differently on wrasses.

 

[Rython]

OK well the fluke test was negative. Thanks for anticipating my next question.
Time to prep a formalin bath. Scary.

That FW dip slowed him down enough for me to get some more photos.

Pay no mind to the particles on him. That's just reef crystals precipitate sticking to his slime coat.

 

[HotRocks]

Awesome. Thanks @HotRocks. I know it's probably frustrating that i'm asking questions about stuff I could have read in the stickied threads. I actually did read them, but I've just seen posts from @Humblefish lately indicating that he intends to update some of them (which means there may be new information not yet in them). Also I know wrasses are tricky, so I just wanted to make sure there weren't any special considerations.

Anyway, thanks again. I'll update after the dip and then decide on formalin, which I posses but have never administered (it scares me) and hypo, which I have also never done and sounds like it might be hard to maintain.

Never frustrating. Love helping out! Bobby has you covered!

 

[Humblefish]

That crap looks nasty! Move quickly!

 

[Rython]

Quick update:

Since the fluke test was negative I took @Humblefish advice and prepared a formalin bath. I had to administer the bath in a 5 gallon bucket because the tank he was in already had general cure in it and the formalin bottle said not to mix with other medications. I knew from reading Bobby's how to that a plastic container isn't ideal, but I didn't have another option since I only have two other tanks and one was occupied and the other needed to be the clean tank he goes in after.

There was a pretty remarkable improvement in the wrasse's appearance after the bath. I transferred him to the clean tank, waited about an hour, and then added the Furan-2, Kanaplex, and Metroplex separately over the course of about 20 minutes, pre-mixing each in a separate container.

It was after his bed time and he had been through a lot so I did this in the dark intending to observe again in the morning.

I was rushed this morning, but when I woke up I flipped on the light and he woke quickly. He ate some of the LRS I offered and I snapped a photo on the way out. He was moving a lot so it wasn't as easy to get a good photo but you can see he's looking a lot better already.

 

[Humblefish]

@Rython Glad to hear/see this.

I had another Exquisite break out with this, and I did the same (formalin bath + antibiotics/metro) and he is looking much better this AM. Even ate some.

 

[Rython]

@Humblefish Did the symptoms continue to improve on your Exquisite?

I can't tell for sure but when I got home from work today it looked to me like my Orange Back is starting to get the white waxy look in some areas again. He also had some white stringy poop this evening.

I'm going to wait until the morning to get a better handle on which way it's going, but if it's getting worse instead of better i'm thinking about doing another formalin dip, or a Ruby Reef Rally dip and then another tank transfer and continuing antibiotics. Do you think that is a reasonable plan if the skin looks worse tomorrow? Should I add metro/focus to some food too? Or maybe try some sulfaplex in the food or water? Or is it normal for the antibiotics to take a while to turn the corner?

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish Did the symptoms continue to improve on your Exquisite?

I can't tell for sure but when I got home from work today it looked to me like my Orange Back is starting to get the white waxy look in some areas again. He also had some white stringy poop this evening.

I'm going to wait until the morning to get a better handle on which way it's going, but if it's getting worse instead of better i'm thinking about doing another formalin dip, or a Ruby Reef Rally dip and then another tank transfer and continuing antibiotics. Do you think that is a reasonable plan if the skin looks worse tomorrow? Should I add metro/focus to some food too? Or maybe try some sulfaplex in the food or water? Or is it normal for the antibiotics to take a while to turn the corner?

I can still see some of the white patches on his face. Antibiotics are notoriously slow acting in fish, and sometimes it can take 10-14 days to start seeing improvement.

 

[Rython]

I'm glad to hear yours is doing better. Mine is twitching a lot and there's still quite a bit of white, so I think i'm going to dip him again tonight. I need to move him into a fresh tank in another room before I re-dose the antibiotics anyway.

 

[Rython]

Success!

I just wanted to update this thread since I don't see a lot of successful treatments documented here. On 7/21 I gave the wrasse another dip - this time in Ruby Reef Rally. He looked a lot better after Formalin dip he had on 7/17 and starting the trifecta, but he was still twitching a lot and still had some white patches. I don't know whether the RRR bath really kicked his recovery into gear, or the antibiotics finally kicked in, but either way he started to look a lot better on 7/22. He had some white stringy poop on 7/24 so I started feeding metro. The antibiotics concluded on 7/27 and I fed food focused with metro through 8/4, after his poop appeared normal for a few days. He is now looking vibrant and acting healthy.

Thanks for the great advice everyone. I'm certain I would have lost him without the help. I'm also not afraid to do a formalin bath anymore.

 

[Humblefish]

@Rython Glad to read this! I need a little good news right now.