Dottyback blues?

[BRADventure89]

Hello everyone,

I’m fairly new to the hobby and I have a dottyback I got a few weeks ago from my LFS that isn’t looking so good. He was fairly active and even a little aggressive at first but has started eating less and hiding significantly more during the day. He does seem to scrape his side against the rock at times and will dart around rapidly at times as well. He seems to be much more active at night now which is different than initial behavior… I’m honestly not sure what to do. My LFS thinks this may just be aggression from another fish but I’ve never seen anything mess with it and the other fish seem to ignore each other for the most part. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello everyone,

I’m fairly new to the hobby and I have a dottyback I got a few weeks ago from my LFS that isn’t looking so good. He was fairly active and even a little aggressive at first but has started eating less and hiding significantly more during the day. He does seem to scrape his side against the rock at times and will dart around rapidly at times as well. He seems to be much more active at night now which is different than initial behavior… I’m honestly not sure what to do. My LFS thinks this may just be aggression from another fish but I’ve never seen anything mess with it and the other fish seem to ignore each other for the most part. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I see the fish is breathing fast, and has a lesion on its side. There also seems to be some mucus coming off its skin.

It could be from aggression, what other fish are in with it?

More likely it is from an infection. Do you have a treatment tank available? The most likely disease cause would be flukes, a type of worm parasite. You may be able to treat that in the tank the fish is currently in - what other animals are in there? The drug of choice would be Prazipro, dosed 8 days apart.

It could also be a bacterial infection - Prazipro won't help with that though.

Jay

 

[BRADventure89]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I see the fish is breathing fast, and has a lesion on its side. There also seems to be some mucus coming off its skin.

It could be from aggression, what other fish are in with it?

More likely it is from an infection. Do you have a treatment tank available? The most likely disease cause would be flukes, a type of worm parasite. You may be able to treat that in the tank the fish is currently in - what other animals are in there? The drug of choice would be Prazipro, dosed 8 days apart.

It could also be a bacterial infection - Prazipro won't help with that though.

Ja

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I see the fish is breathing fast, and has a lesion on its side. There also seems to be some mucus coming off its skin.

It could be from aggression, what other fish are in with it?

More likely it is from an infection. Do you have a treatment tank available? The most likely disease cause would be flukes, a type of worm parasite. You may be able to treat that in the tank the fish is currently in - what other animals are in there? The drug of choice would be Prazipro, dosed 8 days apart.

It could also be a bacterial infection - Prazipro won't help with that though.

Jay

Hi Jay,

Thanks so much for your help/advice! I set up a hospital/quarantine tank today and hopefully will be able to catch the Dottyback tomorrow morning. I picked up some API General Cure today at the recommendation of the owner of my LFS. He said we could try that first then something specifically for parasites if it doesn’t work. I’m guessing it may be too hard on the fish to treat all at once? I’m honestly not sure what all is in the general cure and need to read some more on it tonight.

I currently have 2 long fin black ice clownfish, a Royal Gramma, and a Melanurus Wrasse in the 47 gallon tank with the dottyback, as well as, several hermit crabs and snails. Honestly, I didn’t quarantine the way I should have, and as I’ve read more about the importance of quarantine I’m kicking myself for rushing in. Lesson learned.

The dottyback initially ran the tank… until I added the wrasse and now he acts very skiddish around the wrasse and hides most of the day, so everyone at the LFS thinks the melanurus wrasse may have tagged him. The dottyback is much more active after the melanurus wrasses goes to bed at around 5:30, but he still looks thin and obviously has the lesion on it’s side. But it did seem more active today and I haven’t seen the wrasse show any signs of aggression towards anything since I added him, but obviously I can’t watch the tank 24/7. Still not seeing the dottyback eat much, though he does come out and get very active during feedings.

Is there a good resource for common fish illnesses or maladies available besides just forums? I went to medical school and we have textbooks for everything so I’m wondering if there are any good ones out there for marine fish illnesses?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay,

Thanks so much for your help/advice! I set up a hospital/quarantine tank today and hopefully will be able to catch the Dottyback tomorrow morning. I picked up some API General Cure today at the recommendation of the owner of my LFS. He said we could try that first then something specifically for parasites if it doesn’t work. I’m guessing it may be too hard on the fish to treat all at once? I’m honestly not sure what all is in the general cure and need to read some more on it tonight.

I currently have 2 long fin black ice clownfish, a Royal Gramma, and a Melanurus Wrasse in the 47 gallon tank with the dottyback, as well as, several hermit crabs and snails. Honestly, I didn’t quarantine the way I should have, and as I’ve read more about the importance of quarantine I’m kicking myself for rushing in. Lesson learned.

The dottyback initially ran the tank… until I added the wrasse and now he acts very skiddish around the wrasse and hides most of the day, so everyone at the LFS thinks the melanurus wrasse may have tagged him. The dottyback is much more active after the melanurus wrasses goes to bed at around 5:30, but he still looks thin and obviously has the lesion on it’s side. But it did seem more active today and I haven’t seen the wrasse show any signs of aggression towards anything since I added him, but obviously I can’t watch the tank 24/7. Still not seeing the dottyback eat much, though he does come out and get very active during feedings.

Is there a good resource for common fish illnesses or maladies available besides just forums? I went to medical school and we have textbooks for everything so I’m wondering if there are any good ones out there for marine fish illnesses?

General Cure is metronidazole and praziquantel. It is just a bit harsher than Prazipro, but many people use it. A shotgun approach, treating multiple diseases at one time is often very stressful to fish. If you think the wrasse is indeed the culprit, then another course of treatment would be to isolate the dottyback and dose with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic.

As far as written resources - there are technical books, such as Ed Noga's Fish Diseases, but it runs about $130. I'm writing a book, but it isn't quite ready for publication yet.

Jay