Fin Rot in Established Fish

[Humblefish]

Yeah I'm aware it's not enough time, but the Anthias didn't look this raggedy when I went to bed last night.
0 volts with ground probe.

The symptoms you described could mean disease. For example, the heavy breathing might be caused by something like ich or flukes inside the gills. The problem is the recent stray voltage issue presents am "X factor" which makes it difficult to distinguish from.

 

[kkgaskin90]

:/ not eating, so I'm not hopeful

 

[ArcKatana]

Here's a different question: What are you water parameters? I.e. is it something else (hence the stray voltage checking) causing the issue? Is it happening to only new fish added in (are the old ones OK?), or does it affect everyone?

 

[kkgaskin90]

The Tang that looks the worst has been in since Nov 2013. Some fish seem affected (Hippo, Anthias, and *maybe* the sleeper goby-has a tear in its tail but that could be nothing) and some seem fine (Kole Tang, Anthias, and Flame Hawkfish). My nitrates have consistently been below 5 (tested this morning to confirm), 0 nitrite and Ammonia, Phosphates below 0.25, SG 1.025 and 81 degrees.

 

[Humblefish]

What's your pH?

 

[kkgaskin90]

7.8 this morning, 8.0 right now

 

[Humblefish]

Well, none of your parameters seem out of whack.

 

[kkgaskin90]

I know. Seriously so frustrated and confused. Not sure what to do.,

 

[Humblefish]

Well, if you wanted to be proactive you could give one of the fish that's breathing heavy a FW dip. This would at least confirm/rule out the presence of flukes (more info below.) A lot of people seem skittish about performing a FW dip, but in 35+ years I've never lost a fish doing one.

Freshwater Dip: Provides temporary relief for Brooklynella, Flukes, Marine Velvet disease (Amyloodinium); possibly even Ich & Uronema marinum (both unproven). Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes.

How To Treat - Fill a bucket with RODI water, and use a heater to match the temperature to the water the fish is coming from. Aerate the water heavily for at least 30 minutes prior to doing the dip, then discontinue aeration while performing the dip. Fish aren’t overly pH sensitive for short durations like this, but you can squirt a little tank water into the dip just before the fish goes in to help bring it up.

Place the fish in the freshwater (FW) dip and observe closely. It is not unusual for them to freak out a little at first. Also, tangs are notorious for “playing dead” during a FW dip. The important thing is to watch their gills; they should be breathing heavily at all times during the dip. If breathing slows, it’s time to exit the dip. Dip the fish for no longer than 5 minutes. Multiple dips may be done, but it’s important to give your fish a day to recuperate in-between dips.

For flukes, use a dark (preferably black) bucket so you can see if tiny white worms fall out of the fish (especially out of the gills) at around the 3-4 minute mark. The worms will settle to the bottom, so you can use a flashlight to look for them there as well.

Pros - Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases in a chemical free environment. Can “buy you more time” until a proper treatment can be done.

Cons/Side Effects - Not a permanent “fix” for any disease, as FW dips are not potent enough to eradicate all of the parasites/worms afflicting the fish. Some fish can have an adverse reaction to a FW dip by appearing unable to maintain their equilibrium once returned to the aquarium. If this happens, hold the fish upright (using latex, nitrile or rubber gloves), and gently glide him through the water (to get saltwater flowing through the gills again). It is also a good idea to place the fish in an acclimation box until he appears “normal”.

 

[kkgaskin90]

Worth a shot. If it's still alive in the morning I'll try!

 

[kkgaskin90]

I peeked one more time before I went to bed and the urchin had what was left of it :/

 

[Humblefish]

I peeked one more time before I went to bed and the urchin had what was left of it :/

 

[kkgaskin90]

Just wanted to update: Friday we lost the last of the three Anthias. They died almost exactly a week apart. Ate up until the very last day. Fins started looking a bit gnarly, then their bodies, then the fast breathing and rapid death. They were hypo'd and treated with Kanaplex and PraziPro.
The other fish look fine. The hippo still has the gnarly find and HLLE scarring, but I think it's getting better. At the very least it has stopped progressing. It looked like it could have had worms in its poo today? Multiple long stringy things came out at once. It's been treated with PraziPro last year at some point, but I treated the whole tank last week so I'm thinking that may have been a contributing factor?

 

[Humblefish]

Sorry to hear this ... was the stringy poop white?

 

[kkgaskin90]

Not very vibrant white. Maybe a very light brown?

 

[Humblefish]

Not very vibrant white. Maybe a very light brown?

That's not abnormal. Stringy white poop means internal parasites/intestinal worms.

 

[kkgaskin90]

For worms? So could that contribute to HLLE?
I'm sure there's not one line culprit in our case... More like a cocktail of stressors.

 

[kkgaskin90]

Last week I finally caught and re-homed the Tang. I'm sad I couldn't make it better or find the source, but it needed a bigger tank in the long run anyway.
So now I'm back down to 3 fish in my DT and 3 in QT.

 

[kkgaskin90]

3 weeks after taking her out, I saw her at the store this morning. She looks much better, though still has a ways to go. She's in a tiny sale display, so it breaks my heart knowing there's something wrong in my tank that I couldn't find or fix

 

[Humblefish]

We do what we can. Sometimes I buy fish from Petco, knowing they are badly diseased. I use them for experimentation purposes but also try my best to save their lives. So it's a trade-off. I typically will try out different treatments on different fish, so I can figure out what works best. It breaks my heart to see a group of fish die, while the other group survives, knowing the difference was the different treatments I used.