Foxface - Skin peeling off?

[PaulieReef]

I heard foxface peel, but this doesn't look normal. Fish is about 4 years old. was in a buddys tank, outgrew his tank, into mine. My tank is about 1.5 old, other fish not experience these symptoms.

Was in the tank for about 2-3 days acting normal, healthy appetite and no fighting with the other fish. Day 4 noticed him starting to flash (spikes going out and back in) with no seen predators. Day 5-6 been hiding in the corner slowly getting worse. Minimal attraction to food, ate a tiny pellet when it swam by him, put nori near him wasnt interested.

Watched the tank for a solid 30 minutes to see if anyone was picking on him, purple tang hung around him but didnt see any strikes or nipping.

 

[Tonycass12]

What's the tank size and inhabitant list. Those look to be self inflicted wounds to me. He's been running into and wedging himself into rockwork. Have you noticed any aggression at all? Lights turning on and off when the tank lights are out for the night? If it's possible to remove him he needs to go into a hospital tank and I would start dosing him with an anti bacterial.

 

[PaulieReef]

What's the tank size and inhabitant list. Those look to be self inflicted wounds to me. He's been running into and wedging himself into rockwork. Have you noticed any aggression at all? Lights turning on and off when the tank lights are out for the night? If it's possible to remove him he needs to go into a hospital tank and I would start dosing him with an anti bacterial.

375g

Tangs: Vlamingii, Purple, Koi, Sailfin, Hippo, Tomini
Wrasses: Christmas, Fairy, Six line, Dusky, Tamarin
Goby: Banded Dragon
3x Clownfish
1x Firefish

Noticed the purple hanging around him and the banded dragon, but never noticed any strikes.

Lights turning on and off when the tank lights are out for the night?

Christmas Lights outside the window that the tank is on, not "flashy" but for sure dull blinks through the shutters.

If it's possible to remove him he needs to go into a hospital tank and I would start dosing him with an anti bacterial.

Tried to catch him but have been unsuccessful and thinking its adding more stress.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I heard foxface peel, but this doesn't look normal. Fish is about 4 years old. was in a buddys tank, outgrew his tank, into mine. My tank is about 1.5 old, other fish not experience these symptoms.

Was in the tank for about 2-3 days acting normal, healthy appetite and no fighting with the other fish. Day 4 noticed him starting to flash (spikes going out and back in) with no seen predators. Day 5-6 been hiding in the corner slowly getting worse. Minimal attraction to food, ate a tiny pellet when it swam by him, put nori near him wasnt interested.

Watched the tank for a solid 30 minutes to see if anyone was picking on him, purple tang hung around him but didnt see any strikes or nipping.

Two possible issues come to mind: that the fish was injured/damaged during the tank transfer and it took a couple of days, but a secondary bacterial infection has now set in. The second possibility is less likely - that the fish in your tank have a chronic fluke infestation that they are managing, but the foxface got hit hard when it was then added.
Purple tangs can be pretty aggressive, but the damage they do is with their scalpels, and those leave tiny stab marks, not broad discolored areas like this.
Jay

 

[PaulieReef]

Two possible issues come to mind: that the fish was injured/damaged during the tank transfer and it took a couple of days, but a secondary bacterial infection has now set in. The second possibility is less likely - that the fish in your tank have a chronic fluke infestation that they are managing, but the foxface got hit hard when it was then added.
Purple tangs can be pretty aggressive, but the damage they do is with their scalpels, and those leave tiny stab marks, not broad discolored areas like this.
Jay

Getting a QT setup, and hopefully i can catch him.. he pretty fast when he sees the net. Prazi I assume?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Getting a QT setup, and hopefully i can catch him.. he pretty fast when he sees the net. Prazi I assume?

Prazi, but maybe a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic as well.

Jay

 

[SaracensRugby]

Try catching at night when they have been asleep for a while. I have big tank and that is the only way I can get the fish in my tank.

 

[PaulieReef]

Unfortunately he didn’t make the night but for education reasons I wanted to post this so maybe someone who came across it might get answers and save their fish.

With this picture does it provide anymore information of what could have been going on?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Unfortunately he didn’t make the night but for education reasons I wanted to post this so maybe someone who came across it might get answers and save their fish.

With this picture does it provide anymore information of what could have been going on?

Sorry to hear.

Dead fish photos usually offer few clues. In this case, the larger lesion with smooth margins is a severe secondary bacterial infection. The small pinpoints are likely the focal points of a parasite, possibly flukes.

Jay

 

[PaulieReef]

Sorry to hear.

Dead fish photos usually offer few clues. In this case, the larger lesion with smooth margins is a severe secondary bacterial infection. The small pinpoints are likely the focal points of a parasite, possibly flukes.

Jay

So fluke infestation is a higher possibility than before. Luckily, I just ordered a UV to possibly help with this.

Thanks all for your help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So fluke infestation is a higher possibility than before. Luckily, I just ordered a UV to possibly help with this.

Thanks all for your help.

O.k., but just to be clear, UV has no benefit against flukes - the adult flukes don’t leave the fish and the larval flukes are too large to be harmed if they pass through the UV

Jay

 

[PaulieReef]

O.k., but just to be clear, UV has no benefit against flukes - the adult flukes don’t leave the fish and the larval flukes are too large to be harmed if they pass through the UV

Jay

Was unaware of that. Is there any in tank treatments that will help against a fluke infestation outside of fallow? Also I am getting a 150W UV, not sure if that matters.

Only reason I ask is, it would be very difficult to break down my tank to catch all the fish to get it to fallow, and I do not have enough room to house all of the fish.

Is it reef safe to dose prazi to display? Or maybe something like general cure to their food?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Was unaware of that. Is there any in tank treatments that will help against a fluke infestation outside of fallow? Also I am getting a 150W UV, not sure if that matters.

Only reason I ask is, it would be very difficult to break down my tank to catch all the fish to get it to fallow, and I do not have enough room to house all of the fish.

Is it reef safe to dose prazi to display? Or maybe something like general cure to their food?

General Cure cannot be used in food - it contains two different drugs, so you cannot get the dose right. Then, oral medications do not work well for external infections.

Correct, even that size UV is completely useless against flukes.

You can dose praziquantel or prazipro in a reef tank, it is mostly safe, you just need to dose it carefully and for the actual volume of the tank (taking out rock displacement, etc.) I often subtract 15% for rock displacement and then add in the volume of any sump. You then dose the tank after removing any chemical filtration. Run your skimmer for aeration, but do not collect the skimmate. I always add extra aeration to the tank. Then, 8 days after the first does, do a 25% water change and dose it again. I often will repeat for a third dose.

Jay

 

[PaulieReef]

General Cure cannot be used in food - it contains two different drugs, so you cannot get the dose right. Then, oral medications do not work well for external infections.

Correct, even that size UV is completely useless against flukes.

You can dose praziquantel or prazipro in a reef tank, it is mostly safe, you just need to dose it carefully and for the actual volume of the tank (taking out rock displacement, etc.) I often subtract 15% for rock displacement and then add in the volume of any sump. You then dose the tank after removing any chemical filtration. Run your skimmer for aeration, but do not collect the skimmate. I always add extra aeration to the tank. Then, 8 days after the first does, do a 25% water change and dose it again. I often will repeat for a third dose.

Jay

Ok great! I have the exact volume of my sump + rocks down to a science. (I measured every gallon it took to fill ).

Thank you so much!