Help diagnosing infection (?) on striped hogfish

[BenConrad]

Hi there R2R!
I have a hogfish in quarantine that has developed a pretty significant infection or sore of some kind on his under belly. He has been with three other small fish in a 20g system for about 5 weeks. Here is timeline:

1/31 - Started 28 days of Copper Power treatment (>2.00ppm). Always active and eating over this period. I had no concerns.

2/25 - Quarantine group was doing well, so I decided to add in some PraziPro for deworming. (Adding this on top of CP is not recommended I now realize, and so perhaps this was a causal mistake.)

2/27 - This morning I noticed the hogfish acting lethargic near sand, and also the development of swelling on his belly/pelvic fin area (first two pics), though did attempt to eat. Didn't notice any strained breathing. Decided to do an emergency 50% water change and not add any more copper or prazipro. He did seem to really perk up after this, with less medicated water. To stave off possible infection I began Kanaplex that evening, dosing every 2 days for three treatments total, including some in feedings.

3/5 - Today you can see how this condition has progressed (last pic). Perhaps some outline of healing tissue, but really has just gotten larger and more concerning. He remains active and eating, and has not regressed back to the behavior on morning of 2/27.


Any thoughts on what this could be and/or recommended next steps?

Thanks for your time,

-Ben

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi there R2R!
I have a hogfish in quarantine that has developed a pretty significant infection or sore of some kind on his under belly. He has been with three other small fish in a 20g system for about 5 weeks. Here is timeline:

1/31 - Started 28 days of Copper Power treatment (>2.00ppm). Always active and eating over this period. I had no concerns.

2/25 - Quarantine group was doing well, so I decided to add in some PraziPro for deworming. (Adding this on top of CP is not recommended I now realize, and so perhaps this was a causal mistake.)

2/27 - This morning I noticed the hogfish acting lethargic near sand, and also the development of swelling on his belly/pelvic fin area (first two pics), though did attempt to eat. Didn't notice any strained breathing. Decided to do an emergency 50% water change and not add any more copper or prazipro. He did seem to really perk up after this, with less medicated water. To stave off possible infection I began Kanaplex that evening, dosing every 2 days for three treatments total, including some in feedings.

3/5 - Today you can see how this condition has progressed (last pic). Perhaps some outline of healing tissue, but really has just gotten larger and more concerning. He remains active and eating, and has not regressed back to the behavior on morning of 2/27.


Any thoughts on what this could be and/or recommended next steps?

Thanks for your time,

-Ben

This may have begun as constipation , and became rectal prolapse and now infected. You can try treating in separate tank using Seachem Neoplex but I dont expect a positive outcome based on severity

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I agree, it could be a rupture. However, there is also an internal fungal disease (fungus are rare in marine fish) that looks like that - sort of brownish tissue erupting from under the skin. I don't know of any treatment for that (I have used 75 ppm one hour formalin dips that worked, but not on a wound that is on the belly, where internal organs are located.).

Sorry to see, but this is unrelated to your quarantine process, so any other fish in that tank should be fine.

 

[BenConrad]

Unfortunately, found the little guy dead this morning. Only progressed further from the initial swelling. Did another water change yesterday and added ruby reef rally to the QT per bottle instructions, as I didn't want to subject him to a full bath. No formalin on hand. Other fish are good. The internal fungal disease description seems consistent here. I've definitely not seen it before, and pretty gruesome tbh... RIP. Appreciate both of your inputs, and service to this community.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Unfortunately, found the little guy dead this morning. Only progressed further from the initial swelling. Did another water change yesterday and added ruby reef rally to the QT per bottle instructions, as I didn't want to subject him to a full bath. No formalin on hand. Other fish are good. The internal fungal disease description seems consistent here. I've definitely not seen it before, and pretty gruesome tbh... RIP. Appreciate both of your inputs, and service to this community.

Sorry to see. Any infection of a fish's abdomen is tough to treat due to the chance that vital organs will become involved....