HELP-Frozen mocha frostbite clown has bacterial infection

kass03 · Jul 22, 2018

Hello,
My clownfish I had for 2 yrs had a wound on her about 2 months ago (assuming the male but never saw them fight) and she stopped eating for a cpl days but then recovered and was eating again.
Then about 3 weeks ago she had a frayed fin and seemed like she couldn't see. She would try to grab food. A few days after that she stopped eating.
All my other fish are fine including the male.
I removed her and put her in the only tank I had which is a small 1.75g all in one. I treated her with melafix for 9 days but she won't eat and isn't getting any better. I tried garlic guard and a variety of foods frozen and flake
Her gills look whitish and possibly inflamed along with whitish and frayed fins.

The only thing I could find here is furan-2 which I read doesn't work as well in saltwater because of the higher PH (Humblefish) or triple sulfa which he said can be harsh on certain fish.

What should I do? I bought both
I doubt she will make it but she is tough lasting this long.
I want to change the water now and treat her ASAP

Thanks

HotRocks · Jul 22, 2018

I have had success with Furan-2 used together with Metroplex and Kanaplex. (The trifecta as we call it) This covers a very wide range of bacterial infections.

I don't have experience with triple sulfa. @Humblefish

I will also add that I keep NFG on hand and it seriously is amazing stuff. It's definitely worth keeping on the shelf for possible future needs.

Humblefish · Jul 22, 2018

Triple sulfa is a good broad spectrum antibiotic. It covers a wide range of bacterial diseases.

Furan-2 is good as well, but it is best combined with Kanaplex for maximum effectiveness.

Big G · Jul 22, 2018

+1 ^^^ on this. Also, Triple Sulfa + Neoplex can work wonders on bacterial infections, especially those that are surface wounds/injuries.

kass03 · Jul 23, 2018

ok thanks I changed the water with water from my 180g where the clown lives because I was afraid to let the melafix in there. I then tried the triple sulfa but the clown does not look good at all.
I also put an air stone in because I thought I read on humblefish's thread you should with antibiotics.
She just keeps swimming by the bubbles. I'm kicking myself for not trying something else sooner.
When I put her in a cup to change the water she jumped a cpl times and I think that used the last of her strength.

I couldn't find Kanaplex around here nobody has seachem for some reason.
1 place had both maracyns but wanted $25 each.
I actually remembered using sulfathiazole sodium many years ago when I first started my reef. It was before the internet so don't remember where I heard it from but I would get it at the pharmacy. If I recall right I used it on my reef but it would kill crustaceans.
I then used to use a sano product that worked wonders and it never harmed anything in my reef. I used it for years and saved many fish but they went out of business sadly. I never could figure out what it was the guy told me it was a remedy not a medication. It looked like water and maybe it was lol but I saved many fish with ich and bacterial infections.

Thanks for replying I'm hoping for a miracle but think she's too far gone.

Humblefish · Jul 23, 2018

@kass03 Good luck! At least you're trying to do everything you can to save the fish...

kass03 · Jul 23, 2018

Thanks Humblefish.
She is still alive and I did the second treatment but I dunno how much longer she can go without eating.
I do notice her whole body looks whitish except her bottom fins. Well her tail and side fins look white her body is white so hard to tell. Also her gills look whitish around them.
If I knew she'd make it a few days I would order that AAP spectrogram or whatever it was lol but not sure how long that would take to get here. They don't say.

I always tried to save my fish. One time my sailfin tang had ich and then got a nasty bacterial infection where his flesh was falling off. I thought he was a goner and it was a holiday weekend so I ordered that sano stuff which was $60 and then paid $65 for overnight shipping.
The tang lived but sadly last yr he died. He ate a rubber band off my nori holder which he did all the time but that time it got stuck. When he died my daughter did an autopsy and yes it was a rubber band. I had him around 15 yrs nice fish it was sad.

kass03 · Jul 24, 2018

I ordered Neoplex. If she makes it that far (Friday) do I dose both of them at regular strength?

I had to figure out how to measure that powder. My hos. tank is only 1.75g so I found a tiny spoon from chemi clean and the packet had 21 spoonfuls so I divided that by 6 and came up with 3 1/2 spoonfuls.

Humblefish · Jul 24, 2018

kass03 said:
I ordered Neoplex. If she makes it that far (Friday) do I dose both of them at regular strength?

Yes

kass03 · Jul 24, 2018

ok thank you

kass03 · Jul 26, 2018

She's still alive barely. She gets weaker every day as I can't get her to eat. It's been 3 weeks since she ate.
So I used triple sulfa Sunday, Monday, then did 25% water change Tuesday and used triple sulfa again Tuesday and Wednesday. Now what? the directions say 4 days then water change and carbon.
Do I just keep using it every day? Do I do another water change today first?
I feel helpless like nothing is working.

Humblefish · Jul 26, 2018

kass03 said:
She's still alive barely. She gets weaker every day as I can't get her to eat. It's been 3 weeks since she ate.
So I used triple sulfa Sunday, Monday, then did 25% water change Tuesday and used triple sulfa again Tuesday and Wednesday. Now what? the directions say 4 days then water change and carbon.
Do I just keep using it every day? Do I do another water change today first?
I feel helpless like nothing is working.

How big is she? Would you be comfortable trying to tube feed her?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-tube-feed-a-fish.250694/

kass03 · Jul 26, 2018

I dunno how do you tube feed them? I'm just afraid she's going to be so scared and die but she's going to die anyway.
She's 2-3 yr old female frostbite clown. She was spawning before this happened

Humblefish · Jul 26, 2018

kass03 said:
I dunno how do you tube feed them? I'm just afraid she's going to be so scared and die but she's going to die anyway

Look here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-tube-feed-a-fish.250694/

kass03 · Jul 26, 2018

Boy I dunno lol. Would the syringe you get with hanna checkers work? It has that long plastic tube on it.
I dunno where to get that catheter I called a medical supply place here and they don't have it.

Humblefish · Jul 26, 2018

kass03 said:
Boy I dunno lol. Would the syringe you get with hanna checkers work? It has that long plastic tube on it.
I dunno where to get that catheter I called a medical supply place here and they don't have it.

Angiocaths and cordis used for IVs and central lines work the best. Of course, pull the needle or lead wire before inserting. Hemdal mentions that, "Feline urinary catheters or avian tracheal tubes can be used for small fishes." More info here: https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/12/aafeature1

kass03 · Jul 26, 2018

ok thanks. I tried with what I had a syringe and tube from the hanna checker. It didn't go well for either of us and I dunno if I got it in far enough but she spit the food out right away and I quickly put her back in the tank. I think I killed her she's not doing well.
I was afraid to mess with sedation and thought she was so far gone anyway she would be calm but she was jumping around when I took her out.
I feel horrible!

kass03 · Jul 26, 2018

So in about an hour she would get her meds again am I suppose to just keep dosing triple sulfa and do a 25% water change every other day? She was barely swimming but now she's swimming but breathing heavily.
edit: I got the Neoplex

Humblefish · Jul 26, 2018

kass03 said:
ok thanks. I tried with what I had a syringe and tube from the hanna checker. It didn't go well for either of us and I dunno if I got it in far enough but she spit the food out right away and I quickly put her back in the tank. I think I killed her she's not doing well.
I was afraid to mess with sedation and thought she was so far gone anyway she would be calm but she was jumping around when I took her out.
I feel horrible!

kass03 said:
So in about an hour she would get her meds again am I suppose to just keep dosing triple sulfa and do a 25% water change every other day? She was barely swimming but now she's swimming but breathing heavily.
edit: I got the Neoplex

I think I would wait to see how she's doing (if she calms down) before dosing more meds.

Sorry to hear about the mishap.

kass03 · Jul 27, 2018

I dunno how but she's still alive today.
Last night she calmed down so I did a 25% water change and added the triple sulfa and Neoplex.
Now I'm confused what to do because the Neoplex says repeat in 7 days. The triple sulfa your suppose to do a 25% water change every 2 days. If I do a 25% water change I will be taking out some Neoplex.
I dosed triple sulfa for 5 days now how long should I keep dosing it?

She doesn't look any different I thought by now she would have some improvement. I've been treating her for 2 weeks although the first 9 days was with melafix. Her fins and tail are still gray where they used to be black like she has a white film over them except for her bottom fins those look normal.
I think her main problem why she doesn't eat is because she can't see. I don't see a film over her eyes but I keep hoping she will get her eyesight back and eat.