Ich? (Nope - Lympho)

[DLHDesign]

I've got three Bartlett's Anthias that I picked up from the LFS on Sunday (3 days ago). All three fish looked healthy at the shop and were eating within 8hrs of entering my QT. I did not do a FW dip before adding them to the QT. The only thing I added to the QT initially was some VitaChem.

I've been feeding them various frozen food - also dosed with a few drops of VitaChem, but no meds until today.
I removed my carbon and added 2.5mL of PraziPro into the tank (10gal @ 1.025, 78.2F) earlier today after a feeding.

While observing them a few moments ago, I noticed that one of them had a white spot on his tail fin. He's also more prone to swimming to the surface as well as rubbing against the bottom of the tank than the other two. Of the two males (I didn't get to pick the fish specifically, so I ended up with two males), the sick one is more often the target of aggression. No heavy breathing, nor any excessive amount of twitching.

Ich? If so (or not), what is the best way to deal with it, given that I just dosed in the PraziPro a few hours ago?

If need be, I can set up a new QT tank with some copper dosed in (I don't have any CP yet - working on it..) and move them over, but I would like to make sure that such an "extreme" is needed.

(And I'd like to add that photographing such active fish is no easy task - these were the best two photos I got out of about two dozen...)

 

[Humblefish]

I think the white spot on the tail is just Lympho: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

However, I'm not sure if 2 male Bartlett's will make it thru QT together (fighting).

 

[Vincent100]

hi mate
i had a real bad case of ich in my tank , lost lots of fish ,tried a few different treatments with no luck than i gave polyp lab medic a try and it worked .
i rate it alot, had to use the max dose for 18 days but it worked and theres been no sign of it since , that was over 2 months ago

 

[DLHDesign]

I think the white spot on the tail is just Lympho: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Okay; thanks @Humblefish! I'm already adding vitamins to the food; should I just keep on with that as the treatment plan for now, you think?

However, I'm not sure if 2 male Bartlett's will make it thru QT together (fighting).

I was worried about that too. Trying to keep them well-fed to curb that potential, but that means that my ammonia is going to be an issue as I go forward. And trying to keep it low for a full month+ using Prime and WC's may not be the best solution to attempt.

Another option may be to take the fish back to the LFS (not sure they would take it back; would have to call first) and swap it for a female. I don't really like to "pass the buck" on problems like this, but I also don't want to try to keep a fish that I have no chance of keeping safe...

 

[Humblefish]

Okay; thanks @Humblefish! I'm already adding vitamins to the food; should I just keep on with that as the treatment plan for now, you think?

Yes, and also maintain excellent water quality.

 

[DLHDesign]

Update:
The suspected Lympho spot looks to be doing better; it seems slightly smaller. It was never large to begin with, so it's hard to be sure. But, at the least, it's not growing or spreading. Counting that a win.

After my second PraziPro dose (another 2.5mL) today, I noticed that the female in the tank looked to have a wound in it's side. *sigh* Yup; there is that aggression. I've managed to isolate the injured fish and get a photo of the wound (as best I could...):

I'm still trying to get in touch with the LFS to see about returning one of the males, but at this point the damage has (clearly) been done. Still; it can get worse, I'm sure...

Should I now treat for this wound as well? If so; what's the suggested medication to use (I've got most everything on-hand at this point, luckly)? TIA.

 

[Humblefish]

Should I now treat for this wound as well? If so; what's the suggested medication to use (I've got most everything on-hand at this point, luckly)? TIA.

Kanamycin (Kanaplex) would help treat/prevent an infection, but if the attacks continue one (or both) will eventually die.

 

[DLHDesign]

Thanks; will dose that in. I've got the LFS to agree to take back one of the males, so I'll get the non-lympho fish back to them and swapped out for a female. Then to restart QT all over...

 

[DLHDesign]

Update: All three fish are looking healthy - the Lympho spot on the male is gone and the wound on the female is all healed up (only took 2 rounds of Kanaplex). Woot!

Only problem I'm running into now is that I'm having trouble keeping the QT tank clean. :-\ I cleaned it out to "like new" about 4 days ago, but now it looks like this again:

Temp, salinity, and ammonia are all good, though I've not (yet) run the gambit of tests on the tank.

I'm going to be doing a water change on my DT tonight and will look to replace 50%+ of the QT water anyways. That's after I clean it up again, of course. I suspect that my filter pads are the source of the problem; I've not been swapping them out as often as I likely should as I don't have any others that are well seeded in my DT... (Note to self: pick up a bunch more HOB filter pads to keep in the DT sump.)

 

[Humblefish]

@DLHDesign If its just the algae, then that's not a worry in QT. Just unsightly. ;)

 

[DLHDesign]

Cheers. ;-)
I was borderline concerned, but leaning toward "meh". The fish occasionally seem to be swimming harder (into the flow more; not struggling) these days, but nothing about that activity seems wrong to me - just something I've noticed. Everyone is eating well (switching between mysis and brine 3x/day), so I think this has reached the waiting and watching phase.

 

[DLHDesign]

Proud to report that all three Anthias have made it through QT and have been successfully introduced to the DT! Yay!

I'm a bit ahead of the 1 month timeline, I know. I got in a delivery of 20+ frags today and needed to put them into a QT for a few days, so accelerated the transfer by a few days... Bad practice to get in the habit of, I'm sure. Will do better next time.

All three fish have been looking great for the past few weeks. In the past week, they have been coming up to the corner where I dumped in food every time I got close to the tank and then all three ate well. I've been feeding 3x per day, about 1/3 of a cube of various Hikari frozen foods fortified with VitaChem. Their favorite seems to be the mysis shrimp, but they'll take any of the others I put in there (spirulina shrimp, and... er... something else shrimp-esk). The past few days I've been adding in some pellets as well. Not because I want to switch to them at this point (I feed the cubes in my DT as well), but so that if I ever do have to switch to an auto-feeder, I'm at least closer to the acclimation process. That's something I'll continue in the DT as well.

This has been a very educational QT round. It required multiple medications - each requiring multiple doses. It involved near-constant monitoring for aggression, with adjustments made to the food schedule and volume to help curb that (adjustments that I've applied to my DT as well). I've seen healing, damage, and then more healing. All three fish made it through and appear to be thriving. When it came time to transfer them over, my temps and salinity were perfectly aligned (no accident).

Thank you @Humblefish!!!
I'm sure my results would not have been as promising were it not for your suggestions and guidance. With every vet in the area turning their back on caring for fish (understandable; no slight on them), it's nice to know that there's still somewhere I can go to get solid assistance.

And speaking of "next time", I've got the next batch of tank mates on the way! 2 Banggai Cardinals (hoping a mated pair; need to call on that in the AM), a green mandarin (I've got the feeder built and brine shrimp hatching already), and a flame hawkfish. Hopefully they arrive in healthy condition, of course. But even if not, I've got a cabinet full of medications ready to go - and I know where to turn for advice on how (and when) to use them. ;-)

 

[4FordFamily]

@DLHDesign If its just the algae, then that's not a worry in QT. Just unsightly. ;)

Yeah my qt is pretty awful looking with algae. Hard to find time to clean it and other than being utterly hideous, it's harmless. :)

 

[Brew12]

Update: All three fish are looking healthy - the Lympho spot on the male is gone and the wound on the female is all healed up (only took 2 rounds of Kanaplex). Woot!

Only problem I'm running into now is that I'm having trouble keeping the QT tank clean. :-\ I cleaned it out to "like new" about 4 days ago, but now it looks like this again:

Temp, salinity, and ammonia are all good, though I've not (yet) run the gambit of tests on the tank.

I'm going to be doing a water change on my DT tonight and will look to replace 50%+ of the QT water anyways. That's after I clean it up again, of course. I suspect that my filter pads are the source of the problem; I've not been swapping them out as often as I likely should as I don't have any others that are well seeded in my DT... (Note to self: pick up a bunch more HOB filter pads to keep in the DT sump.)

I'm glad I came across this thread, writing important information on the QT is a great idea! Not sure I would have thought about it. Note to self.. pick up dry erase board markers.

 

[DLHDesign]

Note to self.. pick up dry erase board markers.

My suggestion: use sharpies (the "permanent" kind). Dry erase will rub off with the smallest touch on glass and then you loose your notes. Sharpie can be cleaned off glass with very little effort - I just hit it with some windex when the tank is empty, or even just a bit of water and some rubbing works too.

 

[Brew12]

My suggestion: use sharpies (the "permanent" kind). Dry erase will rub off with the smallest touch on glass and then you loose your notes. Sharpie can be cleaned off glass with very little effort - I just hit it with some windex when the tank is empty, or even just a bit of water and some rubbing works too.

Thanks for that! I can't tell you how many little gems of information I have come across just be reading so many of these threads.

 

[Humblefish]

@DLHDesign Glad to hear everything went well! :)