Is this a bacterial infection?

AllSignsPointToFish · Mar 31, 2019

Sorry for the poor picture...my clownfish does not like having his picture taken. I just noticed this today. It's a fuzzy, white patch that appeared, and I saw my clownfish flash at least once

I'm really surprised about this since I've been adding metronidazole and kanamycin to the food to treat one fish with popeye and an anthia would white, stringy poop. I would've thought those two should've prevented this from happening.

Thoughts?

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 31, 2019

If he is flashing I would do a FW to check for flukes.
That could be the start of brook it’s hard to tell from the pic. I seem to think I see some fading on his fin and surrounding that spot.
Feeding metro, etc will not treat external parasites like flukes, brook, ich etc.

ngoodermuth · Mar 31, 2019

How long have you had the clown, and how long since anything has been added to the tank? What about other fish, anyone else scratching?

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 1, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
How long have you had the clown, and how long since anything has been added to the tank? What about other fish, anyone else scratching?

The clown has been in the tank for over three years. There were some fish added recently, but they went through QT and no one else is scratching or flashing.

The more I look at it, it looks like a superficial scratch or injury that may have become infected. Getting the clownfish out of the tank will be nearly impossible :/

ngoodermuth · Apr 1, 2019

Since you’ve already been feeding Kanaplex without success... he might need antibiotics in a QT. That, or just feeding well (soaking food in vitamins/selcon) and crossing your fingers that he can fight it off on his own... are really your only options

If you can catch any of the fish, doesn’t have to be the clown, can spot check for flukes with a freshwater dip... but if all of your fish have been treated prophylactically, I think it’s unlikely. There are some cases of prazi-resistant strains, so won’t hurt to just be sure.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 1, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
Since you’ve already been feeding Kanaplex without success... he might need antibiotics in a QT. That, or just feeding well (soaking food in vitamins/selcon) and crossing your fingers that he can fight it off on his own... are really your only options

If you can catch any of the fish, doesn’t have to be the clown, can spot check for flukes with a freshwater dip... but if all of your fish have been treated prophylactically, I think it’s unlikely. There are some cases of prazi-resistant strains, so won’t hurt to just be sure.

I'll see what I can do. I can probably catch one of the ocellaris clowns to check. The new fish were definitely in copper for 30 days and then treated with two rounds of PraziPro, and they all look great.

I think my large regal tang was being a jerk while chasing the clownfish a bit, and he injured himself trying to get out of the way of the hippo.

Are there any other medications that could be given with food and a binder?

ngoodermuth · Apr 1, 2019

Kanaplex or Neoplex can both be fed bound to frozen food, Kanaplex would be my first choice (fed at least 10 days) but since you’ve already tried that perhaps give the Neoplex a try?

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 1, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
Kanaplex or Neoplex can both be fed bound to frozen food, Kanaplex would be my first choice (fed at least 10 days) but since you’ve already tried that perhaps give the Neoplex a try?

I'm not quite through the 10 days, yet. I still have another two days. I'll see if I can get the Neoplex ordered in that time.

Thanks!

ngoodermuth · Apr 1, 2019

AllSignsPointToFish said:
I'm not quite through the 10 days, yet. I still have another two days. I'll see if I can get the Neoplex ordered in that time.

Thanks!

I would maybe feed for 14 days with the Kanaplex if it’s not finished yet. Antibiotics are notoriously slow-acting in fish.

If there is little or no change after 14 days, switch to the Neoplex or work on pulling to QT for external treatment.