Lyretail Anthias - Lympho or Dangerous?

[jeeveless]

Hi All,

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0 (API test but also have the seachem tag which shows SAFE level)
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
All API (I know they aren’t the best)

We’ve had this anthias for almost 2 months now and at first he was perfect and made it through QT. 180G FOWLR tank is only a couple of months old but all water, rock, sand, etc. came from a previously cycled tank. No losses, no signs of illness from any other fish. The last week and a bit we started seeing growths on him and I cannot find anything that matches what I’ve observed other than maybe lymphocystis. That said, should I be wrong I want to address this asap. I got the best images and video I could but he is rather camera shy, as soon as he sees the camera he no longer wants to show off. Hopefully these are enough to help get a proper diagnosis. He eats well, bosses the females around plenty, and does not hide. I don’t think he’s breathing heavily but he’s pretty active and I’ve not had Anthias before. Any help/insight is appreciated - hopefully I linked the video properly.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All,

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0 (API test but also have the seachem tag which shows SAFE level)
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
All API (I know they aren’t the best)

We’ve had this anthias for almost 2 months now and at first he was perfect and made it through QT. 180G FOWLR tank is only a couple of months old but all water, rock, sand, etc. came from a previously cycled tank. No losses, no signs of illness from any other fish. The last week and a bit we started seeing growths on him and I cannot find anything that matches what I’ve observed other than maybe lymphocystis. That said, should I be wrong I want to address this asap. I got the best images and video I could but he is rather camera shy, as soon as he sees the camera he no longer wants to show off. Hopefully these are enough to help get a proper diagnosis. He eats well, bosses the females around plenty, and does not hide. I don’t think he’s breathing heavily but he’s pretty active and I’ve not had Anthias before. Any help/insight is appreciated - hopefully I linked the video properly.

This is not Lympho and while not in alignment with uronema may be the start of such and something they are prone to, If true, you will want to act fast and give the fish a Ruby rally bath for 60 minutes with aeration and then treat within tank to also guard the other fish with the same- Ruby Rally Pro

 

[jeeveless]

This is not Lympho and while not in alignment with uronema may be the start of such and something they are prone to, If true, you will want to act fast and give the fish a Ruby rally bath for 60 minutes with aeration and then treat within tank to also guard the other fish with the same- Ruby Rally Pro

We did treat with RRP while in quarantine, does that make a difference here?

 

[F i s h y]

If the fish has been through QT and has been in your system for 2 months then i do not think that uronema is likely. I have found with my anthias, because of their habit of sleeping in coral and stuffed into rock crevice's at night that they damage their scales some, and are prone to fungal or bacterial infections. typically these clear up on their own in a few days in my experience, but additional treatment is always advisable if it doesn't.

 

[vetteguy53081]

We did treat with RRP while in quarantine, does that make a difference here?

It should. These fish also chase each other and can be minor injury but is a typical location for uronema why I mention as a suggestion to keep an eye on area

 

[jeeveless]

Hi All,

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0 (API test but also have the seachem tag which shows SAFE level)
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
All API (I know they aren’t the best)

We’ve had this anthias for almost 2 months now and at first he was perfect and made it through QT. 180G FOWLR tank is only a couple of months old but all water, rock, sand, etc. came from a previously cycled tank. No losses, no signs of illness from any other fish. The last week and a bit we started seeing growths on him and I cannot find anything that matches what I’ve observed other than maybe lymphocystis. That said, should I be wrong I want to address this asap. I got the best images and video I could but he is rather camera shy, as soon as he sees the camera he no longer wants to show off. Hopefully these are enough to help get a proper diagnosis. He eats well, bosses the females around plenty, and does not hide. I don’t think he’s breathing heavily but he’s pretty active and I’ve not had Anthias before. Any help/insight is appreciated - hopefully I linked the video properly.

Hard to see in the media provided but he also has a spot on the right side of his mouth so this is not isolated to his sides

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hard to see in the media provided but he also has a spot on the right side of his mouth so this is not isolated to his sides

I agree - this isn't likely to be Uronema and it isn't Lymphocystis. There is an internal fungal disease that can cause raised lesions like this, but it isn't treatable. It's called Ichthyophonus hoferi (or related species).

 

[jeeveless]

I agree - this isn't likely to be Uronema and it isn't Lymphocystis. There is an internal fungal disease that can cause raised lesions like this, but it isn't treatable. It's called Ichthyophonus hoferi (or related species).

Is it something he will die from, and is it contagious?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Is it something he will die from, and is it contagious?

If it’s just minor injuries, no treatment is needed. Icthyophonus is commonly fatal. It isn’t super contagious.

 

[jeeveless]

In case anyone comes across this later on I thought I’d provide an update so far. 2 of the 3 spots are gone and he has healed enough that we wouldn’t know he had his wound if we didn’t know where to look. The wound on his face has healed a lot and no new spots. Not sure if it means he’s ok now or if it’s part of the process but he’s looking good right now.

 

[jeeveless]

In case anyone comes across this later on I thought I’d provide an update so far. 2 of the 3 spots are gone and he has healed enough that we wouldn’t know he had his wound if we didn’t know where to look. The wound on his face has healed a lot and no new spots. Not sure if it means he’s ok now or if it’s part of the process but he’s looking good right now.

Final update. The wound of his face became decidedly smaller and after our last post he looked great until last week. He ate and swam the same as always but his colour started to fade. A couple days after the fading happened it was like he became 2 fish at once, one side looked almost perfect but the other side was pale and ghostly with his eye completely clouded over. We managed to catch him and started Kanaplex but it’s too late. He’s moribund now, still breathing but not moving or eating and his body is showing many weird marks and he almost looks like he’s got sunken areas of skin on him. Unfortunately I think you were right @jay. There’s something internal going on and while we did our best to treat I don’t think there was much we could do :-(. If anyone else comes across a similar issue I’m sorry.

 

[jeeveless]

We freshwater dipped him after he passed and the attached picture came out. Is this flukes? We’ve dipped other fish from the same tank and not a single fluke but I can’t imagine what else this could be? Any ideas #fis#fishmedicsTACH alt="IMG_2766.jpeg"]4192164[/ATTACH]

 

[mmorrison55]

Sorry to hear that

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

We freshwater dipped him after he passed and the attached picture came out. Is this flukes? We’ve dipped other fish from the same tank and not a single fluke but I can’t imagine what else this could be? Any ideas #fis#fishmedicsTACH alt="IMG_2766.jpeg"]4192164[/ATTACH]

Yes - those are Neobenenia flukes. What other fish are in the tank? Neo can infect a number of different fish species.

 

[jeeveless]

Yes - those are Neobenenia flukes. What other fish are in the tank? Neo can infect a number of different fish species.

Female Anthias, a pair of percula clowns, convict and Vlamingii tangs, a swallowtail Hawkfish, a coral beauty, a six line wrasse, sleeper head goby, golden lined rabbitfish, yellow tail damsels, and a klein’s butterfly. We had already treated 3 doses of prazi following vette guy’s previously shared timeline because the convict was flashing and he and all other fish look fine, no flashing, and with the freshwater dip we saw no other flukes. One of the female Anthias has stopped eating though so I’m wondering if prazi did not work. We used bubblers and did water changes between doses :-(.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Female Anthias, a pair of percula clowns, convict and Vlamingii tangs, a swallowtail Hawkfish, a coral beauty, a six line wrasse, sleeper head goby, golden lined rabbitfish, yellow tail damsels, and a klein’s butterfly. We had already treated 3 doses of prazi following vette guy’s previously shared timeline because the convict was flashing and he and all other fish look fine, no flashing, and with the freshwater dip we saw no other flukes. One of the female Anthias has stopped eating though so I’m wondering if prazi did not work. We used bubblers and did water changes between doses :-(.

Neo is tough to treat with prazi, they are egg layers and prazi only kills the adult flukes. I’ve dosed it as many as 5 times, 8 days apart and still have it come back. The primary benefit of prazi is that it can be used in tanks with invertebrates. Hyposalinity works much better for Neo, but you can’t use it with invertebrates present.

 

[jeeveless]

Neo is tough to treat with prazi, they are egg layers and prazi only kills the adult flukes. I’ve dosed it as many as 5 times, 8 days apart and still have it come back. The primary benefit of prazi is that it can be used in tanks with invertebrates. Hyposalinity works much better for Neo, but you can’t use it with invertebrates present.

The only invert is a chocolate chip starfish which we can move to another tank as long as neo won’t follow with it? Does prazi help at all or should we just do straight hypo?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The only invert is a chocolate chip starfish which we can move to another tank as long as neo won’t follow with it? Does prazi help at all or should we just do straight hypo?

Trouble is, Neo eggs are sticky and can easily move along with the starfish. A single hatching egg can restart an infection.

Straight hypo at a specific gravity of 1.012 for 30 days works well.

 

[jeeveless]

Trouble is, Neo eggs are sticky and can easily move along with the starfish. A single hatching egg can restart an infection.

Straight hypo at a specific gravity of 1.012 for 30 days works well.

Thank you. We put the starfish in with our snails we are qt’ing. what’s strange is we did a freshwater dip on all the other fish to alleviate the parasitic load as we prepped for hypo and not a single other fish had flukes drop off. We’ll treat regardless but is that normal?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you. We put the starfish in with our snails we are qt’ing. what’s strange is we did a freshwater dip on all the other fish to alleviate the parasitic load as we prepped for hypo and not a single other fish had flukes drop off. We’ll treat regardless but is that normal?

Not all fish are succeptable to Neo to the same degree, but other fish of similar species would be expected to have infections as well.