Mystery Illness - Please Help....

[Salomlar]

Hi, I'm a new reefer with a fish and live rock 70 gallon tank.

In July a couple of my fire fish became lethargic and died. As all the other fish were fine, I didn't treat the tank.

Last month, two wrasse, one after the other, became lethargic and ultimately died. I treated the tank with Kanaplex, which seemed to help (fish were more energetic during the treatment), but then they died.

They were followed by my last two fire fish, same story. Looked better after the Kanaplex, but then slowly died.

All of this is happening without any new fish being added to the tank, and these fish had all been in the tank for several months.

AND, the sickness only affects one fish at a time; all the others are fine!

I treated the tank with Melaflix for three days after the last fire fish died to try to prevent this from affecting more fish.

Finished that treatment on Friday AND TODAY a skunk clown fish is starting to look lethargic (no observable physical issues).

All chemical levels, ammonia, temp, good and constant. Water changes every other week, clean filters every week.

What the @#-# is going on??!!

Should I continue with the melaflix?
How many days should I do the melaflix treatment for?
Is it bacterial?

Any guidance would be super appreciated.

Thank you!

Seth

 

[Wyvern]

Any spots, flashing or stringy poop?

 

[Salomlar]

Any spots, flashing or stringy poop?

Thanks so much for responding.

No spots, or noticeable poop irregularities.

 

[Wyvern]

Do the fish scratch or hang by the top?

Kanaplex is for bacterial/fungal issues and does not treat for ecto-parisites like flukes,ich,brook and velvet.

What you are using is more for treating skin issues you can see.

This makes me wonder if you have gill flukes, Velvet or parasitic isopods.

But you cannot rule out water quality, contamination or issues with voltage leak or temp swings.

Test with API or better (NO STRIPS) and list what you have, pics of tank would be beneficial as some types algae and bacteria can be bad and reduce oxygen in tank.

Also, move this to disease discussion, you will get more bites.

I'm far, FAR from a pro, but I can do what I can.

Read up on a freshwater dip and if you can perform it on an ill fish, see if any "seeds" come off.

Freshwater dip if done wrong, will kill, so do some research first.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Are you observing any rapid breathing before they pass away? Or and scratching, head shaking or flashing? If so its probably gill flukes which can be treated with prazi. If you have wrasses and angels which tend to be a bit more sensitive to Prazi (at least my experience) you could use half the recommended dose followed by a 2nd half dose 5-7 days later.

 

[Salomlar]

Do the fish scratch or hang by the top?

Kanaplex is for bacterial/fungal issues and does not treat for ecto-parisites like flukes,ich,brook and velvet.

What you are using is more for treating skin issues you can see.

This makes me wonder if you have gill flukes, Velvet or parasitic isopods.

But you cannot rule out water quality, contamination or issues with voltage leak or temp swings.

Test with API or better (NO STRIPS) and list what you have, pics of tank would be beneficial as some types algae and bacteria can be bad and reduce oxygen in tank.

Also, move this to disease discussion, you will get more bites.

I'm far, FAR from a pro, but I can do what I can.

Read up on a freshwater dip and if you can perform it on an ill fish, see if any "seeds" come off.

Freshwater dip if done wrong, will kill, so do some research first.

Thanks so much for your willingness to help.
I dosed the tank with Melaflix the past two nights and the patient fish is back to his normal spunky self. Still unclear what the actual issue is.

But I think I'm going to just count my blessings for now.

Any suggestion on the course of treatment with Melaflix to fully knockout whatever it is the Melaflix appears to have knocked down?

 

[Salomlar]

Are you observing any rapid breathing before they pass away? Or and scratching, head shaking or flashing? If so its probably gill flukes which can be treated with prazi. If you have wrasses and angels which tend to be a bit more sensitive to Prazi (at least my experience) you could use half the recommended dose followed by a 2nd half dose 5-7 days later.

Thanks so much for your willingness to help.
I dosed the tank with Melaflix the past two nights and the patient fish is back to his normal spunky self. Still unclear what the actual issue is.

No rapid breathing or scratching. Just lethargy over a few days and then death.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to just count my blessings for now.

Any suggestion on the course of treatment with Melaflix to fully knockout whatever it is the Melaflix appears to have knocked down?

 

[Jekyl]

Start a new post in the disease forum. Before you do review the stickies at the top. There is one with helpful advice when posting these questions. The experts on here will take it from there.

 

[Wyvern]

Thanks so much for your willingness to help.
I dosed the tank with Melaflix the past two nights and the patient fish is back to his normal spunky self. Still unclear what the actual issue is.

But I think I'm going to just count my blessings for now.

Any suggestion on the course of treatment with Melaflix to fully knockout whatever it is the Melaflix appears to have knocked down?

Hopefully I can have of those blessings, I just lost a wrasse last night for absolutely no reason and I watch every day for spots, flashing, eating, pooping, behavior ect.

He was eating like mad and swimming around confidently and boom! dead.

Stuff happens, hopefully you get to the bottom of it.

Melaleuca is a powerful antibiotic/fungal/viral and most parisites hate it.