Need help treating bacterial infection

[ThRoewer]

Last night I did a 90 to 95% water change and administered the first dose of NeoPlex.
I plan on doing full or near full water changes every 3 days and re-dose NeoPlex until I see improvements.
As food I will for now only offer live Tigriopus so the water doesn't get spoiled by uneaten food.

 

[Larry J]

Just putting in my two cents but Cipro would be my choice due to its broad spectrum use in humans. It was prescribed to me when traveling in India and China and for a surgery. My experience is with fresh water though. Sounds to me you need a silver bullet

 

[ThRoewer]

Just putting in my two cents but Cipro would be my choice due to its broad spectrum use in humans. It was prescribed to me when traveling in India and China and for a surgery. My experience is with fresh water though. Sounds to me you need a silver bullet

Cipro degrades when exposed to light while NeoPlex doesn't state anything about degradation and only needs to be dosed once per week (and, of course, if water is changed). Also, Neomycin has fewer negative side effects. Last thing I want to do is killing their kidneys or livers while curing their fin rot...

 

[Larry J]

Cipro degrades when exposed to light while NeoPlex doesn't state anything about degradation and only needs to be dosed once per week (and, of course, if water is changed). Also, Neomycin has fewer negative side effects. Last thing I want to do is killing their kidneys or livers while curing their fin rot...

Good to know, thanks. Just hoping to help. Even if you're fighting an infection, I'm envious of your fish as I've been looking for them for several months.

 

[ThRoewer]

Tonight:




Can't really tell if there is an improvement but it seems it hasn't gotten worse. Their mouths seem less bloody.
The largest of the 3 is affected the most and has several exposed fin bones, including the first dorsal ray.
@Jay Hemdal, I wonder if adding Seachem StressGuard might be a good idea...
I may also have to treat against gastrointestinal infections if the Neomycin doesn't take care of that.

After shooting the video I added a drilled flowerpot to give them some hiding space.
I'm not sure if adding the algae back would be really a good idea at this point...

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

StressGuard, unlike similar products, actually has some antiseptic properties, so might be something to try.
Just checking - the ammonia is being controlled well?
Jay

 

[ThRoewer]

StressGuard, unlike similar products, actually has some antiseptic properties, so might be something to try.
Just checking - the ammonia is being controlled well?
Jay

I already added it. StressGuard should also limit ammonia.
Generally i limit ammonia build-up with complete water changes with water taken from an established system, or by adding plenty of macro algae to consume it.
With treatment going on I'm just not sure if adding algae is a good idea.

 

[ThRoewer]

While the infections seemed to be under control, last night the two larger ones looked not like they would pull through. Both were still alive this morning but were no longer able to maintain their orientation in the water column. I kind of expect to find them dead when I come home tonight.
The smallest was the least affected and looks like she could still make it if she starts eating again...

 

[ThRoewer]

Found the middle sized one dead when I came home. The largest was still breathing.

 

[ThRoewer]

Just found the largest one dead as well.
One thing i noticed is that all had lost scales.

 

[ThRoewer]

The last one seems to have beaten the infection. She got some serious damage to her lower jaw but I hope most of that can heal.
The next step now is getting her to eat
I added 2 of my baby bicinctus to her tank as quarantine buddies and to encourage her to go after offered food.

 

[ThRoewer]

She is still hanging in but unfortunately, I have not seen her eating yet.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Looks essentially recovered - have you tried live adult brine or baby guppies?

Jay

 

[ThRoewer]

Looks essentially recovered - have you tried live adult brine or baby guppies?

Jay

She still has 3 or 4 white "bubbles" coming out from under some scales. Not sure if that is bacterial or a light case of Lymphocystis. It isn't getting worse and she doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

I tried adult brine shrimp and frozen Mysis. Mysis got a little interest a few days ago but no feeding response. I may try to capture some live Mysis and try those.

As to guppies - in my experience Marine Betta only go after crustacean - shrimps and copepods - and sliced up squid (though my current ones refused so far all squid I tried to feed them) but never after fish, even if the offered fish are bite-sized and the Marine Betta hungry. I tried in the past to feed my Calloplesiops altivelis frozen fish but they would not react to those that were recognizable as fish and spit the ones out I had cut heads and tails off to make them less obviously fish.

 

[ThRoewer]

Tonight she looked pretty bad and had difficulty keeping herself upright:



Since it couldn't get much worse and to make sure there were no parasites involved, I decided to take her out for a microscopic examination.

(shot through the microscope ocular while trying to keep the flashlight on the fish - I really need to get a phone adapter for my microscope)

It looks like there is still an infection ongoing on her left side that has exposed some of the pectoral fin bones.

After this I decided to give Septra a shot - not much harm to do at this point...

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Tonight she looked pretty bad and had difficulty keeping herself upright:



Since it couldn't get much worse and to make sure there were no parasites involved, I decided to take her out for a microscopic examination.

(shot through the microscope ocular while trying to keep the flashlight on the fish - I really need to get a phone adapter for my microscope)

It looks like there is still an infection ongoing on her left side that has exposed some of the pectoral fin bones.

After this I decided to give Septra a shot - not much harm to do at this point...

Sorry, I haven’t a clue what that could be.
Jay

 

[ThRoewer]

This morning she was laying on her side but still breathing. But I'm not very hopeful that she will still be alive in the evening.
It doesn't seem to be anything infectious or environmental as the little bicinctus show no signs of disease or discomfort.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What about a more species specific virus? Something like carp pox that only infects certain groups of fish?
Jay

 

[ThRoewer]

What about a more species specific virus? Something like carp pox that only infects certain groups of fish?
Jay

Such things are always a possibility given how limited our knowledge of tropical fish diseases is beyond the usual suspects.

 

[ThRoewer]

@Jay Hemdal, do you know if Edward J. Noga is still around and accepting submissions of samples? I tried to find a contact address or e-mail but he is not listed at the directory of the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine that he gives as contact in his book.