Parasite ID

[Dou g]

I had a Mccosker Flasher Wrasse in quarantine for observation. I heard they are sensitive to most treatments so hoped to just observe and address only if i noticed an issue. However, it's health went down fast just before the one month mark. He was eating very well up until two days ago, then went into hiding. I had new AC ducts being installed, so i assumed maybe all the noise led to it stay in hiding for the day when i came home to feed him he stayed under his rock. The following day it still didn't come out to eat as usual and i noticed it on its side breathing heavily behind its rock. It would swim a little but no longer would not eat. When it did come out it stayed in the dark areas, so i assumed maybe velvet, but maybe flukes? I made new saltwater and set up a separate tank to begin copper the following morning, but it didnt survive. In hindsight i think it was beginning to show signs of lethargy before construction began, but not sure. I took skin scrape from around the gills 12+ hours after death (had work), and didnt find much movement under the microscope, except these small critters from some gill tissue sample. All that to say, anyone know what these are, and is it what would have killed the fish? These were in a low amount of copper power 1.3-1.5 almost a day and still alive. Dont know of that rules out anything.

Adding video links since they seem to be broken when uploaded to the post.



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[vetteguy53081]

I had a Mccosker Flasher Wrasse in quarantine for observation. I heard they are sensitive to most treatments so hoped to just observe and address only if i noticed an issue. However, it's health went down fast just before the one month mark. He was eating very well up until two days ago, then went into hiding. I had new AC ducts being installed, so i assumed maybe all the noise led to it stay in hiding for the day when i came home to feed him he stayed under his rock. The following day it still didn't come out to eat as usual and i noticed it on its side breathing heavily behind its rock. It would swim a little but no longer would not eat. When it did come out it stayed in the dark areas, so i assumed maybe velvet, but maybe flukes? I made new saltwater and set up a separate tank to begin copper the following morning, but it didnt survive. In hindsight i think it was beginning to show signs of lethargy before construction began, but not sure. I took skin scrape from around the gills 12+ hours after death (had work), and didnt find much movement under the microscope, except these small critters from some gill tissue sample. All that to say, anyone know what these are, and is it what would have killed the fish? These were in a low amount of copper power 1.3-1.5 almost a day and still alive. Dont know of that rules out anything.

Adding video links since they seem to be broken when uploaded to the post.



]

Im seeing velvet here

 

[Dou g]

I had a Mccosker Flasher Wrasse in quarantine for observation. I heard they are sensitive to most treatments so hoped to just observe and address only if i noticed an issue. However, it's health went down fast just before the one month mark. He was eating very well up until two days ago, then went into hiding. I had new AC ducts being installed, so i assumed maybe all the noise led to it stay in hiding for the day when i came home to feed him he stayed under his rock. The following day it still didn't come out to eat as usual and i noticed it on its side breathing heavily behind its rock. It would swim a little but no longer would not eat. When it did come out it stayed in the dark areas, so i assumed maybe velvet, but maybe flukes? I made new saltwater and set up a separate tank to begin copper the following morning, but it didnt survive. In hindsight i think it was beginning to show signs of lethargy before construction began, but not sure. I took skin scrape from around the gills 12+ hours after death (had work), and didnt find much movement under the microscope, except these small critters from some gill tissue sample. All that to say, anyone know what these are, and is it what would have killed the fish? These were in a low amount of copper power 1.3-1.5 almost a day and still alive. Dont know of that rules out anything.

Adding video links since they seem to be broken when uploaded to the post.



]

Im seeing velvet here

Thanks for the reply and ID. Do you mind pointing me to what you are seeing as velvet in the pictures/video. Is it the things moving in the video, or something in the pictures, or the description of events? Ive spent a couple hours looking for pictures and videos online comparible to what i see, and struggling to put two and two together.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the reply and ID. Do you mind pointing me to what you are seeing as velvet in the pictures/video. Is it the things moving in the video, or something in the pictures, or the description of events? Ive spent a couple hours looking for pictures and videos online comparible to what i see, and struggling to put two and two together.

The movement and size of the dots which ive seen several times under a scope

 

[Dou g]

Thanks for the reply and ID. Do you mind pointing me to what you are seeing as velvet in the pictures/video. Is it the things moving in the video, or something in the pictures, or the description of events? Ive spent a couple hours looking for pictures and videos online comparible to what i see, and struggling to put two and two together.

The movement and size of the dots which ive seen several times under a scope

Got it, thanks. Really sad to have lost him. He was an awesome fish. Since its velvet, I'll keep that tank fallow for a few months and wont transfer coral or crabs.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Got it, thanks. Really sad to have lost him. He was an awesome fish. Since its velvet, I'll keep that tank fallow for a few months and wont transfer coral or crabs.

4-6 weeks should be adequate, even 8 weeks and at 80.5 degrees

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I had a Mccosker Flasher Wrasse in quarantine for observation. I heard they are sensitive to most treatments so hoped to just observe and address only if i noticed an issue. However, it's health went down fast just before the one month mark. He was eating very well up until two days ago, then went into hiding. I had new AC ducts being installed, so i assumed maybe all the noise led to it stay in hiding for the day when i came home to feed him he stayed under his rock. The following day it still didn't come out to eat as usual and i noticed it on its side breathing heavily behind its rock. It would swim a little but no longer would not eat. When it did come out it stayed in the dark areas, so i assumed maybe velvet, but maybe flukes? I made new saltwater and set up a separate tank to begin copper the following morning, but it didnt survive. In hindsight i think it was beginning to show signs of lethargy before construction began, but not sure. I took skin scrape from around the gills 12+ hours after death (had work), and didnt find much movement under the microscope, except these small critters from some gill tissue sample. All that to say, anyone know what these are, and is it what would have killed the fish? These were in a low amount of copper power 1.3-1.5 almost a day and still alive. Dont know of that rules out anything.

Adding video links since they seem to be broken when uploaded to the post.



]

The moving protozoans are Scuticociliates. These are post-mortem findings seen on dead fish after a few hours. They are in the same family as Uronema, but these feed on bacteria, which in turn is feeding on the dead fish. They are not the cause of the fish's death.

Now, why did the fish die? I can't say for sure. The copper would not have controlled flukes, and not finding flukes on a 12 hour dead fish is typical. I'm not sure that such a low dose of copper would control Amyloodinium (velvet) - that is VERY tough to see after death.

 

[Dou g]

I had a Mccosker Flasher Wrasse in quarantine for observation. I heard they are sensitive to most treatments so hoped to just observe and address only if i noticed an issue. However, it's health went down fast just before the one month mark. He was eating very well up until two days ago, then went into hiding. I had new AC ducts being installed, so i assumed maybe all the noise led to it stay in hiding for the day when i came home to feed him he stayed under his rock. The following day it still didn't come out to eat as usual and i noticed it on its side breathing heavily behind its rock. It would swim a little but no longer would not eat. When it did come out it stayed in the dark areas, so i assumed maybe velvet, but maybe flukes? I made new saltwater and set up a separate tank to begin copper the following morning, but it didnt survive. In hindsight i think it was beginning to show signs of lethargy before construction began, but not sure. I took skin scrape from around the gills 12+ hours after death (had work), and didnt find much movement under the microscope, except these small critters from some gill tissue sample. All that to say, anyone know what these are, and is it what would have killed the fish? These were in a low amount of copper power 1.3-1.5 almost a day and still alive. Dont know of that rules out anything.

Adding video links since they seem to be broken when uploaded to the post.



]

The moving protozoans are Scuticociliates. These are post-mortem findings seen on dead fish after a few hours. They are in the same family as Uronema, but these feed on bacteria, which in turn is feeding on the dead fish. They are not the cause of the fish's death.

Now, why did the fish die? I can't say for sure. The copper would not have controlled flukes, and not finding flukes on a 12 hour dead fish is typical. I'm not sure that such a low dose of copper would control Amyloodinium (velvet) - that is VERY tough to see after death.

Thanks for the clarification. After my post, I did see a video of uronema which was pretty worrisome, but also saw comments that some uronema is benign and depends where it was collected. I'll check out Scuticociates. Wish i managed to take a sample sooner in that case. I hope I wont need to, but noted in the future.

A number of years ago, you and some others helped me to id velvet on my first saltwater fish purchase (2 clowns), and i was thankfully able to treat them with copper from what seemed too far gone (not swimming/eating). they are still alive and doing well, so thanks again.