puffer fish disease??

[TonyD1988]

@Jay Hemdal what do you think this is? This puffer was in observational QT for about 45 days with my foxface rabbitfish. I moved them both to a new 300 gallon which had been fully sanitized (new sand, rocks bleached) and sat for 90 days with nothing in it. Within a day of him being in this tank he looks bad. Some suggested velvet but if he had it, wouldnt it have killed him in QT or spread to the foxface? Is it maybe a bacterial infection? Notice the dark spot above and back of his fin. That appeared out of no where also. I am at a loss here. The foxface and 2 clownfish all appear fine in the same tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The trouble is the picture shows a fish with a severe infection, but there is no way to tell if it is bacterial, protozoan or metazoan (flukes). So now we play 20 questions (grin).

How long has the puffer been in with the foxface and clownfish? (that has bearing on if they have had a chance to catch the infection or not)
How long has the puffer had symptoms?
Is the puffer breathing hard?
Is the puffer still eating?
Have you tried a freshwater dip on the puffer?

Observational quarantine is almost always a mistake. The only things I use that on is seahorses, mandarins and seadragons. I even treat flashlight fish in quarantine. Puffers carry a higher than normal number of disease organisms. People think they are sensitive to medications, but that simply isn't true. They handle praziquantel and coppersafe quite well.

Jay

 

[TonyD1988]

I forgot to mention, the fish food was soaking in metroplex+focus during their time in QT.


How long has the puffer been in with the foxface and clownfish? (that has bearing on if they have had a chance to catch the infection or not)
The puffer was in QT with the foxface for about 45 days, and now in the new tank with the clowns and foxface for about a week.

How long has the puffer had symptoms?
Since about day 2 in the new tank

Is the puffer breathing hard?
No, he doesnt seem to be.

Is the puffer still eating?
Yes, he eats frozen clams on a half shell daily

Have you tried a freshwater dip on the puffer?
Yes, he had a 5 minute fw dip and it seemed to provide temporary relief.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

At this point, I'm leaning towards it possibly being flukes. Can you get prazipro?

Jay

 

[TonyD1988]

At this point, I'm leaning towards it possibly being flukes. Can you get prazipro?

Jay

I actually dozed prazipro in the DT Wednesday night and picked up some seachem neoplex. I have a clean QT he can go in. What do you suggest?

 

[TonyD1988]

Also have paraguard.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I wonder about the FW dip giving temporary relief - that implies protozoan or fluke issues. The prazi should have handled the flukes, but I would expect protozoan issues to affect all of the fish....
I don’t have a solid lead here, just to give it another FW as you move it to the qt and treat with Neoplex and praraguard (although coppersafe works better).
Jay

 

[TonyD1988]

I wonder about the FW dip giving temporary relief - that implies protozoan or fluke issues. The prazi should have handled the flukes, but I would expect protozoan issues to affect all of the fish....
I don’t have a solid lead here, just to give it another FW as you move it to the qt and treat with Neoplex and praraguard (although coppersafe works better).
Jay

Will copper power be ok instead?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That would be my second choice.
Jay