Recurring Disease on PBT

[1cc386ea8e470a]

I have a Powder Blue Tang and a Dogface Pufferfish that got sick a few months ago from the introduction of a new Threadfin Butterflyfish. They had ich and it was treated with Cupramine at the recommended dosage for 4 weeks. Then, the PBT and the Threadfin began twitching and it appeared they had gill flukes (confirmed with a freshwater dip). So I treated them with PraziPro with two doses, once a week apart per the instructions. It's been a week since the final dose of PraziPro and now I'm seeing white spots on the PBT again.

The parasite appears to be anchored to the PTB's body, are white and about 1 mm in length. They stick outward from the body. Some appear to be waving around in the current (like a mouth anchored to a fish). They are in a QT tank, not the DT. I've tried taking pics but he moves around so fast I can't get a clear pic to post here. The Threadfin and the Dogface appear fine and don't have this parasite on them.

I don't know what this is but I'm going insane here. I've had this PBT for over 10 years and it will be devastating if he doesn't pull through. I would be EXTREMELY grateful if anyone could chime in and offer any suggestions.

Thanks so much for any input.

 

[Big G]

Sounds like anchor worms. Yikes. Nasty looking things. Here's Humblefish's treatment.

Anchor Worms:

Symptoms - Anchor worms appear as red or inflamed skin irritations with little whitish-green worms sticking out. The tail of the worm makes a V. Often a fish will rub on rocks and sand in an attempt to dislodge the worm(s).

Treatment options - You have to manually remove all the anchor worms by using tweezers. Afterwards, apply a topical antibiotic to the affected areas. Dimilinwill eradicate anchor worm eggs in a quarantine tank, but the medication is not reef safe.

 

[Humblefish]

I would keep trying to take some pics. That is really needed for an accurate diagnosis here.

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

Sounds like anchor worms. Yikes. Nasty looking things. Here's Humblefish's treatment.

Anchor Worms:

Symptoms - Anchor worms appear as red or inflamed skin irritations with little whitish-green worms sticking out. The tail of the worm makes a V. Often a fish will rub on rocks and sand in an attempt to dislodge the worm(s).

Treatment options - You have to manually remove all the anchor worms by using tweezers. Afterwards, apply a topical antibiotic to the affected areas. Dimilinwill eradicate anchor worm eggs in a quarantine tank, but the medication is not reef safe.

It's definitely not Anchor Worms. There is no "V" at the end of the body of the parasite.
I'll keep trying w/ the pics.

Thanks so much.

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

After about 300 photos, here's the best one I can get. Any thoughts? You can see they stick out about 1 mm. No V's on the tails. Some don't stick out at all and are flush with the body.

Many Thanks

 

[Big G]

Dactylogyrus trematodes?
Take a look at this Fish Disease Pictorial by Meredith. Scroll down. It's almost at the end.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.285708/#post-3473098

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

Too big and too dark. These are white and small.

Well I've got PraziPro, Cupramine and ParaGuard on hand. I'm tempted to put in PraziPro just to see if they fall off today. Since it can be removed from the water column fairly quickly and easily. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

IT almost looks like this:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/paradiagf.htm
Look at the Powder Brown tang 3rd pic down:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AcanthuroidPIX/TangPIX/Tang Dis/pblue1[1].jpg

Fenner says it's body mucus. My fish, however, doesn't have that much on him and it's not quite that long and stringy. Plus my fish is scratching on the surfaces.

 

[Humblefish]

Ah, the "mystery disease" (more photos below). It sometimes happens following copper treatment, almost like a "mucous reaction" of sorts. A "skin rash" or delayed allergic reaction if you will. Kanaplex + Metroplex has cleared it up on occasion, although the timing could just be coincidental.

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

Thanks for the info Humble. That article I found with Bob Fenner has been the only pic I've been able to find with similar symptoms. I've never heard of this before until now. Do you know if it causes them to scratch and scrape against objects in the aquarium similarly to ich infestations?

Around week 2 to 3 of the Cupramine treatment, the PTB got a lot of these similar things on him. I assumed at the time it was dead parasites (from the copper) still holding on to the fish. As expected, they fell off / disappeared and I assumed it was part of the ich life cycle.

So now this occurs after a second treatment of PraziPro... Interesting. For the record, I'm really big on nutrition and give them NLS pellets soaked in vitamins and amino acids and my tang gets seaweed almost daily. This can't be resulting from poor nutrition.

I actually have both of the antibiotics you mentioned. Do you recommend dosing the QT with the meds or mixing it with gel binding food so they ingest it?

Let me know what u think... Thank you so so much for the assistance!

 

[Humblefish]

Do you know if it causes them to scratch and scrape against objects in the aquarium similarly to ich infestations?

In the few cases I've seen, yes. Whatever is happening must be an irritant to their skin/scales and they scratch because of it.

I actually have both of the antibiotics you mentioned. Do you recommend dosing the QT with the meds or mixing it with gel binding food so they ingest it?

I would dose the QT w/the antibiotics. However, food soaking vitamins might prove useful here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vitamins-herbal-remedies.304287/

Especially if this turns out to be something viral.

 

[HotRocks]

Thanks for the info Humble. That article I found with Bob Fenner has been the only pic I've been able to find with similar symptoms. I've never heard of this before until now. Do you know if it causes them to scratch and scrape against objects in the aquarium similarly to ich infestations?

Around week 2 to 3 of the Cupramine treatment, the PTB got a lot of these similar things on him. I assumed at the time it was dead parasites (from the copper) still holding on to the fish. As expected, they fell off / disappeared and I assumed it was part of the ich life cycle.

So now this occurs after a second treatment of PraziPro... Interesting. For the record, I'm really big on nutrition and give them NLS pellets soaked in vitamins and amino acids and my tang gets seaweed almost daily. This can't be resulting from poor nutrition.

I actually have both of the antibiotics you mentioned. Do you recommend dosing the QT with the meds or mixing it with gel binding food so they ingest it?

Let me know what u think... Thank you so so much for the assistance!

You will want to dose those antibiotics into the water column. Just follow the manufacturer's recommend dosing instructions.

I always mix these up in a cup of tank water, and then dump them into an area of high flow.

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

Thank you all so very much. I'll start up the KanaPlex & MetroPlex today. I was getting frustrated beyond belief over all this!

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

Update: The PBT is looking good so far after a day of antibiotics. No scratching observed this evening. I'll continue to dose per Seachem's instructions. Thank you all again.

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

The "Mystery Disease" is still on the PTB. I've been doing the antibiotics as recommended. Today was the last of 3 doses. Is this condition fatal or something the tang can deal with with its own immune system?

My knee jerk reaction is to want to treat it as ich or some other parasite, but I'm saying the course per your recommendations. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Big G]

Antibiotics are very slow acting in fish. Best to give it the full 10 days.

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

Well I'm sad to say it's not the Mystery Disease on my PBT. He's got white spots all over him full force. So since the antibiotics didn't do much, I'm adding Cupramine again I guess. Does anyone have any other suggestions for ich besides copper? Thus far the fish have endured:
Cupramine
PraziPro
MetroPlex
KanaPlex

Any other suggestions? My threadfin butterfly and puffer seem OK even though they are all in the same QT.

Thank you everyone

- A Distraught Fish Lover

 

[Big G]

Have you considered switching to a chelated copper like Copper Power?

 

[1cc386ea8e470a]

I've never used cheated copper before. Needless to say,i don't have any on hand. The onlyother stuff I have at the moment is ParaGuard.

Any issues with using two different copper products (removing Cupramine first with cuprasorb)?

Do you think ParaGuard would be effective?

I'm beginning to worry about resistance to copper... Am I paranoid???

 

[Robink]

Just make sure you dose the copper for the full 30 days at therapeutic level. I see before you dosed for 4 weeks.