Sick Hippo Tang

[nezw0001]

**TRIGGER WARNING - PICTURES OF FISH NECROPSY BELOW***

My hippo tang which I've had for 5 years + recently stopped swimming laps around the tank. Today I was able to net him and put him in the hospital tank. He's fat but has strange lesions which look more like physical trauma than disease to me but ?? He has very high respiratory rate. There have been no additions for 6+ months and the last group of anthias was quarantined for several months. I have attached a picture that shows the lesions plus his color just seems off. I also recently lost two clownfish that were 10+ years old.

 

[nezw0001]

forgot to post that this is an established 450 gallon reef tank with attached 750 FOWLR. Parameters are all normal Nitrates 15 ish, Phosphate .12 ish, alk 8.3 ish,

 

[vetteguy53081]

My hippo tang which I've had for 5 years + recently stopped swimming laps around the tank. Today I was able to net him and put him in the hospital tank. He's fat but has strange lesions which look more like physical trauma than disease to me but ?? He has very high respiratory rate. There have been no additions for 6+ months and the last group of anthias was quarantined for several months. I have attached a picture that shows the lesions plus his color just seems off. I also recently lost two clownfish that were 10+ years old.

Hard to see much with fish out of water and under blue light intensity
Need pic or too under white lighting submersed in water. I see bottom of fish darker and possible scratching but noy 100% based on image

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My hippo tang which I've had for 5 years + recently stopped swimming laps around the tank. Today I was able to net him and put him in the hospital tank. He's fat but has strange lesions which look more like physical trauma than disease to me but ?? He has very high respiratory rate. There have been no additions for 6+ months and the last group of anthias was quarantined for several months. I have attached a picture that shows the lesions plus his color just seems off. I also recently lost two clownfish that were 10+ years old.

Anything else been added to the tank, any inverts recently?

Can you post a video so that I can check its respiration rate?

How long ago did you lose the clowns, and did they die at the same time?

Jay

 

[nezw0001]

I haven't added anything - no corals, inverts etc since the QTd anthias

Clowns died probably 8-4 weeks ago probably 3 weeks apart.

Ill go take a video now

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I haven't added anything - no corals, inverts etc since the QTd anthias

Clowns died probably 8-4 weeks ago probably 3 weeks apart.

Ill go take a video now

The clown loss is probably not related to this issue, and they may not even have been related to each other, at least in terms of a communicable disease.

Jay

 

[nezw0001]

2023-03-14 17.58.42.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

lets see if this works

 

[nezw0001]

2023-03-14 17.57.56.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

of course he had to swim to the least convenient place to film.

 

[nezw0001]

guess pictures are better with tank lights off

 

[Jay Hemdal]

2023-03-14 17.57.56.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

of course he had to swim to the least convenient place to film.

Sorry - this fish is moribund, very close to death. I've only seen one or two fish in my career come back from this point. It is some sort of gill disease, but I can't tell you if it is protozoan, bacterial or flukes. When it dies, if it is fresh, you should give it a FW dip to see if any flukes drop off. You can also try taking a picture of the open gills, I might be able to see something that will point you in the right direction in case this is a contagious issue.

Jay

 

[nezw0001]

Sorry - this fish is moribund, very close to death. I've only seen one or two fish in my career come back from this point. It is some sort of gill disease, but I can't tell you if it is protozoan, bacterial or flukes. When it dies, if it is fresh, you should give it a FW dip to see if any flukes drop off. You can also try taking a picture of the open gills, I might be able to see something that will point you in the right direction in case this is a contagious issue.

Jay

Will do. I appreciate the help. I am a veterinarian is there any advanced samples I can send off for confirmatory diagnostics?

 

[nezw0001]

Well Dori went on to the great fish tank in the sky. I did the fresh water bath after death and really didn't find anything obvious except a loose conglomerate of white ish material -mucous sloughing? I did my first ever fish necropsy and it took me a while to get my head around the anatomy. I took some pictures to see if any of you experts see anything. It was really hard to take good pictures one handed.

 

[nezw0001]

Gill pictures

 

[nezw0001]

Full body shot

 

[Daenion]

Now this is an interesting post. I find the pictures fascinating and you obviously know what you are doing and I appreciate the effort it took.

Having said all that, get ready for villagers with pitchforks since I am sure some will find this utterly macabre.

 

[nezw0001]

Now this is an interesting post. I find the pictures fascinating and you obviously know what you are doing and I appreciate the effort it took.

Having said all that, get ready for villagers with pitchforks since I am sure some will find this utterly macabre.

I probably should post a trigger warning. I don't know what I'm doing, I wish I could take a course to learn more. Maybe Jay wants a middle aged veterinarian intern for a week??

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I probably should post a trigger warning. I don't know what I'm doing, I wish I could take a course to learn more. Maybe Jay wants a middle aged veterinarian intern for a week??

The gills are a bit pale, but not too bad. That tends to rule out specific gill diseases, So - grossly, I would say this is hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease). The huge amount of coelomic fat is an indication, as is the pale, mottled coloration to the liver. If you sent liver tissue out for histopath, that would confirm it. This issue produces systemic symptoms, one of which is rapid breathing. Skin color changes are also commonly seen.

How does this happen? I'm not always sure - people often cite overfeeding and/or improper diet, but I think there is more to it. I have seen a group of 7 year old hepatus tangs that due to their circumstances, have never been fed vegetable matter, except in pellets, plus frozen foods - and they are fine. A group of snappers (carnivores) in the same tank developed this syndrome....why?

Jay