Sick tilefish in QT

[msrosiebear]

Hello fellow Reefers! Looking for quick help with diagnoses of a new tilefish in QT. I’ll admit the fish wasn’t looking great in the LFS but I’m a sucker and could resist a rescue mission along with a coupe of other fish. He’s currently in a tank with two other healthy looking fish (a very small yellow watchman goby and a cleaner wrasse).

The tilefish came home 11 days ago looking lethargic and breathing funny. The following day his tail fin had a large red spot on the top, (similar to what freshwater flukes look like) and the bottom side of the tail fin looked like it had been cut off and hanging from a strand. Poor guy. I decided to dose PraziPro and 6 days later a second dose. His tail fin looks to be healing well, although there is a small black (previously red) spot visible. He’s been hiding in a small PVC pipe the majority of the time and I haven’t been able to get him to eat (even with enticing garlic)... I’ve just come home to see his anal fin has red lines running through it (maybe from extensive lying around?) and additionally white things protruding from below his pelvic fin (circled in photo). The white things almost look like bone but I can’t understand how or why. Is it possible that it’s some sort of parasite? Any suggestions for best treatment would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Humblefish]

I can't say for sure from the photos, but it could be a secondary bacterial infection: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

 

[msrosiebear]

I can't say for sure from the photos, but it could be a secondary bacterial infection: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

Thank you for the link and for all the time you’ve put into creating such informative threads! So much to learn.

It is a little bit easier to see via the video but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to want to load from my iPhone. The fish put on quite an active display, but only giving me glimpses of his pelvic fin which I tried to get a screenshot of. I’ll run carbon for 24hrs to pull the PraziPro, conduct a waterchange and start dosing antibiotics. I have either MetroPlex or ParaGuard; do you mind me asking which one you would opt to use? (I live in Canada so I only have a handful of meds that I stocked up on before the ban.)

 

[Humblefish]

I have either MetroPlex or ParaGuard; do you mind me asking which one you would opt to use?

Of those two options, I think you'd be better off going with Metroplex. It only treats anaerobic bacterial diseases, but IME Paraguard does nothing useful.

 

[msrosiebear]

Of those two options, I think you'd be better off going with Metroplex. It only treats anaerobic bacterial diseases, but IME Paraguard does nothing useful.

Perfect, thank you so much for your help and for your honest opinion! Here’s hoping my next post is updates of the fish healing up well