Sores of my Crosshatch Trigger

[srcleary]

I have a female Crosshatch Trigger. Have had her for a few weeks. She eats well and I often soak food in garlic or Vita-Chem. Also feed vitamin enriched mysis shrimp. Not overly active, she like to stay in her "den" about 1/2 the time.

She had a white "pimple" looking growth on her chin I noticed about a week or so ago. I have been watching her and it seems to have gotten worse. It looks like a small area is like an open wound now and she still has a "pimple' type bump.

She is about 6" long. 125g tank (this is a temp tank while I wait for m 820g). There are two other triggers in the tank with her and my Banana Moray. They all get along pretty well.

Tank parameters are good. Nitrates only 10. I do regular water changes 10 or 20%.

Can you help tell me what it is? Do I need to remove her to a QT and treat? Was hoping it would heal on it's own but want to make sure I am not dealing wit something that is only going to get worse. See the attached image. Ignore the white area on the side of her face as that is just a reflection from the tank.

THANKS!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There are a few different options as to what this might be. First, could another trigger have gotten in a lip lock with it? If it is staying in a cave a lot, any chance that it could be a rub mark from that? If that isn't it, then it is more likely a primary bacterial infection - especially how you mentioned it is growing in size. Moving it to a treatment tank and dosing with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic would be an option, but that is a big fish, so any treatment tank is going to have to be of fair size as well.

Jay

 

[srcleary]

There are a few different options as to what this might be. First, could another trigger have gotten in a lip lock with it? If it is staying in a cave a lot, any chance that it could be a rub mark from that? If that isn't it, then it is more likely a primary bacterial infection - especially how you mentioned it is growing in size. Moving it to a treatment tank and dosing with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic would be an option, but that is a big fish, so any treatment tank is going to have to be of fair size as well.

Jay

Thanks for the feedback. It didn't look like an open wound before. It was just the white "pimple". I have the tank at my office so I see them all the time. I've seen the male chase her a bit but never anything serious. I fear a bacterial infection. Is there anything (meds wise) I can try to feed her? I do have success feeding the fish individually. If I move to the QT how long is the treatment? My current QT is 20g and up and running with bacteria. Its 30" long. She wouldn't like it but she isn't super active now. Now that I have a picture I also be able to compare day to day and see if it is getting worse or healing. I assume if bacterial it will just get worse?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the feedback. It didn't look like an open wound before. It was just the white "pimple". I have the tank at my office so I see them all the time. I've seen the male chase her a bit but never anything serious. I fear a bacterial infection. Is there anything (meds wise) I can try to feed her? I do have success feeding the fish individually. If I move to the QT how long is the treatment? My current QT is 20g and up and running with bacteria. Its 30" long. She wouldn't like it but she isn't super active now. Now that I have a picture I also be able to compare day to day and see if it is getting worse or healing. I assume if bacterial it will just get worse?

Medicated food is tough because it needs to be dosed as mg of medication per kg of fish weight. I have an article posted here that gives instructions on how to do it, but it’s complicated. Dosing in water is easier. You just want to use a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic like furan-2.
Jay

 

[srcleary]

Medicated food is tough because it needs to be dosed as mg of medication per kg of fish weight. I have an article posted here that gives instructions on how to do it, but it’s complicated. Dosing in water is easier. You just want to use a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic like furan-2.
Jay

The QT process looks like it is only like 4 days for furan-2? Or is that just the treatment time and she needs to remain in QT longer? Can I also use Prime with the meds in case the ammonia spikes? It seems it hurts the filter bacteria. Thanks for your help Jay!

 

[Hodsonian]

The QT process looks like it is only like 4 days for furan-2? Or is that just the treatment time and she needs to remain in QT longer? Can I also use Prime with the meds in case the ammonia spikes? It seems it hurts the filter bacteria. Thanks for your help Jay!

How's your triggers condition? I have an Achilles with a similar looking thing going on. Did you figure out how long on the F2? I Just started yesterday on F2. Did you re-dose every 24hrs for a total of 4 doses?

 

[srcleary]

She is doing well. I put her in QT for 5 days. Added the F2 each day for 4 days. I changed 25% of the water on day three just before adding the F2. I also did a small water change before adding the 4th dosage. It didn't say to do this but I was nervous about ammonia as she was in a 20g QT and is nearly 6" long!

Her cloudy eye cleared up really fast. First 12 hours. The wound still looked bad but I put her back in the DT after 5 days as I was nervous she was too stressed out. It is nearly healed now. Just seems to take a while. My obvious concern was an infection and I think I did beat it.

As an aside I did leave some live rock in the QT. I knew it would destroy the bacteria but I set it up to give her a cave of sorts to hide in and she was less stressed. I did remove all the other filtration. I just put it in my DT sump to keep it active. I fed her twice a day but lightly and always with vitamins.

When I put her back in the DT, my Linespot had taken over her "den" and it took her a while to re-acclimate. She was pretty stressed for a few days and I had to get food directly to her to get her to eat.

Hope this helps. Good luck on your Achilles and let me know how he/she fairs.