Two steps forward, one step back (Fungal infection?)

[TheEngineer]

I didn't even get a chance to come on here and proclaim my very first success getting fish in and going through quarantine with them before something popped up. Let me tell you what has transpired up until this point and I could use advice on my next steps...

Fish arrived on January 16 (yellow wrasse, yellow watchman goby and exquisite firefish). They all went into a 10g QT together. Treatment has been:

1. Observation for a few days and got everyone eating
2. Two rounds of Prazipro, 3 days apart. 25% water change after each 3 day period.
3. Carbon for 24 hours.
4. 10 day climb to 2.5ppm with Copper Power.
   • I made a 1g test batch to check the proper color for my API test kit
5. 14 days at therapeutic copper along with a dose of metroplex every 3 days.
6. Transferred to clean, sterile, 20' away observation system. No equipment, except for the light, was shared. The light was wiped down with peroxide and doesn't touch water.

Today I'm watching the fish and notice a couple of white patches on the firefish's tail. At first I panicked and thought it was ich, but then I looked closer and noticed the patches looked fuzzy. My clownfish had something similar recently and I treated it in 10 days using Kanaplex. It is really hard to get a picture, but I took this video so you can see it. Pay close attention to the tail and you'll see the couple of spots flash.



Do you agree that I should treat with Kanaplex?

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I could not really see from the video too well but it sounds like lympho to me. If it is no treatment is needed.

Hopefully others with younger eyes will confirm

 

[TheEngineer]

Thanks. I don’t think it is lympho. They aren’t solid tumor like growths just white fuzzy patches on the flat part of the tail.

 

[Big G]

Probably a bacterial infection from the fish's immune system being taxed by the copper. Here's Humblefish's treatment. Note the underlined and bolded lines.

Bacterial infections:

Symptoms - Sometimes it's self-describing: Popeye/cloudy eyes, fin & tail rot, dropsy (bloated fish), etc. But some other bacterial infections, such as furunculosis, hemorrhagic septicemia, etc., can have varying visible symptoms. Any redness or open sores/wounds on a fish should be viewed with suspicion. Also, a white film or fungus-looking growth may denote a bacterial infection. It’s important to note that in many cases a bacterial infection is usually secondary in nature to a parasitic infestation such as ich, meaning if a fish has been battling ich for a while then his immune system has been lowered. This makes infection more likely for many opportunistic, harmful bacteria.

Treatment options - Broad spectrum antibiotic medication i.e. one that treats both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial diseases. Examples of this include Furan-2, Kanamycin aka Seachem Kanaplex, Nitrofuracin Green Powder, Triple Sulfa Powder, or a combination of using both Erythromycin & Minocycline. The latter can be accomplished (albeit expensively) by using freshwater Maracyn 1 & 2 and then doubling the dosage for saltwater use. When battling a particularly nasty bacterial infection, combining Furan-2, Kanaplex and metronidazole (ex. Seachem MetroPlex) can be very effective (and safe).

 

[TheEngineer]

Thanks! The timing coming out of copper made me suspect it was related. I’ve started Kanaplex.

 

[Big G]

Thanks! The timing coming out of copper made me suspect it was related. I’ve started Kanaplex.

There has been some commentary that the regular Firefish are fine in copper and that the "Exquisites" sometimes are sensitive to the copper. Beautiful fish.

Sometimes I think Firefish can be their own worst enemy by their darting about the tank in response to shadows, movement, etc. Mine regularly do damage to their top fin when "darting". Not hard to imagine yours scraping a rock or other sharp edge really good and getting a cut that gets infected.

 

[Humblefish]

1. Two rounds of Prazipro, 3 days apart. 25% water change after each 3 day period.

Just wanted to point out that the second Prazipro dosage should be 5-7 days later, not 3.

This calculator tells you exactly when to redose: http://www.marineparasites.com/paratreatmentcal.html

 

[TheEngineer]

There has been some commentary that the regular Firefish are fine in copper and that the "Exquisites" sometimes are sensitive to the copper. Beautiful fish.

Sometimes I think Firefish can be their own worst enemy by their darting about the tank in response to shadows, movement, etc. Mine regularly do damage to their top fin when "darting". Not hard to imagine yours scraping a rock or other sharp edge really good and getting a cut that gets infected.

Since it was with a wrasse I did the 10 day climb up to therapeutic. Guess it worked in my favor! Now that you mention injuring itself, I wonder if this was the result of it going nuts when I tried to move it from the QT to observation.

Just wanted to point out that the second Prazipro dosage should be 5-7 days later, not 3.

This calculator tells you exactly when to redose: http://www.marineparasites.com/paratreatmentcal.html

I saw the post about that calculator after I already did the treatment I was following another thread’s steps. Think I should redo the Prazipro?

 

[Humblefish]

I saw the post about that calculator after I already did the treatment I was following another thread’s steps. Think I should redo the Prazipro?

I would, yes.

 

[TheEngineer]

I would, yes.

Will do. Can I do that while treating with kanaplex?

 

[Humblefish]

Will do. Can I do that while treating with kanaplex?

I don't like mixing Prazipro with other meds due to the Oxybispropanol it contains.

You could just give the fish a FW dip before placing in the DT to check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/