What’s the treatment for bacterial infections in reef tank?

[Miami Reef]

Don't get confused with your pictures vs online pictures. The eyes should be pretty clear in person.

In that case the foxface has cloudy eyes.

 

[DrZoidburg]

secondary bacterial infection

Secondary to what is what I wonder. Seeing cloudy eyes. Would using the maracyn in a observation tank be a good method do you think? This is all that is on hand other than nitro.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Secondary to what is what I wonder. Seeing cloudy eyes. Would using the maracyn in a observation tank be a good method do you think? This is all that is on hand other than nitro.

Here is the problem with cloudy eyes: the question always is; "is it just the eyes that are cloudy, or am I seeing a general cloudy cast to the entire fish, but one that only shows up on the eyes?" I often can't tell, even if I see the fish in person.

If it is just the eyes, then Erythromycin/Maracyn 1 in a treatment tank is a good option.

When I see hazy eyes, combined with tattered fins, cloudy skin or a "disheveled" look, I will often think of Neobenedenia flukes.

A general white cast to the whole fish - could be mucus production due to some irritant, or a bacterial infection.

Jay

 

[SlugSnorter]

Most of my fish are showing bacterial infections/viral infections.

Copperband: lympho- big zit under mouth and on corners of fins
Blue tang: bacterial spots that aren’t ich/velvet
Moorish idol: lympho on edge of one fin only. Some lympho on the body where the fin touches.
Foxface: tail has small holes.


I quarantined all my fish and I’m feeding them LRS a fish frenzy, blackworms, and nori multiple times a day.
I maintain clean and good parameters.


I started vinegar dosing 2 weeks ago, but I had bacterial issues before the dosing.

I do not run UV. I do have 1 micron filter socks that I can use.


Here’s what I’m thinking: I did to dilute the concentration of bacteria/viruses in my tank so my fish’s immune system can fight it off?

PS. I’ve been battling Dino’s the entire time and at first only the blue tang has the infections from (I think) running itself all over rocks.

Does anyone have some advice for me? Thanks.

Rally is reef safe so I don't think it can hurt, but Im not sure it'll be a guaranteed cure. I think kanaplex can help, Neoplex is a good cure but i hear it nukes biofilter (despite the marketing)

 

[DrZoidburg]

I question any "reef safe" medications. Kanamycin as an example. I think can be bound to focus. In humans elimination half life 2.5 hrs, metabolites unknown, excretion as unchanged drug. So in a way it is just getting put back into the water. Kind of playing with fire with some of these.

 

[Miami Reef]

Foxface looks really good this morning. His coloration looks healthy and he’s active with a good appetite. I think he’ll pull through. I’ll keep you posted.

 

[Miami Reef]

Everyone in the beginning of this thread is still good.

@4FordFamily @Jay Hemdal @DrZoidburg
Question: is this mimic tang gaining weight, or bloated, or something else?

His stomach area is lumpy. He’s swimming pretty fast and won’t stay still. It almost looks like he’s twitching but he’s not. I think I saw what looks like a slight flashing? I need more time to observe him, but for now let’s try to see what’s wrong with his stomach.

I feed LRS, blackworms, and a lot of nori. This fish eats a lot.

 

[Miami Reef]

Naso tang a bit lumpy too. I think it’s just from the nori

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Naso tang a bit lumpy too. I think it’s just from the nori

Ascites (fluid build up) is smoother, I think this is just food/nori in the GI track.

Jay

 

[DrZoidburg]

Yep full of it to say the least.

 

[Miami Reef]

@DrZoidburg @Jay Hemdal

First update: all the fish are doing very well. Blue tang cleared up. Copperband still has the lymph under it’s snout, moorish idol still has the same lympho and it’s grown a bit, but new ones haven’t formed. The foxface is almost cleared from his infection too.

But this update has another question. I noticed my new yellow tang had some constipation (?) in Qt. His poop was thick and stuck to his body.

Now he’s in the DT and he has this weird poop. Almost looks like he ate some filter floss and is pooping it out. His belly looks a bit pinched but I never saw white stringy poop.

Yellow tang had an only carnivore diet in QT, but now he’s eating nori in the DT. I think this will add much needed fiber to his diet, right? Or is it something more serious?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@DrZoidburg @Jay Hemdal

First update: all the fish are doing very well. Blue tang cleared up. Copperband still has the lymph under it’s snout, moorish idol still has the same lympho and it’s grown a bit, but new ones haven’t formed. The foxface is almost cleared from his infection too.

But this update has another question. I noticed my new yellow tang had some constipation (?) in Qt. His poop was thick and stuck to his body.

Now he’s in the DT and he has this weird poop. Almost looks like he ate some filter floss and is pooping it out. His belly looks a bit pinched but I never saw white stringy poop.

Yellow tang had an only carnivore diet in QT, but now he’s eating nori in the DT. I think this will add much needed fiber to his diet, right? Or is it something more serious?

The YT's ribs are showing, have they been like that for some time?

When I see filaments like that in tang feces, I always ask if the tank has Chaetomorpha or other thallose algae in it? That often comes out undigested (like me and corn!)

Jay

 

[DrZoidburg]

Ew man. I was going to say it looks like filaments. At least its passing. If it keeps going like then look for a source. Is there anywhere he could be picking stuff off of like a clogged filter pad?

 

[jaganshi066]

Here is the problem with cloudy eyes: the question always is; "is it just the eyes that are cloudy, or am I seeing a general cloudy cast to the entire fish, but one that only shows up on the eyes?" I often can't tell, even if I see the fish in person.

If it is just the eyes, then Erythromycin/Maracyn 1 in a treatment tank is a good option.

When I see hazy eyes, combined with tattered fins, cloudy skin or a "disheveled" look, I will often think of Neobenedenia flukes.

A general white cast to the whole fish - could be mucus production due to some irritant, or a bacterial infection.

Jay

I used maracyn and it got rid of the cloudy eye. It worked extremely well

 

[Miami Reef]

The YT's ribs are showing, have they been like that for some time?

When I see filaments like that in tang feces, I always ask if the tank has Chaetomorpha or other thallose algae in it? That often comes out undigested (like me and corn!)

Jay

Ew man. I was going to say it looks like filaments. At least its passing. If it keeps going like then look for a source. Is there anywhere he could be picking stuff off of like a clogged filter pad?

I don’t have cheato, but that was my initial guess as it looked similar.

The ribs appeared to get more pronounced in QT. I made the mistake of not feeding enough because I was afraid of ammonia. I fed about 2x a day, but I didn’t put a high enough quantity, especially for this size of fish.

The day before putting it into my tank he was in a observation tank with the filter floss. It looks exactly like that the floss. But this fish always had constipation constipation even in a tank with no floss (only sponge in HOB).

My solution is to feed high calorie foods (including pellets) to put weight on him. I have nori available in tank most of the day which the tang eats a lot of. I will also feed spirulina and other types of nori to get more fiber in it.

 

[DrZoidburg]

Could try other things too like kale, spinach, and lettuce some people do this. All of this have more fiber. Will he eat it though I dk.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I don’t have cheato, but it looked exactly like it.

The ribs appeared to get more pronounced in QT. I made the mistake of not feeding enough because I was afraid of ammonia. I fed about 2x a day, but I didn’t put a high quantity.

The day before putting it into my tank he was in a observation tank with the filter floss. It looks exactly like that. But this fish always had constipation .

My solution is to feed high calorie foods (including pellets) to put weight on him. I have nori which the tang eats a lot of. I will keep you guys posted.

PS: I tried feeding a pea but the tang didn’t accept it.

Oh no! Not peas! I knew the guy who developed the famous "pea treatment" - he worked for the Shedd Aquarium before I started there. It was designed to deal with a specific problem that fancy goldfish have with gas in their guts. It got over-extrapolated to other fish, and then to other issues. I recently heard people trying to feed peas to carnivores (grin). Like Epsom salts, it is a freshwater "cure" that for some reason has taken root in marine aquariums.

I like the filter floss hypothesis. If you have a microscope, you could put some under the scope and probably tell if it is algae or plastic fiber.

Yes - just try to bulk the tang up ....

Jay

 

[Miami Reef]

Question: although I did 2 rounds 7 days apart of prazi in QT to all my fish additions, today I found my leopard wrasse and orange shoulder tang scratching on the sandbed.

I got 2 questions:

1. is it…normal for flukes to slip through even with QT?

2. What do I do?

I’m almost sure the orange shoulder tang has gill flukes because it’s breathing heavier after my chemiclean treatment (I added tons of aeration) and the tang’s scratching is focused on the gill area.

@Tamberav @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Question: although I did 2 rounds 7 days apart of prazi in QT to all my fish additions, today I found my leopard wrasse and orange shoulder tang scratching on the sandbed.

I got 2 questions:

1. is it…normal for flukes to slip through even with QT?

2. What do I do?

I’m almost sure the orange shoulder tang has gill flukes because it’s breathing heavier after my chemiclean treatment (I added tons of aeration) and the tang’s scratching is focused on the gill area.

@Tamberav @Jay Hemdal

Egg laying flukes can be tough to treat since the unlatched eggs can reinfect the fish. Lately, I’ve been opting for a ten day gap between treatments instead of 7. Sometimes though, even this fails.
Jay

 

[Miami Reef]

Egg laying flukes can be tough to treat since the unlatched eggs can reinfect the fish. Lately, I’ve been opting for a ten day gap between treatments instead of 7. Sometimes though, even this fails.
Jay

I wish I did hypo in QT…