What to medicate for a new blue hippo tang that is in QT and scratching

[Sordfish]

I set up a 25G QT last Thursday (5 days ago) and added 4 juvenile fish gradually. First a 2" tomini tang and a 1.5" royal gramma on Thursday. Then a 1.5" blue hippo tang on Saturday and finally, today a 2" red fire fish.

Tonight as I observed the fish, I noticed that the blue tang is repeatedly rubbing against the plastic caves I provided as a hiding spot. Everyone (including the blue tang) is eating and swimming around. I did not see any white spots on the blue tang. However the continued scratching suggests parasitic infection.

The question I have is what should I medicate for first. I was planning on observing them till the weekend and then start medicating. But given the scratching, I think I should start medicating ASAP.

I was planning of doing two separate rounds of treatment. One with copper and metroplex. The other with prazipro. Which should I do first? Is the scratching more likely caused by flukes or ich/velvet?

Alternatively, I also have Paraguard (a formalin alternative aldehyde) and kanaplex and levasimole HCL on hand.

Any input would be very welcome. For example is Paraguard preferable to copper? I’d like to start the treatment in the next day or two (the little blue guy is clearly uncomfortable) but I’ll wait to get some input first since this is my first quarantine and I don’t want to do more harm.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I set up a 25G QT last Thursday (5 days ago) and added 4 juvenile fish gradually. First a 2" tomini tang and a 1.5" royal gramma on Thursday. Then a 1.5" blue hippo tang on Saturday and finally, today a 2" red fire fish.

Tonight as I observed the fish, I noticed that the blue tang is repeatedly rubbing against the plastic caves I provided as a hiding spot. Everyone (including the blue tang) is eating and swimming around. I did not see any white spots on the blue tang. However the continued scratching suggests parasitic infection.

The question I have is what should I medicate for first. I was planning on observing them till the weekend and then start medicating. But given the scratching, I think I should start medicating ASAP.

I was planning of doing two separate rounds of treatment. One with copper and metroplex. The other with prazipro. Which should I do first? Is the scratching more likely caused by flukes or ich/velvet?

Alternatively, I also have Paraguard (a formalin alternative aldehyde) and kanaplex and levasimole HCL on hand.

Any input would be very welcome. For example is Paraguard preferable to copper? I’d like to start the treatment in the next day or two (the little blue guy is clearly uncomfortable) but I’ll wait to get some input first since this is my first quarantine and I don’t want to do more harm.

Please refrain from cross posting. Your question was just answered and multiple posts take away from others also seeking help and answers

 

[Sordfish]

Thanks for pointing it out the duplicate - it was unintentional . I erased the content and pointed to this one. Also thanks for the input.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I set up a 25G QT last Thursday (5 days ago) and added 4 juvenile fish gradually. First a 2" tomini tang and a 1.5" royal gramma on Thursday. Then a 1.5" blue hippo tang on Saturday and finally, today a 2" red fire fish.

Tonight as I observed the fish, I noticed that the blue tang is repeatedly rubbing against the plastic caves I provided as a hiding spot. Everyone (including the blue tang) is eating and swimming around. I did not see any white spots on the blue tang. However the continued scratching suggests parasitic infection.

The question I have is what should I medicate for first. I was planning on observing them till the weekend and then start medicating. But given the scratching, I think I should start medicating ASAP.

I was planning of doing two separate rounds of treatment. One with copper and metroplex. The other with prazipro. Which should I do first? Is the scratching more likely caused by flukes or ich/velvet?

Alternatively, I also have Paraguard (a formalin alternative aldehyde) and kanaplex and levasimole HCL on hand.

Any input would be very welcome. For example is Paraguard preferable to copper? I’d like to start the treatment in the next day or two (the little blue guy is clearly uncomfortable) but I’ll wait to get some input first since this is my first quarantine and I don’t want to do more harm.

It is generally a mistake to delay medication when you see symptoms. The decision you need to make is to use copper or Prazipro first. I usually start copper first, but scratching fish is a symptom of flukes, and Prazipro treats that. You can dose both at the same time but I try to avoid that. Here is our quarantine protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Sordfish]

It is generally a mistake to delay medication when you see symptoms. The decision you need to make is to use copper or Prazipro first. I usually start copper first, but scratching fish is a symptom of flukes, and Prazipro treats that. You can dose both at the same time but I try to avoid that. Here is our quarantine protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks. And thanks for the link. That was exactly the protocol I was going to follow, with one addition. I was planning on adding metroplex while doing copper. I saw that on a thread by humble fish. Any thoughts on that?

I’ll start the prazi pro treatment tonight when I get home. I have an HOB filter right now. I’ll add an air stone to supplement it. Does prazi-pro affect the beneficial bacteria by the way. I have some seachem matrix in there that was in my display tank for several months.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks. And thanks for the link. That was exactly the protocol I was going to follow, with one addition. I was planning on adding metroplex while doing copper. I saw that on a thread by humble fish. Any thoughts on that?

I’ll start the prazi pro treatment tonight when I get home. I have an HOB filter right now. I’ll add an air stone to supplement it. Does prazi-pro affect the beneficial bacteria by the way. I have some seachem matrix in there that was in my display tank for several months.

Metronidazole is pretty old school, it just isn’t very effective. It is far surpassed by coppersafe for external protozoans. The only time I recommend it now is to treat internal protozoans that cause mucus feces in some fish.
While people do dose metro and copper at the same time, it does add stress. I wouldn’t do it unless you are seeing mucus feces.
None of these meds will outright kill your beneficial bacteria, but it may be impacted slightly. Best to move some matrix over to augment your bio filter, and monitor the ammonia level.
Jay

 

[Sordfish]

Metronidazole is pretty old school, it just isn’t very effective. It is far surpassed by coppersafe for external protozoans. The only time I recommend it now is to treat internal protozoans that cause mucus feces in some fish.
While people do dose metro and copper at the same time, it does add stress. I wouldn’t do it unless you are seeing mucus feces.
None of these meds will outright kill your beneficial bacteria, but it may be impacted slightly. Best to move some matrix over to augment your bio filter, and monitor the ammonia level.
Jay

Thanks. I’ll add some bacteria in a bottle as well. I’ll only do the metro if I notice issues with their feces - so far I don’t. It looks like they’ll be in QT for at least 6 weeks so I should have a lot of opportunity to observe.

 

[Sordfish]

I added prazipro at lunch time. By this evening, the blue tang was out and about and had stopped scratching. However he was swimming slower than usual. Now he is back to his preferred sleeping spot - he hadn’t used that since I noticed the scratching on Tuesday. When I examined him closely, I noticed he is breathing very shallow and very rapidly. You can’t see his mouth in the video but it is going at the same rate as his gills I am estimating 4to 5 mouth movements per second. The other fish are not showing any symptoms like that so the oxygenation seems fine - the HOB makes lots of bubbles and I also added a large air stone.

Is this the result of damage done by the flukes? What should I watch out for? Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I added prazipro at lunch time. By this evening, the blue tang was out and about and had stopped scratching. However he was swimming slower than usual. Now he is back to his preferred sleeping spot - he hadn’t used that since I noticed the scratching on Tuesday. When I examined him closely, I noticed he is breathing very shallow and very rapidly. You can’t see his mouth in the video but it is going at the same rate as his gills I am estimating 4to 5 mouth movements per second. The other fish are not showing any symptoms like that so the oxygenation seems fine - the HOB makes lots of bubbles and I also added a large air stone.

Is this the result of damage done by the flukes? What should I watch out for? Is there anything else I can do?

Yeah, that’s breathing way too fast. Did you increase the aeration when you dosed the prazi? Also, if it had severe flukes, the prazi can cause them to all drop off at once, causing acute stress.
Jay

 

[Sordfish]

Yeah, that’s breathing way too fast. Did you increase the aeration when you dosed the prazi? Also, if it had severe flukes, the prazi can cause them to all drop off at once, causing acute stress.
Jay

Thanks for the quick reply. I added a large air stone - a rope type that creates a bubble wall. The tank looks like a large soda pop in places.
I guess I’ll hope it is stress from flukes and keep close watch.

 

[Sordfish]

Thanks for the quick reply. I added a large air stone - a rope type that creates a bubble wall. The tank looks like a large soda pop in places.
I guess I’ll hope it is stress from flukes and keep close watch.

Unfortunately the blue tang passed away. I had heard they were very disease prone, and I guess I now know first hand. I don’t think I’ll replace him - not fun watching them die.

On a positive note, the rest of the fish seem to be doing well.
Thanks for your help!