Yellow ("coris") Wrasse flukes and ?

[lolmatt]

Long time reader first time poster...I'm sorry my first post has to be in this forum

tl;dr Bit of a long post...new wrasse is sick, treating w/ prazipro right now, what next (see photos)?

I got a yellow "coris" wrasse from the LFS on Sunday and drip acclimated her for about 30 minutes. She had hidden in the sand at the store, and once she got into the DT (40 breeder) she swam down to some rocks and buried herself immediately. I've heard this is pretty common so I didn't think much of it. Over the next couple days she started not fully burying herself and then last night/this morning was just laying on her side on the sand breathing heavy. I'm fairly certain she did not eat anything in the DT since we got her. She also has some fin rot on her pectoral and tail fins. She is not able to swim upright really at all.

I read a long post on another forum about a wrasse exhibiting similar behavior, so I pulled her out this morning and put her in a hospital/QT tank, and dosed Prazipro this afternoon (I've heard wrasses don't like this medicine but it won't "hurt" them unless overdosed) under the assumption that she has some sort of flukes or other similar parasite. Since being in QT, I believe I've gotten her to eat a couple small bites of mysis out of a pipette but not really much. She is moving around a little more but still not what I'd call "swimming."

So I guess I have a couple questions (assuming this fish is alive when I wake up in the morning):
1. Should I see the prazipro treatment through for the full 2-3 days?
2. After that, what should I treat with next? I'm leaning towards metronidazole (metroplex) but possibly furan-2 since I'm not sure if there's a secondary bacterial infection or something else. You can see a few marks near her snout from the photos below which look like potential HitH? Maybe? Or lesions from a bacterial infection?
3. I have 2 clowns and a few coral frags in the DT...no featherdusters I'm concerned about keeping (maybe couple tiny hitchhikers)...is there any reason not to treat the DT with prazipro prophylactically? I may have seen some stringy white poop from the female clown on Monday/Tuesday but nothing since & they are both eating fine.
4. I acknowledge that this fish may not "make it" but am I crazy for even trying?

The tank's been cycled for only a couple months, clowns have been in since early April. I think I've learned my lesson early on to quarantine new fish before adding them to the DT...I'm "lucky" that this seems to only be affecting the new wrasse, because if this were something worse like ich or velvet a year from now I'd be having a much harder time.

Thanks to anyone for reading this. I'll certainly update as this progresses.

 

[Maritimer]

Not crazy for trying...

Prazi-Pro will have done what it's going to do within 24 hours or so - but it won't treat unhatched eggs. For that, assuming she's still with you, you'll want to treat a second dose in about 5 - 7 days.

~Bruce

 

[lolmatt]

Good to know that it works so quickly. Any thoughts for the secondary treatment (bacterial infection/HitH/Me just being paranoid lol)?

 

[Robink]

Just monitor the ammonia in the qt. May have to do wc every couple days. @Humblefish or @melypr1985 for the other problem.
Not crazy for trying.

 

[Maritimer]

You can have at the bacterial / tailrot with what we call the "triple-threat" - Kanaplex, Metroplex and Furan-2. Those three compliment one another pretty well, and hit a wide spectrum of bacterial baddies.

As always, if Humblefish or Melypr1985 tell you anything different ... listen to them!

Oh, and by the way . . . Welcome to Reef2Reef!

~Bruce, hoping your future posts get to have more pleasant topics!

 

[swensos]

The marks on her face are probably from an abrasion from the sand. My yellow coris had these when I first got her too, but I kept the water clean and they went away.

 

[swensos]

Also, make sure to do a 25% water change before the next dose of prazi. Is she still lying on her side?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Can you get any rally or another acriflavine product. I know someone who had success using API fungus cure as a source. That helps tremendously with bacterial infections IME. You use it as a bath in a 5-gallon bucket with an airline and a small heater if you have one. 60-90 minutes.

After that, the triple threat in QT which was mentioned. Kanaplex +metroplex +furan-2, all dosed every 48 hours for 10 days, after a 25% water change.

 

[lolmatt]

Well she was still alive and breathing this morning. My wife saw her right herself for a moment in a lame attempt to swim which she definitely did not do yesterday.

I just ordered the triple-threat sameday from amazon so that'll be here this evening. Any reason not to dose all 3?

 

[Humblefish]

I just ordered the triple-threat sameday from amazon so that'll be here this evening. Any reason not to dose all 3?

All medications have side effects (e.g. the liver must filter all chemicals & drugs in the bloodstream). Oxygen depletion and appetite suppression are other common problems. So combining meds does exacerbate those issues.

However, when faced with a bad bacterial infection sometimes you have no other choice but to risk it.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Nope, but you can space them out over a couple hours just to not dump them all on her at once. Do the acriflavine bath first if you can, and throw an extra airline into the QT as well.

Using all three together is safe, provided you have a little extra oxygen exchange to replace what the meds bind up.

 

[lolmatt]

Thanks for the advice @Humblefish and @ngoodermuth

Unfortunately it doesn't look like I have a readily available source of acriflavine (called a couple LFS that don't sell it). I'm also hesitant to do any sort of bath, this fish is under a lot of stress and that might just put her over the top.

I have a strong airline to the QT that should be keeping the water nice and aerated. Had some ammonia yesterday and did a good water change prior to the prazi.

I'll dose those 3 tonight an hour apart after a 25% water change and hope for the best. Will update once I get home.

 

[lolmatt]

Well she's still kicking...still breathing and might have eaten a little piece of mysis, hard to tell. Will medicate after dinner and update tomorrow morning.

 

[lolmatt]

Surprise 1am update...did a ~50% water change in the QT and medicated w/ all 3 around 9pm. Tested ammonia just before the water change and it was low...much nearer to 0 than .02. It's ~1:30am now and the wrasse is still breathing...heavy still but she does seem a little more responsive & trying to swim around a bit (though still on her side along the bottom of the tank, nothing in the open "yet").

I tried hand feeding mysis again, she definitely notices the food it's just hard to tell if she's actually consuming it or not. She has pooped a few times today...although it was still stringy and white I figure any poop means she must at least be eating a little here and there.

The fact that she's lived this long through so much stress gives me a little hope that she may pull through. I suppose I'm concerned that she will live but come out permanently injured (ie blind) and have to be put down...here's to hoping that's not the case.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, will update tomorrow.

 

[ngoodermuth]

If her poop is white and and stringy, she has internal parasites. The metroplex in the water will help some, but if you can get her to eat food prepared with it (using Focus as a binder) that would be best. Stay the course with all three meds in the water as well though.

 

[lolmatt]

Thanks everyone for your help. Unfortunately she didn't make it. We'll try again soon.
Put the dead fish in fresh water for 5m, no flukes. Do you think whatever she had has infected my DT? Edit, DT has two clowns and 3 corals all doing fine, other than some green star polyps closed up for a couple days due to a lighting change. Started coming back out yesterday

 

[ngoodermuth]

The intestinal worms would be contagious. You could feed all your fish the medicated food for 10 days to be sure it's gone.

 

[lolmatt]

I picked up some focus for treating the clowns with the metro, just in case. It's probably fine but can't hurt.

Thanks again everyone. Later this weekend I'll make a new post with some pics of the DT so my only posts on here aren't just about sick fish haha.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I picked up some focus for treating the clowns with the metro, just in case. It's probably fine but can't hurt.

Thanks again everyone. Later this weekend I'll make a new post with some pics of the DT so my only posts on here aren't just about sick fish haha.

Look forward to seeing it! Glad you found your way here, this is an awesome forum. Could be better circumstances [emoji12]but glad you're here regardless.