Yellow Tang with recurring infection

[Greg P]

I've treated "Nibbler" once already with Furan-2 and also General Cure.
After He (no sex known) was cleared to leave the QT he went back to the DT.
His wound was completely clear of infection and new skin was forming.

He was wound-free for about 1-2 weeks, but then the Exact same spot came back, and the wound spread again as it did the first time. This lead me to think maybe he had hurt himself on the same corals, but I'm looking for info from you all as it's probably more likely it's bacterial.
I'm sure it's possible he hit the same coral to wound himself, just as you and I may whack our knee on the same open drawer or such, but it's so frustrating that his wound started from the "exact same spot" as his first wound.

Sept 30 2019 I placed Nibbler in my QT.

I treated with Furan-2 for a total of 4 doses as per the package instructions.
Then, with no clear results, I performed a second round of 4 doses.
After the second round of F2 dosing his wounds became bright red again.
After seeing the results from the second round of dosing, it became apparent that the meds were a problem.
I performed a large 75% WC. Then Nibbler's wound started to appear 'clearer'.
I dosed Stress Guard as per the bottle instructions.
This appeared to cause his wound to become red again, so I performed another large WC.

After another week of feeding and small WCs his wound was completely healed.
Once his wound looked as best as it could be, I returned him to the DT.

He looked great for about 2 weeks.

Then, 2-3 weeks later, his wound returned and became heavily infected again. And it's grown again as it did previously.

March 29 / 2020

This is him now in my QT after a 30 min dip in Methylene Blue

How can I help my poor critter not go through this again ??????

@ReefSquad

 

[acan-man]

Currently going through something similar with a kole tang. I did a freshwater dip and pulled a bunch of tiny flukes off. Started dosing prazi, and now the furan2 metro and kana are starting to work. I think the flukes were irritating the skin faster than the antibiotics could work.

 

[Greg P]

Currently going through something similar with a kole tang. I did a freshwater dip and pulled a bunch of tiny flukes off. Started dosing prazi, and now the furan2 metro and kana are starting to work. I think the flukes were irritating the skin faster than the antibiotics could work.

My issue is a fish we've had in our tank for over 5 years

Every other addition was QT'd, and no additions for over 1 year.
No reason for our Tang to be "Infected"

 

[Greg P]

I'm going to bed and let the reef squad tell me what they think while I'm trying to sleep off the fear that's going around our country !!

 

[Greg P]

Update;
As previously noted, Nibbler was put through 30mins of Methylene Blue (Kordon) in a bucket of 1ml/gallon of heated/aerated tank water. Then I transferred him(?) to the QT made up with fresh RO and neutral salt (Red Sea Blue Bucket) as I didn't want any DT water in the QT.
2 days later I started adding Seachem StressGuard. First day was a full dose of 5ml/10g.
Then on day 3 (second dose) I started dosing 5ml/20g.
He's looking somewhat better today (day 4 ) and is eating all foods. This makes me hesitant to medicate him beyond the SG usage. The last time I had him in QT for this same issue I medicated him and he would only eat frozen.
I'll continue dosing/monitoring for maybe another week, then perform a possibly 75% WC.
After that, I gather I'm looking at many weeks of him in QT while his wounds heal.

I went through this last time, as I originally posted. This time I will wait until he is Fully healed before returning him to the DT.
I still suspect there is something in the DT as I get rashes which look like ringworm.

Of note;
The last time I had Nibbler in QT, he was returned to the DT in Oct/2019
His wound was healing wonderfully, and looked so much better during a round of Milbemax for Red Bugs mid February to early March. I pondered whether the praziquantel had any benefit.

His wound returning, and the way it became so infected again, are what I'm looking for help with.
Could there be a nasty 'something' in my DT?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

@ReefSquad

 

[Big G]

Sounds like you may have some unwanted, nasty bacteria in your tank. Have you considered running a UV filter?

 

[Greg P]

Sounds like you may have some unwanted, nasty bacteria in your tank. Have you considered running a UV filter?

No, but I'm considering sending some water to https://aquabiomics.com/articles/co...e#The_Core_Microbiome_of_a_Saltwater_Aquarium

 

[Gareth elliott]

Second the UV.
May also be worthwhile trying an abx within a different class.
Readily available will be doxycycline, api fin and body care. Broad spectrum but a little rough on biofilter so keep an eye on ammonia and additional aeration. I keep clindamyicin on hand as a back up as a little less rough on biofilter but slower acting, as its mode of action is on the ribosomes(also found moderately effective on a single species of bloom dinoflagellate, but the bleaching of some corals made this a bit of a catch 22 lol)

 

[Big G]

No, but I'm considering sending some water to https://aquabiomics.com/articles/co...e#The_Core_Microbiome_of_a_Saltwater_Aquarium

Interesting. Let us know how you like the process and info you get from the testing.

A simple treatment to consider, and is reef safe, would be to treat the tank with Ruby Reef Rally. It's very mild but has both antibiotic and antiseptic qualities that work well for mild infections and pre treatment before treating with copper for example.

 

[Brad ward]

I would put a cleaner wrasse in the Dt also along with the other suggestions

 

[Greg P]

Currently, with the daily addition of StressGuard, Nibbler's wound is shrinking, although slowly. At least it's not as inflamed as last week. I still feel with him in the QT away from whatever is in the DT he now has a chance to heal and I'll hold off on medications at this time.
I will not be medicating the DT until I hear back from Aquabiomics. More on that at the end.

As per UV suggestions for my DT; Not financially feasible right now with our current economics.
As per Cleaner Wrasse suggestion; not a parasite issue and I won't go in to the rest of my reasons for not considering this option as I see no point in having a fish which will starve in my DT.
As per Ruby Reef suggestion; I don't have access to it here in Canada. Most meds are not available to me here.
I have;
-Metroplex ( and a couple tubes of Focus ).
-Furan-2 ( enough for 1 round only ).
-General Cure ( enough for 2 rounds ).
-Prazipro ( expired ). This was in the Red Bug treatment as 125mg/tablet, so the tank had the 125mg over 3 weeks, and seemed to clear his skin better, but there are no flukes in my water.
-Copper Power ( don't see this helping right now, at least not until I hear back from Eli ).
-Methylene Blue ( Kordon ) made it here though shipping and customs didn't keep it.
That is all I have on hand, and pretty much nothing else is available to us here in Canada.
Once I hear back from Eli, I may be able to convince my Doctor to help me out with meds as there is something in my DT which affects my skin.

I'll continue my daily additions of SG and keep the QT water clean.

I've been in touch with Eli @AquaBiomics and am waiting to hear back from him to find out if He feels he would be able to identify what's going on.

I'll report back when I have more info ...

 

[Greg P]

Update;
Nibbler's wound is now clear. There is no redness.
I've been using Seachem StressGuard in his QT. This is supposed to be an antiseptic. I feel it's done it's job.
I performed 1 x 50% WC during this time. The NH3 levels were zero due to me having DT sponges on hand.
Overall, I'm Very happy with how things have progressed.

I decided to not medicate him, and glad I didn't. I feel good food and a clean tank is of the utmost importance.
Tonight, after viewing his wounds, I returned him to the DT.
I will monitor his wound to see if it continues healing, or if it becomes re-infected.

Upon a re-infection, I have been in contact with Eli @ Aquabiomics and we have a plan to test both my fish and my tank.

Thanks for everyone's input.
We'll see what happens sometime soon, or not ...