Yellow Watchman Goby with Skin Issue

[Kittyclaw]

My goby seems to be having some skin issues and I am having trouble finding answers on Google a few days ago, he developed a discolored area behind his head. It's kind of beige in color. He turned white a day later, so I thought it was just a color change, but his yellow came back super vibrant--except for the beige spot. He is acting like he is uncomfortable and scratching himself on the sand. He is still coming out to eat, though he has been doing more open swimming.. Over the past week, the beige coloration has been spreading. His top fin also seems to be rotting a bit now. I have some pics below. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

These are susceptible to bacteria issues as in the case of yours
Treatment will be in quarantine using Maracyn 2 or seachem kanaplex
Or
Red safe treatment using ruby rally pro

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My goby seems to be having some skin issues and I am having trouble finding answers on Google a few days ago, he developed a discolored area behind his head. It's kind of beige in color. He turned white a day later, so I thought it was just a color change, but his yellow came back super vibrant--except for the beige spot. He is acting like he is uncomfortable and scratching himself on the sand. He is still coming out to eat, though he has been doing more open swimming.. Over the past week, the beige coloration has been spreading. His top fin also seems to be rotting a bit now. I have some pics below. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This is pretty common in watchman gobies. There may be two causes, either alone or in conjunction: flukes and/or bacterial infection. It is a pretty aggressive infection and tough to treat. I would give the fish a 5 minute FW dip to keep any flukes at bay and then as @vetteguy53081 said, dose in a treatment tank with antibiotics. Time isn't on your side though, as the infection has been festering for a bit now. If you get it through that, you'll need to give a full prazipro treatment for flukes.

Jay

 

[Kittyclaw]

Thank you @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal !! I've got him separated and started dosing with the kanaplex. Should I dose the main tank as well? The other fish look okay, but I know stuff like this can come up quickly. Also, what tsigns do you look for to identify flukes? Is it something that usually just comes with bacterial infections or are there specific symptoms to look for?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal !! I've got him separated and started dosing with the kanaplex. Should I dose the main tank as well? The other fish look okay, but I know stuff like this can come up quickly. Also, what tsigns do you look for to identify flukes? Is it something that usually just comes with bacterial infections or are there specific symptoms to look for?

Just the affected fish.
As for flukes, gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color .

 

[Kittyclaw]

Thank you! And that makes sense--he'd been scratching his head on the sand recently and coming up near the surface (he used to do that from time to time before I upgraded the tank, so I didn't think of it something to watch for!). I did the dip and added him to a little quarantine set up. He's exploring and eating, so hopefully he'll pull through

I recently bought a dwarf flame angel that made it through a month quarantine and a few weeks in the tank before very rapidly getting sick. It's eyes got cloudy, it's color faded, and it got lethargic. After 3 days it was in such horrendous shape that we euthanized it Maybe it came in with the flukes and they just managed to stay under the radar for a while?