Snow_Phoenix Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Need some help. My Percula, Hera, has been doing very well up until last night. Woke up this morning and she has this small patch of sloughed off skin with a minor reddish lesion underneath as well as a clamped dorsal fin. She's been hosting one of my zoa colonies for several days now, and the rock the zoa has encrusted on does have sharp edges. Is it possible that she injured herself whilst hosting - per say, scraped her right side? Or is this a bacterial/parasite infection? Here are some pics: I've isolated her and transferred her into a QT system and am treating with Coppersafe as a precaution. But I'm quite sure I'm not dealing with Ich or Brook here, because I've battled both before and the symptoms were different. Any pointers? Anything I should do for her - freshwater baths, malachite green/crystal violet/methylene blue dips? Metronidazole treatment? Link to comment
Tamberav Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 My clown has a large gash and I am treating for the EXACT same symptoms right now in QT. I believe it is bacterial or fungal infection. Pristine water quality and get something for fungus or antibiotics.. or better yet... a med that treats both at once. I am treating with furan 2 (wide range antibiotic) because that is what I had on hand and the stores here carry nothing useful. I am seeing improvement today but that could also be because yesterday I removed my clown and put iodine directly on her wound and blew it dry. I am going to order: API triple sulfa and methyline blue if it isn't gone by Monday. My plan was to put the methylene blue directly on the wound or preform a dip and then treat the QT with API sulfa which is for bacterial and fungal. Another option may be API Pimafix and Melafix... or other things you listed maybe. There are literally a billion antibiotics/fungal med's. I found researching freshwater fish more useful as they seem to ail from fungal/bacterial infections more often than reef fish. If you find something that works, let me know. I'll keep you posted if I continue to see improvement with my clown. Keep in mind, you could be dealing with both bacterial and fungal infection at the same time. Link to comment
Deleted User 8 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Another option would be watchful waiting instead of bombarding her with all sorts of chemicals. +1 with having a QT tank. How is the fish acting? Eating? It's not ich. Also, resist the use of antibiotics since you have no clue if that would be effective here. At least for now. Overuse of antibiotics is a serious concern (or it shoud be). IMO, unless you have a very good idea that they will be effictive, they should not just be tried willy-nilly. IMO, getting the fish into the QT and providing it a quiet place to heal (from whatever if may be) is the best course of action. Keep taking pictures and watch for other sign/.symptoms. Buzz Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 My clown has a large gash and I am treating for the EXACT same symptoms right now in QT. I believe it is bacterial or fungal infection. Pristine water quality and get something for fungus or antibiotics.. or better yet... a med that treats both at once. I am treating with furan 2 (wide range antibiotic) because that is what I had on hand and the stores here carry nothing useful. I am seeing improvement today but that could also be because yesterday I removed my clown and put iodine directly on her wound and blew it dry. I am going to order: API triple sulfa and methyline blue if it isn't gone by Monday. My plan was to put the methylene blue directly on the wound or preform a dip and then treat the QT with API sulfa which is for bacterial and fungal. Another option may be API Pimafix and Melafix... or other things you listed maybe. There are literally a billion antibiotics/fungal med's. If it is bacterial, then you may me to do trial and error to find an antibiotic that works. In your case, I would start out with a methy blue dip/bath and go from there. Metronidazole looks like it is mostly for gram + bacteria, you may want to pick up something that treats both, up to you. I found researching freshwater fish more useful as they seem to ail from fungal/bacterial infections more often than reef fish. If you find something that works, let me know. I'll keep you posted if I continue to see improvement with my clown. Keep in mind, you could be dealing with both bacterial and fungal infection at the same time. Okay, thanks Tam. I really don't want to lose her - I waited 2 whole years to get a Percula and this one is golden. Loves hosting stuff, great fun to watch and very lively. I have Punktol Ultra, so I'm going to be giving her a 3 to 5 minute Punktol Ultra + freshwater dip everyday before returning her to the QT tank (which already has copper). I don't want to bombard the QT with too much meds because Copper is a strong binding agent, and it can be disastrous if one med cross-reacts with another. Another option would be watchful waiting instead of bombarding her with all sorts of chemicals. +1 with having a QT tank. How is the fish acting? Eating? It's not ich. Also, resist the use of antibiotics since you have no clue if that would be effective here. At least for now. Overuse of antibiotics is a serious concern (or it shoud be). IMO, unless you have a very good idea that they will be effictive, they should not just be tried willy-nilly. IMO, getting the fish into the QT and providing it a quiet place to heal (from whatever if may be) is the best course of action. Keep taking pictures and watch for other sign/.symptoms. Buzz Hi Buzz, no worries, she's in a QT with a flowerpot for cover. The QT has Coppersafe in it, just as a precaution. None of my other fish in my tank are sick - all of them seem to be doing fine. I'll hold on the metronidazole as well since this doesn't look like a protozoan infection to me either. Hmm...I will try to see if my freshwater fungal treatment will work as well. I'll see how it goes and keep you guys posted. Link to comment
Deleted User 8 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I was going to ask if you had other fish in the DT. Since they seem not to be effected, I am leaning toward damage. Again, ease up on any more treatments (as you have mentioned you will). I suspect it may be damage. Odd that something other than that would come on that quick--overnight, correct? What does the fish say about it? Eating, acting weird, floating sideways, scratrching on things, etc? Buzz Link to comment
Tamberav Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 In my case, my fish was injured badly and then developed an infection 2 days later when pristine water quality did not work. It looks like bits of toilet paper stuck to the side of her flesh. In my case, I am 100% sure it is an infection and it does look exactly like Shadow's. My fish is much worse off though. If it is something like brook and it is slime coat peeling off, then her fish is probably past helping so lets hope not. Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Fish is eating perfectly fine, dorsal fin is clamped, tummy looks to be a bloated but she has been eating a lot lately. Took two full pipette squirts of mysis last night with obvious gusto. No signs of flashing or scratching. Just rubs her sides against the zoa colony (hosting). Good grief, I hope it's not Brook again. But based on my previous experience with Brook, the fish's slimecoat sloughs off around the gills and fins in particular, and the color fades out completely. Fish will also be gasping at the surface and gills will be inflamed. Hera is showing none of these symptoms however. Link to comment
Deleted User 8 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 It's good that she is still acting fairly normal. Seems like damage to me. As Tamberav mentions, keep an eye out for post-trauma infection. That would be the biggest concern at this point if it is inded damage. The best thing to do is keep her quiet and as relaxed as possible. She was healthy going into this, and that is a big plus in her favor. Hang in there, they are hardy little fishes! Buzz Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 It's good that she is still acting fairly normal. Seems like damage to me. As Tamberav mentions, keep an eye out for post-trauma infection. That would be the biggest concern at this point if it is inded damage. The best thing to do is keep her quiet and as relaxed as possible. She was healthy going into this, and that is a big plus in her favor. Hang in there, they are hardy little fishes! Buzz Thanks, and I hope she makes it through. I've grown rather fond of her and would be very upset to lose her over this. Will keep you guys posted if there are any changes. Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 Hera just passed away a few hours ago. She deteriorated tremendously this evening, although she was able to swim around normally this morning. I'm now watching out for any other signs of distress from my remaining fish. So far they've been alright - no lesions, scrapes or infectious symptoms as far as I can see. Still, I'm not getting any new replacement clowns for the time being. I'll be giving this LFS a miss anyways, and will opt for a different store that I ventured into today. The fish there seemed way more healthier, although the prices were slightly steeper. Link to comment
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