Bacteria? Uronema? Help!

[Mojo Idaho]

I've been struggling getting this yellow tang healthy, he has been on a hunger strike for 4 days, so far I've run prazipro, nfg, copper, paraguard(made it worse it seems)

Orange/brown/red splotches all over and seems to be spreading.
Please help, I'd really hate to lose this guy, I feel so bad. ☹

 

[C. Eymann]

Did you test copper levels as you dosed?
Hows ammonia? nitrite?


I dont know what else to say, looks pretty bad, day 4 of no food?

I'd be thinking about euthanizing if it starts looking worse/suffering.

Just my .02

 

[Crabs McJones]

Get him out of medications. Copper and prazi are appetite suppressors as well as immuno suppressors.
I would bring him out of meds slowly and try to feed him. He's very skinny. He's been in rough shape longer than 4 days.

 

[HotRocks]

Did you run all of those medications simultaneously?

 

[Mojo Idaho]

No each medication was run separately. I used hannah checker and kept copper at theraputic levels. I most recently was running paraguard.
Nitrites and ammonia are at zero, I'm very religious with water changes.

Feeding nori, pellets, flake, freeze dried shrimp, and/or reef frenzy all soaked in selcon. Garlic doesnt help

78F
1.026 sg
Edit: there are also 2 firefish in QT with him that show no symptoms, just lethargic.

 

[Mojo Idaho]

I put a bag of carbon in the HOB and a piece of nori on a clip before leaving for work. I hope hes still alive when I get home.

 

[Mojo Idaho]

Just got home, still looks bad and not eating. Does anyone else have any input? @Humblefish ?

 

[Marco S]

It looks like a bacterial infection not parasites to me. Also looks like it has HLLE. I had a Powder Brown Tang with the exact same symptoms while it was in copper with several other fish with Marine Velvet. I couldn't decrease copper because of the Velvet so I put it in a separate QT with no meds and it did start eating again a couple days later, but unfortunately the bacterial disease was too much and it died before I could start adding antibacterial meds.

Not sure what you should do at this point besides taking it out of copper and Prazi and seeing if you can get it to eat before anything else. If it still wont eat I would seriously consider euthanizing as @C. Eymann brought up. I know it sucks, but its worse to let it suffer when there is nothing more you can do and you know it eventually will die.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[Humblefish]

I agree with @Marco S

However just to be sure, you aren't experiencing salinity fluctuations in this tank by any chance?? Yellow Tangs will show capillary congestion leading to the rupture of the capillaries (redness) through sudden exposure to higher salinity levels.

 

[Mojo Idaho]

All meds have been out of the system for a few weeks except paraguard the last 4 days prior to the carbon I put in yesterday.
-Cupramine was run for 25 days, and I removed with wc and carbon. Levels checked with hannah checker.
-Prazi was after that for 7 days
-2 weeks no meds carbon/wc
-Course of Nfg for 10 days for what looked like bacterial, possibly HLLE, started to heal up and looked good, eating healthy up through this,
-noticed a couple white spots so delayed moving to DT
-Removed all meds with fresh carbon and wc, slow decline for 2-3 weeks, got very skinny, suspected parasites along with the splotches,
-started running paraguard and condition worsened, not eating.

The only thing I havent tried is chloroquine phosphate, which I do have on hand.


I dont know if I can bring myself to euthanize, I'd be worried I do something wrong and the fish would suffer even more..

@Humblefish I be sure to top off every day, usually only lose a cup or two, but I am matching the salinity for water changes with a milwaukie refractometer which I calibrate daily. 1.025-1.026 fluctuations is what I usually see.

 

[C. Eymann]

If condition doesn't improve in 24-48hr and has still not eaten and looks like its suffering


the best way to euthanize a fish is with clove oil.


Its painless and hard to botch, simply place fish in a container of aquarium water, take two 3 oz of portions of aquarium water in ziplocks bags. and mix in 10 drops of clove oil into each, shake both well till milky

while lightly stirring the container the fish is in, slowly add the clove oil/water mixture of bag number 1 in.

The fish will slowly go to sleep/go unconscious in less than 5min


Add the mixture of bag #2 and wait 20min.

It will peacefully put an end to its suffering in the most painless way possible.

 

[Marco S]

If condition doesn't improve in 24-48hr and has still not eaten and looks like its suffering


the best way to euthanize a fish is with clove oil.


Its painless and hard to botch, simply place fish in a container of aquarium water, take two 3 oz of portions of aquarium water in ziplocks bags. and mix in 10 drops of clove oil into each, shake both well till milky

while lightly stirring the container the fish is in, slowly add the clove oil/water mixture of bag number 1 in.

The fish will slowly go to sleep/go unconscious in less than 5min


Add the mixture of bag #2 and wait 20min.

It will peacefully put an end to its suffering in the most painless way possible.

Thanks for posting that. I have only had to euthanize a couple fish in my time, but I did it in a much more barbaric way that I will not talk about because some will think it was cruel. It was the fastest way I could think of at the time though and there was absolutely no chance of botching it. Your way sounds much more peaceful though and I would use that in the future if I ever have to again, (hopefully I don't though).

 

[Mojo Idaho]

If condition doesn't improve in 24-48hr and has still not eaten and looks like its suffering


the best way to euthanize a fish is with clove oil.


Its painless and hard to botch, simply place fish in a container of aquarium water, take two 3 oz of portions of aquarium water in ziplocks bags. and mix in 10 drops of clove oil into each, shake both well till milky

while lightly stirring the container the fish is in, slowly add the clove oil/water mixture of bag number 1 in.

The fish will slowly go to sleep/go unconscious in less than 5min


Add the mixture of bag #2 and wait 20min.

It will peacefully put an end to its suffering in the most painless way possible.

Thank you so much for this information. It's going to be hard to do. I feel so terrible when these types of things happen. I will update if things improve or if I have to take a different route.
As @Marco S stated, I was worried about failing in a more barbaric way of euthanization.

 

[Humblefish]

How to euthanize a fish

 

[Mojo Idaho]

Update: the splotches on the tang are fading, still not much appetite, tried to nibble at some nori but only a little. Been staying out and about, leaning to the side near the firefish as if asking for some help to clean himself.

Not sure what to do at this point.

Should I still plan to euthanize or should I hold off and see if things continue to improve?

 

[Humblefish]

I would treat with a mild antibiotic and see what happens. So long as he's still eating, he has a chance. NFG would be ideal to use, but one of the Seachem meds (Kanaplex, Neoplex, Sulfaplex) will probably be easier for you to source.

 

[Mojo Idaho]

I would treat with a mild antibiotic and see what happens. So long as he's still eating, he has a chance. NFG would be ideal to use, but one of the Seachem meds (Kanaplex, Neoplex, Sulfaplex) will probably be easier for you to source.

I do have a ton of NFG, sourced from east coast ranchu less than a year ago. What doseage regimen do you recommend?
Woke up today and the splotches faded even more, breathing has slowed a little, and he isnt leaning at the firefish anymore.

 

[Mojo Idaho]

F... sake that tang is almost dead from starvation.
Stop the meds and feed the guy well..

You obviously didnt even read everything that was posted.

 

[Humblefish]

I do have a ton of NFG, sourced from east coast ranchu less than a year ago. What doseage regimen do you recommend?

1/4 teaspoon per 20 gallons every 24 hours with a 25% water change before each treatment. Treat for 10 - 14 days.

Once nice thing about NFG is it doesn't really seem to effect appetite. However, I wouldn't expose him to any other meds (e.g. copper, prazi) until he puts some weight on.

 

[Mojo Idaho]

Update

I prepared for the euthanization on the 27th, but gave Larry the yellow tang one more day and put a big clip of nori in the tank, and added one drop of zoecon to the water.
To my surprise, he started taking the smallest bites possible. I couldn't believe it.

Day 2, the spots started to fade, he was swimming a little better, still taking small bites.

Day 3, significant fading/healing of the spots, but did not eat that day

Day 4, mouth is closed more, breathing slowed to almost normal rate, he ate a 1.5"x1.5" piece of nori in 16 hours

Day 5, spots are nearly gone, eating the nori in 12 hours

Day 6-Present, Larry is doing phenomenal. He is gaining weight back, eating two 1.5x1.5 nori squares soaked in selcon every day. Spots are non existent, and I think he is on the road to a full recovery.

I wanted to thank everyone who contributed a response, especially @Humblefish, I think everyone appreciates your expertise.