Bacterial infection?

StarterSaltWater · Dec 16, 2020

Hi everyone! I have had this Katherines Wrasse in QT with a clown and 2 other wrasse for going on 3 weeks, it has developed Popeye (unilateral and no cloudiness) and while waiting for kanaplex to be delivered I have given Melafix to pass the time.. now that I have Kanaplex I have dosed entire tank with it per instructions. My question is, when I purchased the fish it did have some white discoloration almost in bands, is this normal for the fish? Or is this from transportation stress, injury/infection, parasite? I can’t say the whiteness has gotten worse or better in the last 3 weeks and the fish for the most part is ready to eat/ swim around eating 2 times daily. All other fish are in good shape in all regards no sign of illlness. As for water quality I do 25% water changes 2 times a week in the 20g QT Tank and I have have tested for Ammonia / nitrite / nitrate with no signs out of the norm other than about 10 nitrate 2 water changes ago. Any ideas? I have have a full assortment of meds from seachem, prazipro, copper, just don’t really know what/if I need to use any additional from kanaplex. Could the white be a sign of high nitrates from transport to the LFS etc? Thanks again everyone any help is always appreciated!!

Jay Hemdal · Dec 17, 2020

I *think* those are stress coloration, but I haven't worked with that species myself. Is it the right eye that has popeye? It doesn't seem to severe. The main thing to watch for will be protozoan issues - those are the things that tend to take out new fish the most often. While wrasses don't enjoy getting dosed with copper, it is the best option if done correctly with a good test kit or Hanna meter.

Jay

StarterSaltWater · Dec 17, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
I *think* those are stress coloration, but I haven't worked with that species myself. Is it the right eye that has popeye? It doesn't seem to severe. The main thing to watch for will be protozoan issues - those are the things that tend to take out new fish the most often. While wrasses don't enjoy getting dosed with copper, it is the best option if done correctly with a good test kit or Hanna meter.

Jay

Thanks for the reply Jay! Correct it’s the right eye, it came randomly and isn’t cloudy so I’m not sold on it being a parasite like flukes causing it, it’s been about a week of popeye and also 3 weeks in the quarantine tank. I may wind up using kanaplex + metroplex opposed to copper only because it would be less harsh and after 3 weeks I feel as though other fish would have either got the parasite and/or it would have spread further on the sole fish. I was mostly concerned it could be brook or something crazy since with colorful fish it’s hard to sometimes!