Bamboo shark has goiter

[lunarr]

Hi there - first time posting here , I’m trying to seek advice on behalf of my partner .

We have a bamboo shark which started presenting goiter 3 weeks ago, immediately we started supplementing his food with iodine ( off of recommendations ) and increased the water column iodine levels for the tank .

The goiter hasn’t reduced and as of 4 days ago , the shark now can’t eat .

Has anyone managed to bring back a bamboo shark from this point - any advice would be really appreciated!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef and sorry for your trouble!

@Jay Hemdal may be of some help here, particularly if you can provide the info discussed below:

I'd suggest at a minimum posting the info suggested in the quote below, and if possible reading through the link below that (particularly the "Aquarium Parameters," "Water quality," and "In-depth Information" sections) to figure out what info you can share here with the #fishmedic to get the best diagnosis and treatment advice possible:

Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[saltytanked]

Tank size?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi there - first time posting here , I’m trying to seek advice on behalf of my partner .

We have a bamboo shark which started presenting goiter 3 weeks ago, immediately we started supplementing his food with iodine ( off of recommendations ) and increased the water column iodine levels for the tank .

The goiter hasn’t reduced and as of 4 days ago , the shark now can’t eat .

Has anyone managed to bring back a bamboo shark from this point - any advice would be really appreciated!

That is very fast development for goiter.

Iodine or iodide in the water never seems to help.

The dose for potassium iodide in the food is tiny, 2.5 mg per pound of shark weight, dosed weekly for 5 weeks. Trouble is of course, if a shark stops eating, you can’t dose that way.

I’ve had a veterinarian try L-thyroxine injections on a horn shark that wouldn’t eat due to goiter, but it didn’t work.

 

[lunarr]

Tank size?

That is very fast development for goiter.

Iodine or iodide in the water never seems to help.

The dose for potassium iodide in the food is tiny, 2.5 mg per pound of shark weight, dosed weekly for 5 weeks. Trouble is of course, if a shark stops eating, you can’t dose that way.

I’ve had a veterinarian try L-thyroxine injections on a horn shark that wouldn’t eat due to goiter, but it didn’t work.

It definitely is - there’s a possibility that it went unnoticed for briefly but 3-4 weeks ago was when it properly presented .

I’ve seen on previous chats that tube feeding is a possibility when goiter gets to the stage of the shark being unable to eat - but I’m concerned that the stress caused by this might be fatal in itself ?

Although we are certainly wiling to give anything a go in an attempt to save him .

 

[lunarr]

Tank size?

Display 2000litres / sump 470 litre

 

[lunarr]

Tank size?

Ammonia nitrite 0-0 , nitrate 20/million but has 500litre change per month ( it’s a predator tank )

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It definitely is - there’s a possibility that it went unnoticed for briefly but 3-4 weeks ago was when it properly presented .

I’ve seen on previous chats that tube feeding is a possibility when goiter gets to the stage of the shark being unable to eat - but I’m concerned that the stress caused by this might be fatal in itself ?

Although we are certainly wiling to give anything a go in an attempt to save him .

That makes more sense - 3+ weeks is more reasonable as a development period.

If you can get potassium iodide, you can tube feed the shark at the 2.5 mg/pound, but I think you can safely double that amount. The reason I use the 2.5 amount is that KI is very bitter and fish won't eat it willingly at higher concentrations. Since you are force-feeding, that isn't a concern. 5 mg/pound will help ensure you get good reduction in the goiter, but it will still take a month or so.

I have had cases where long standing goiter did NOT reduce, even with aggressive treatment. I don't think your shark has had this issue long enough for it to be permanent, but there is some risk.

Here is an article I wrote about tube feeding fish:

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

This article describes methods of tube-feeding and force-feeding fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[lunarr]

So … we have managed to tube feed the bamboo shark with a paste of river shrimp and iodate 5mg/PP . He’s ok , stressed and hasn’t moved much the past few days but he survived the first day which was the one thing we were hoping for .
We plan on continuing with this paste solution weekly and have fingers crossed that he survives the stress long enough to reep the benefits

 

[lunarr]

Update - the shark is still alive although cannot eat by himself .. HOWEVER .. I have found that if you use small white fish and slithers of tuna and some tongs , he can just about grab an end , from here I managed to manually ‘push’ the fish in length ways whilst he was trying to eat . Using this method he ate 3 fish yesterday and a slither of tuna today - first time he’s eaten in 4-5 weeks … took a while but I’m chuffed

Today he had his second dose of iodate .. again a horrible experience and we had to elevate him temporarily to stop him expelling it into that water .

Goiter hasn’t changed .

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Update - the shark is still alive although cannot eat by himself .. HOWEVER .. I have found that if you use small white fish and slithers of tuna and some tongs , he can just about grab an end , from here I managed to manually ‘push’ the fish in length ways whilst he was trying to eat . Using this method he ate 3 fish yesterday and a slither of tuna today - first time he’s eaten in 4-5 weeks … took a while but I’m chuffed

Today he had his second dose of iodate .. again a horrible experience and we had to elevate him temporarily to stop him expelling it into that water .

Goiter hasn’t changed .

The goiter will take a month or so to resolve, with weekly iodide additions to the food. Being willing/able to take some food on its own seems to be an improvement though.

 

[lunarr]

Update - the goiter has finally noticeably improved, the shark has been syringed iodate soloution as per recommendation ^ once a week.

Today he ate 5 small fish with considerably less interference from me , he took the end and managed to feed himself .

Keeping everyone updated as the bamboo shark went 5-6 weeks with not being able to eat but has finally made a comeback ..

 

[littlefoxx]

Yay! Im glad to hear. He is a very cool shark