Bruise or Infection?

[ngoodermuth]

This fish was only at the lfs for a couple of days before we brought him home. Have had him in my QT for 4 days now, he is eating frozen spirulina brine only at the moment.

Noticing two dark bruise-like marks on one side. They look “slightly” puffy or ruffled, possibly internal. Dark brown in color. And he’s breathing heavily.

Did a fw dip on arrival, no flukes. Could still have a parasite though, planning to treat prophylactically with CP.

I’m trying to decide if I need to treat this as an infection, just in case (maybe the start of septicemia?) And treat with a course of antibiotics before starting the prophylactic meds. The bruising has darkened to its current state over the course of two days.

Thoughts? @Humblefish @melypr1985 @Maritimer @4FordFamily

 

[Humblefish]

I would start with the trifecta ASAP: Kanaplex + Metroplex + Furan-2

This way you'll be covered if it's a bacterial infection, or possibly uronema. We've been seeing more cases of CBBs with uronema lately.

An acriflavine bath also wouldn't hurt: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acriflavine.282887/

 

[ngoodermuth]

Thanks @Humblefish, that’s what I was thinking but the affirmation definitely helps

Starting the trifecta now. I’ll see about a rally bath this evening if I can find some time.

 

[Humblefish]

If you can, stop by that LFS and see if anything is wrong with the fish in the tank that CBB was taken from. The rapid gill movement has me also thinking velvet. You could black molly test his QT to see if velvet shows up.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Although, if it’s uronema which would be most effective? Metroplex or CP? I wish I knew for sure what it is...

 

[HotRocks]

Thanks @Humblefish, that’s what I was thinking but the affirmation definitely helps

Starting the trifecta now. I’ll see about a rally bath this evening if I can find some time.

The trifecta does work wonders! For sure!

 

[ngoodermuth]

If you can, stop by that LFS and see if anything is wrong with the fish in the tank that CBB was taken from. The rapid gill movement has me also thinking velvet. You could black molly test his QT to see if velvet shows up.

There’s always something wrong with the fish in those tanks... [emoji31] though I was surprised that no flukes showed up in the dip.

 

[Humblefish]

Although, if it’s uronema which would be most effective? Metroplex or CP? I wish I knew for sure what it is...

If he has uronema, a 45 min formalin bath will clear it, and then CP or metro in the QT will prevent reinfection. You would also need to food soak metro because uronema can spread internally.

If you can skin scrape/scope ID, below is what uronema will look like:

 

[ngoodermuth]

If he has uronema, a 45 min formalin bath will clear it, and then CP or metro in the QT will prevent reinfection. You would also need to food soak metro because uronema can spread internally.
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What about acriflavine and uronema? I’m not a huge fan of using formalin; I usually use ruby reef rally for infections which has a small amount I believe, but probably not near as much/enough.

 

[Big G]

I would start with the trifecta ASAP: Kanaplex + Metroplex + Furan-2

This way you'll be covered if it's a bacterial infection, or possibly uronema. We've been seeing more cases of CBBs with uronema lately.

An acriflavine bath also wouldn't hurt: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acriflavine.282887/

+1 on ^^^ this exactly. Lost a real nice Butterfly a few months back because I didn't jump on this fast enough. It was amazing how fast the CBB went from the pictures posted to very large red sores and gone. Amazing. Use the Ruby Reef Rally.

 

[Humblefish]

What about acriflavine and uronema? I’m not a huge fan of using formalin; I usually use ruby reef rally for infections which has a small amount I believe, but probably not near as much/enough.

I've had some success using a Rally bath to clear brook in clownfish, followed by transfer into a sterile QT to prevent reinfection. If I had to guess, the small amount of formalin found in Rally was probably more effective against brook than the two antiseptics it contains. Theoretically Rally should be equally effective against Uronema, since both are ciliate parasites with a direct life cycle.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Well, started all the meds yesterday and did a Rally bath last night. Unfortunately, he was belly up this morning

Thanks anyway for the help!

 

[HotRocks]

Dang it, sorry for your loss.

 

[Big G]

Sorry for the loss of such a beautiful fish. Gotta be honest. Those CBBs are so fragile, I’m very leery of trying them again.

 

[ngoodermuth]

@BigG it just stinks because he was eating frozen like the day after we got him which is crazy for them. I was really optimistic, but septicemia or uronema- hard to contend with even in the best circumstances.

And it comes on so fast, those marks were just little, barely noticeable scuff marks the day before. I hate to jump the gun with meds because they are hard on fish... when he could have just brushed against a piece of tank decor.

 

[Big G]

That's a tough loss. When you posted it was eating, I had hope. Just amazing how fast they go downhill. Maybe we need to figure out a special QT methodology just for this fish.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Yea... like let someone else QT it for me [emoji23]

 

[juicemanatx]

In my experience with Copperbands, once they have a bacterial infection, I’ve never been able to heal them. Maybe they’re just too sensitive to it? I’ve brought them back from ich and flukes with no issue.

I currently have one in QT now on its 3rd week of CP, eats like a pig and shows no issues. Crossing my fingers.

 

[Humblefish]

Sorry for your loss