Dead fish, 3 survivors with pics. Need ID

[Christopher Presley]

So I’m stumped on this, been working 16’s straight so my fiancé has been keeping an eye on the fish in our stock tub the past month. When I got home today she alerted me to two dead fish. I instantly scooped them out and got them into QT with general cure. Any ideas? The fox face appears to have ich but I also notice a small lesion on his head. The others I’m not sure. Thanks

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I think that might be velvet and any survivors need to be in copper ASAP at 1.75ppm for Copper Power. A FW dip can provide some temporary relief for velvet also. That looks like a pretty bad infestation as for the lesion it could be a secondary infection and I would use Kanaplex, Metroplex, and Furan 2. Using antibiotics with copper can cause bacterial blooms and severely deplete the water of O2 so make sure to heavy surface agitation.
Here are some articles to read on ich and velvet.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/

 

[ngoodermuth]

I would start copper ASAP. Keep the general cure running since the Naso looks like he could have black ich as well.

I think you could be dealing with velvet, not ich. The blotchy insertion spots on the foxface are a tell-tale symptom of velvet.

I would also recommend giving each fish a fw dip, followed by a 90-minute acriflavine bath. If you have it, I would also add kanaplex to the QT...with lots and lots of surface movement and an extra airstone. It looks like they have some secondary bacterial issues going on as well.

So to recap: fw dip, acriflavine bath... into QT with low level of copper to start (need to reach therapeutic within 48 hours), General Cure, and kanaplex. Lots of 02.

Unfortunately, it’s likely an uphill battle at this point but if you act quickly they may have a chance!

 

[Christopher Presley]

What do you think of the brown blotch on the hippo? That’s what’s on the Naso just more dense.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

What do you think of the brown blotch on the hippo? That’s what’s on the Naso just more dense.

Could be a couple things, I think they are infected sites from the parasite that causes velvet. The infected areas change color quickly and deteriorate after death and makes it hard to properly identify.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I do think I see black ich on both fish, but the brownish “crud” is likely a secondary bacterial infection from the velvet. Lots of things going on here

 

[Saveafish]

Velvet, flukes, lots of bacteria infection.

I do think I see black ich on both fish, but the brownish “crud” is likely a secondary bacterial infection from the velvet. Lots of things going on here

Agreed. Lots going on at once. Compounding symptoms.

 

[4FordFamily]

I would start copper ASAP. Keep the general cure running since the Naso looks like he could have black ich as well.

I think you could be dealing with velvet, not ich. The blotchy insertion spots on the foxface are a tell-tale symptom of velvet.

I would also recommend giving each fish a fw dip, followed by a 90-minute acriflavine bath. If you have it, I would also add kanaplex to the QT...with lots and lots of surface movement and an extra airstone. It looks like they have some secondary bacterial issues going on as well.

So to recap: fw dip, acriflavine bath... into QT with low level of copper to start (need to reach therapeutic within 48 hours), General Cure, and kanaplex. Lots of 02.

Unfortunately, it’s likely an uphill battle at this point but if you act quickly they may have a chance!

I agree. Secondary bacterial infections that follow velvet or bad parasite infections can be even more deadly.

I'd source antibiotics immediately - metroplex, furan 2, and kanaplex. I'd find NFG if you really want to hammer infections hard.

 

[Christopher Presley]

Update: all three fish are still alive and seem to be acting much better. The only one that is still showing issue is the Naso. The black blotches seem to be getting worse. I’ve done a full treatment of general cure, furan 2 and copper is at therapeutic level.

 

[ngoodermuth]

It’s sometimes difficult to treat bacterial infections and parasites together because copper, while necessary for the parasite, is an immunosuppressant.

Now that the black ich is gone, I’d replace the general cure with just metroplex, and add in kanaplex as well. Plenty of aeration.

Dose metroplex+kanaplex+furan-2 together for at least 10 days, or as long as 14 days if needed.

Once he has been in copper for 14 days, I would transfer to another sterile QT and continue with only the antibiotics for the remainder of the course...