Disease ID

Iskar · Jan 9, 2023

Hi All,

Currently battling... something in my fowlr tank.

Could somebody ID from attached image and video?

I suspected either Velvet or Flukes

I quickly have dosed curpramine to 0.5 worrying about velvet and has been at that for 4 days now, I have also dosed fluke solve (prazi) to cover for flukes etc.

I have lost 2 fish up to now, this fish in the video is the only one showing this on the skin. I am seeing hanging around in corners, not eating and frayed fins in 1 or 2 others I'm concerned about.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 9, 2023

Iskar said:
Hi All,

Currently battling... something in my fowlr tank.

Could somebody ID from attached image and video?

I suspected either Velvet or Flukes

I quickly have dosed curpramine to 0.5 worrying about velvet and has been at that for 4 days now, I have also dosed fluke solve (prazi) to cover for flukes etc.

I have lost 2 fish up to now, this fish in the video is the only one showing this on the skin. I am seeing hanging around in corners, not eating and frayed fins in 1 or 2 others I'm concerned about.

This appears to be flukes rather than parasitical But flukes often are not seen by the naked eye, however neobenedenia flukes can be.
With flukes some signs listed will come into play and see if any of these apply to your fish. IF they do, see below:

Some signs will be gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color .

if you do, a 5 minute FW dip can be done to dislodge parasites from its skin. Pace fish in a container of clean freshwater the same temperature as the display tank it came from using Tap, Not RO water which can hinder PH level.
Again, provided it is flukes,
Treatment of choice is PraziPro and while reef safe I prefer QT tank for treating but not necessary. If in dislay tank, remove your skimmer cup but leave the skimmer running as prazi-pro will make your skimmer go nuts. It will produce a truly amazing amount of bubbles so still have your skimmer running to keep the oxygen levels high in the water as some medications like praz-pro can lower the amount of oxygen in the water which is something you want to avoid so I recommend running an airstone in addition to treatment.
Also . . . remove any type of carbon that you have running to allow Prazi to run at full strength which will be 8 day interval, change water and treat again for one more 8 day interval.

threebuoys · Jan 9, 2023

A little difficult to view with the blue lights. If you can film with white and also show some of the other fish, diagnosis may be easier.

The powder blue shows what may be ich on the body, but he is also breathing fairly rapidly. So, velvet is not out of the question. Copper works for both of these parasites.

Do you notice physical symptoms on other fish in the tank?

You mentioned cupramine. I notice you have live rock in the tank. That will absorb copper so you ~~mill~~ will need to constantly monitor the cupramine level to insure it remains at the .50 ppm level.

Iskar · Jan 9, 2023

Hi Both and thanks for the replies.

Copper levels I have hanna checker I am using daily and adding as needed to keep at .5ppm.

No obvious other physichal signs other than hanging in corners, not eating and some heavy breathing.

Carbon is out and learnt quickly that prazi sends the skimmer wild!

Thanks