Flame Tail Blenny breathing fast

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I ordered the medication during the weekend believing that it would come the next day and after forgetting about the shipment I realized that it was coming Thursday, but after seeing the fish's breathing and how fast it is, I'm not sure how long it'll last w/o it. What should I do in the meantime to help the little guy? Should I do another fw dip? Or just wait until Thurs?

Did the first FW dip offer ANY relief after a day or two? If so, then I would do another one to buy some more time. If you didn't see any real improvement, then you risk the added stress of the repeat dip, without much expected benefit.

Jay

 

[IE Reefer]

Did the first FW dip offer ANY relief after a day or two? If so, then I would do another one to buy some more time. If you didn't see any real improvement, then you risk the added stress of the repeat dip, without much expected benefit.

Jay

A couple of hours after I completed the dip I had to leave for a trip for three days and from the small time that I was still home, I could tell that the FW dip did have some effect on the fish and it did help with slowing down its breathing, but now after 6 days, it seems that the fish's breathing is faster than ever. I'm thinking about doing a FW dip right now because I don't think that he could last another night w/o the medication. While observing him for a bit after feeding, he started to lay on his side, which in my book isn't a very good sign so I blew him with some water from my turkey baster which irritated him to move and is fine now. Here's a quick video of the fish and its current state.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

A couple of hours after I completed the dip I had to leave for a trip for three days and from the small time that I was still home, I could tell that the FW dip did have some effect on the fish and it did help with slowing down its breathing, but now after 6 days, it seems that the fish's breathing is faster than ever. I'm thinking about doing a FW dip right now because I don't think that he could last another night w/o the medication. While observing him for a bit after feeding, he started to lay on his side, which in my book isn't a very good sign so I blew him with some water from my turkey baster which irritated him to move and is fine now. Here's a quick video of the fish and its current state.

Yes, still breathing hard/fast. I don't see any other option that to do another FW dip.

Jay

 

[IE Reefer]

Yes, still breathing hard/fast. I don't see any other option that to do another FW dip.

Jay

I’ll have to do one after I get home today, hopefully he’ll be able to last until then. Thank you so much for your help! I’ll update you after the dip.

 

[IE Reefer]

Yes, still breathing hard/fast. I don't see any other option that to do another FW dip.

Jay

I did the fw dip on the fish a couple of hours ago and I just checked on him right now and it seems that it didn't have any effect. He's still breathing much like the previous video, hopefully he'll recover through the medication that will be coming in tomorrow.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I did the fw dip on the fish a couple of hours ago and I just checked on him right now and it seems that it didn't have any effect. He's still breathing much like the previous video, hopefully he'll recover through the medication that will be coming in tomorrow.

You won't see immediate benefit from a FW dip, in fact, it will tend to make things worse for a day or so. What happens is the dip itself increases the fish's stress and then, the FW knock some/most of the flukes off. When they leave, little open sores remain. The fish then loses blood from those sores. In extreme cases, the fish can bleed out and die from anemia. That can't be avoided, because leaving the flukes in place would also prove fatal.

If the issue is flukes (never 100% certain in these cases) the FW dip should show some benefit after 24 to 36 hours.

Jay

 

[IE Reefer]

You won't see immediate benefit from a FW dip, in fact, it will tend to make things worse for a day or so. What happens is the dip itself increases the fish's stress and then, the FW knock some/most of the flukes off. When they leave, little open sores remain. The fish then loses blood from those sores. In extreme cases, the fish can bleed out and die from anemia. That can't be avoided, because leaving the flukes in place would also prove fatal.

If the issue is flukes (never 100% certain in these cases) the FW dip should show some benefit after 24 to 36 hours.

Jay

Wow, I thought that it would just kill off the parasites and nothing else but I didn't know that it could potentially kill the fish. I'll upload a video after the 24-hour mark.

 

[IE Reefer]

You won't see immediate benefit from a FW dip, in fact, it will tend to make things worse for a day or so. What happens is the dip itself increases the fish's stress and then, the FW knock some/most of the flukes off. When they leave, little open sores remain. The fish then loses blood from those sores. In extreme cases, the fish can bleed out and die from anemia. That can't be avoided, because leaving the flukes in place would also prove fatal.

If the issue is flukes (never 100% certain in these cases) the FW dip should show some benefit after 24 to 36 hours.

Jay

The Prazipro just came in, what steps should I follow for the medication? The total volume of my aquarium plus sump is around 37g, thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The Prazipro just came in, what steps should I follow for the medication? The total volume of my aquarium plus sump is around 37g, thanks!

Interesting - I have a bottle of Prazipro that says treat every 48 hours (but that is wrong). I went online and the Hikari web site has (mostly) good instructions. I don't know if I misread the one of the bottle or if they just changed them or what, but you can follow these:

Do not stop filtration, but remove activated carbon and stop foam-fractionation (protein skimming) and UV sterilization-failure to do so will render product ineffective. SHAKE VIGOROUSLY before use. Measure Liquid PraziPro® at the rate of one (1) teaspoon (~5mL) per 20 (76L) gallons of water to be treated (one [1] fl. oz. [29.5 mL] per 120 gallons [454L]). Care should be taken to treat the exact amount of water in the system. This means deductions for substrate, rock or coral and any other internal equipment is necessary. You can calculate the amount of water in your aquarium by taking a measurement of the length x width x depth of the area with water and dividing by 231 for approximate volume. This produces a concentration of 2.5 mg/L. Distribute the proper amount around the edge of the pond or aquarium or directly in to the filter box to achieve the best overall distribution. A single treatment lasting 5-7 days may be sufficient. Retreat as necessary, but no more than once every 3 days. May be used as a preventative, at the standard dosage, when disease is likely. Do not use with any other drugs or disease treatments. May cause noticeable temporary foaming. It's important to note that most parasites in the class that PraziPro® would be used for have up to a 28 day life cycle. This means for major issues, up to four (4), uninterrupted treatments may be required to resolve the issue. Over dosing will not speed impact.

So - I would dose 2x, nine days apart.

Jay

 

[IE Reefer]

Interesting - I have a bottle of Prazipro that says treat every 48 hours (but that is wrong). I went online and the Hikari web site has (mostly) good instructions. I don't know if I misread the one of the bottle or if they just changed them or what, but you can follow these:

Do not stop filtration, but remove activated carbon and stop foam-fractionation (protein skimming) and UV sterilization-failure to do so will render product ineffective. SHAKE VIGOROUSLY before use. Measure Liquid PraziPro® at the rate of one (1) teaspoon (~5mL) per 20 (76L) gallons of water to be treated (one [1] fl. oz. [29.5 mL] per 120 gallons [454L]). Care should be taken to treat the exact amount of water in the system. This means deductions for substrate, rock or coral and any other internal equipment is necessary. You can calculate the amount of water in your aquarium by taking a measurement of the length x width x depth of the area with water and dividing by 231 for approximate volume. This produces a concentration of 2.5 mg/L. Distribute the proper amount around the edge of the pond or aquarium or directly in to the filter box to achieve the best overall distribution. A single treatment lasting 5-7 days may be sufficient. Retreat as necessary, but no more than once every 3 days. May be used as a preventative, at the standard dosage, when disease is likely. Do not use with any other drugs or disease treatments. May cause noticeable temporary foaming. It's important to note that most parasites in the class that PraziPro® would be used for have up to a 28 day life cycle. This means for major issues, up to four (4), uninterrupted treatments may be required to resolve the issue. Over dosing will not speed impact.

So - I would dose 2x, nine days apart.

Jay

Two days after the first dose of medication and it seems like the fish is breathing a lot heavier and his mouth is open wider, what should I do? Should I make a bath for him? Or still, wait the 9 days? Here's a quick video of the fish and its current state

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Two days after the first dose of medication and it seems like the fish is breathing a lot heavier and his mouth is open wider, what should I do? Should I make a bath for him? Or still, wait the 9 days? Here's a quick video of the fish and its current state

That's tough. After water quality issues, gill flukes is the most common, most easily treatable possibility here, that's why it is the go to treatment. I still don't think it is a protozoan gill disease (but maybe?). Bacterial gill diseases, viral and microsporidians can all cause rapid breathing, but except for the protozoans and bacteria, they aren't treatable.

Are you able to move the fish to a treatment tank?

Jay

 

[IE Reefer]

That's tough. After water quality issues, gill flukes is the most common, most easily treatable possibility here, that's why it is the go to treatment. I still don't think it is a protozoan gill disease (but maybe?). Bacterial gill diseases, viral and microsporidians can all cause rapid breathing, but except for the protozoans and bacteria, they aren't treatable.

Are you able to move the fish to a treatment tank?

Jay

I was too late, I couldn't find him this morning and thought I saw something suspicious in a hole, it ended up being the fish. From where the bristle worms drug him (the hole he's in is connected by corals and I'll have to cut them to separate the rocks), I don't think that I'll be able to get him out unless the hermit crabs do. Anything else that I could try to get him out? Also, I noticed that last night he wasn't eating and I kind of knew that he was close to death.

 

[IE Reefer]

Never mind, I was able to take the fish out. The worms and other critters were able to go to town on him, here's a quick video of it. Man, this sucks I really did like the little guy.

 

[IE Reefer]

I'm not really sure that it might have been flukes, my hypothesis is that the fish was stabbed by some bristle worms in the gills (since he's been the only fish that's been stabbed by the worms multiple times in my tank) and he wasn't able to remove them since they were so deep, so that's probably why the fw dip and the medicine hasnt/didn't really do anything