Harlequin tusk has dropsy?

[steven m]

I have an Aussie harlequin tusk for a week that's been in quarantine with copper power at 2.50ppm. since I received the fish it hasnt been eating and the store i bought it from says that they are really shy at first. So I took nothing of it until I saw it laying down breathing heavy and I noticed it looks bloated. So lifted up the cave that it was hiding in and I see thatoat of the scales closer to the tail area are lifted up and it looks like drosy. I'm not sure what this is and I tried to hold the fish for a better photo. Is it caused by the copper?
@Humblefish it's possible it had this for awhile but the fish was hiding in a cave so I left it in there to acclimate to the qt.

 

[sc50964]

It may be faster if you ask him here.

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[vetteguy53081]

I have an Aussie harlequin tusk for a week that's been in quarantine with copper power at 2.50ppm. since I received the fish it hasnt been eating and the store i bought it from says that they are really shy at first. So I took nothing of it until I saw it laying down breathing heavy and I noticed it looks bloated. So lifted up the cave that it was hiding in and I see thatoat of the scales closer to the tail area are lifted up and it looks like drosy. I'm not sure what this is and I tried to hold the fish for a better photo. Is it caused by the copper?
@Humblefish it's possible it had this for awhile but the fish was hiding in a cave so I left it in there to acclimate to the qt.

May be a bacterial infection but need better pics and in water to clearly see what it is
If dropsy, you will need antibiotic such as seachem kanaplex or neoplex

 

[steven m]

 

[steven m]

May be a bacterial infection but need better pics and in water to clearly see what it is
If dropsy, you will need antibiotic such as seachem kanaplex or neoplex

Fish is breathing heavy, should I do a water change and take out the copper?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fish is breathing heavy, should I do a water change and take out the copper?

Water change and increase aeration with air stone
No copper unless known parasite
You can use ruby rally pro or general cure

 

[steven m]

Water change and increase aeration with air stone
No copper unless known parasite
You can use ruby rally pro or general cure

I had ich from a fish I bought 2 weeks ago

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had ich from a fish I bought 2 weeks ago

Ruby rally will help with protection
Does that fish still have ich?
Full treatment is 30 days. If you didn’t do full treatment, there is potential for return

 

[steven m]

Ruby rally will help with protection
Does that fish still have ich?
Full treatment is 30 days. If you didn’t do full treatment, there is potential for return

The ich is gone but I was keeping them in the copper fora full treatment, but getting the tusk healthy and eating is top priority for me

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Dropsy in marine fish is REALLY rare, but that looks like it.

What is the salinity of the tank?

Dropsy is due to kidney failure. That can come from bacterial infection or from collection with cyanide. I've never seen copper cause that. The rapid breathing could be from systemic issues due to organ failure, or gill parasites.

Are you sure it is an Australian tusk? The reason I ask is that some importers know that Aussie tusks command a higher price, so they "relabel" any nice, blue tooth tusk as being "Aussie". Your LFS then doesn't know any better, so they sell it as that. The trouble is that a lot of southeast Asian tuskfish are caught with cyanide and that can cause high mortality due to organ damage.

Ultimately, being able to hold the tusk in your hand like that is a really bad sign. Since you can't treat kidney failure, I don't think there is anything to be done for it, sorry!

Jay

 

[steven m]

R

Dropsy in marine fish is REALLY rare, but that looks like it.

What is the salinity of the tank?

Dropsy is due to kidney failure. That can come from bacterial infection or from collection with cyanide. I've never seen copper cause that. The rapid breathing could be from systemic issues due to organ failure, or gill parasites.

Are you sure it is an Australian tusk? The reason I ask is that some importers know that Aussie tusks command a higher price, so they "relabel" any nice, blue tooth tusk as being "Aussie". Your LFS then doesn't know any better, so they sell it as that. The trouble is that a lot of southeast Asian tuskfish are caught with cyanide and that can cause high mortality due to organ damage.

Ultimately, being able to hold the tusk in your hand like that is a really bad sign. Since you can't treat kidney failure, I don't think there is anything to be done for it, sorry!

Jay

thank you for the help. It's really upsetting I can't do much to help it.

 

[steven m]

Dropsy in marine fish is REALLY rare, but that looks like it.

What is the salinity of the tank?

Dropsy is due to kidney failure. That can come from bacterial infection or from collection with cyanide. I've never seen copper cause that. The rapid breathing could be from systemic issues due to organ failure, or gill parasites.

Are you sure it is an Australian tusk? The reason I ask is that some importers know that Aussie tusks command a higher price, so they "relabel" any nice, blue tooth tusk as being "Aussie". Your LFS then doesn't know any better, so they sell it as that. The trouble is that a lot of southeast Asian tuskfish are caught with cyanide and that can cause high mortality due to organ damage.

Ultimately, being able to hold the tusk in your hand like that is a really bad sign. Since you can't treat kidney failure, I don't think there is anything to be done for it, sorry!

Jay

Salinity is 1.023