Help identify illness

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

Hi guys, I bought this purple tang on Thursday and put it into my QT with my other fish that have been in QT for three weeks. (My DT is fallow)

It wasn’t really eating well to start and was acting lethargic and today it has all these white flakes on it. I don’t think they look like “salt” or dots like ich or maybe i’m wrong. Can anyone help me identify it?

also, i’m worried that my other fish might catch this disease but my QT is running on cupramine at .5 and they all have been fine for three weeks. I have to keep them in there until Jan. 14th because my DT is running fallow due to what was an ich outbreak. Can fish catch a parasite when within a properly medicated tank?

Smprc · Dec 13, 2020

They look like flukes to me. You can try a freshwater dip. But others that are far more qualified hopefully will answer.

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

thanks for the reply. Can I dose prazi with the cupramine to take care of it? I took the infected fish out of QT and returned it to my LFS. They are QTing it within their system for me. My main concern now is that the flukes or whatever this fish has while in my QT transferred to the fish that were in there, whom were seemingly healthy since I acquired them on Nov. 24th. My tank is reading .48-.51 on my copper hannah checker. Now i’m thinking I should dose prazi in addition in case your hunch about the flukes is correct.

Smprc · Dec 13, 2020

Im no expert but isn't that copper level high? I believe it is safe to mix prazi with copper. However, that copper level seems high. I'll double check on some other threads but if my memory is working, I though copper should be closer to 2ish.

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

I’m sorry, I meant to type .48 to .51. This is using cupramine.

vetteguy53081 · Dec 13, 2020

I believe flukes are the issue. Have you tried freshwater dip to see if the objects you see fall off? Dark bucket is best and with freshwater the same temp as tank , allow fish to swim 5 mins and see if what looks like sesame seeds end up on bottom of bucket.
Praziquantel (praziPro) is an effective treatment IF confirmed that you have flukes. The lethargic behavior you mention is often itching and twitching and associated with flukes.

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

I did not try a freshwater dip to check for flukes. Unfortunately, I returned the fish to my LFS, as they wanted to help with their own QT system. I will let them know we suspect flukes and to treat appropriately. But since this fish was in my QT, should I now proactively dose some prazi to prevent my other fish from coming down with flukes too? I noticed my lemonpeel did not eat this morning and is staying within the pvc whereas usually he is quite boisterous and eats well.

Jay Hemdal · Dec 13, 2020

Fishtheatre said:
Hi guys, I bought this purple tang on Thursday and put it into my QT with my other fish that have been in QT for three weeks. (My DT is fallow)

It wasn’t really eating well to start and was acting lethargic and today it has all these white flakes on it. I don’t think they look like “salt” or dots like ich or maybe i’m wrong. Can anyone help me identify it?

also, i’m worried that my other fish might catch this disease but my QT is running on cupramine at .5 and they all have been fine for three weeks. I have to keep them in there until Jan. 14th because my DT is running fallow due to what was an ich outbreak. Can fish catch a parasite when within a properly medicated tank?

Can you post a short video of the fish swimming in the QT? Even a still photo would help. While prazipro can be dosed with Cupramine, it isn’t ideal, so you want ensure the treatment is actually needed.
The FW dip can be a useful diagnostic tool, but it does add capture stress to the fish’s issues.
Jay

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

The fish I have in my current QT are a chomis, starry blenny, and royal gramma that survived an ich outbreak from my DT. Also, I have added a lemonpeel angel, powder blue, yellow eye kole, clownfish and a zebra dartfish that have been eating and doing well since Nov. 24th. The tank has been running cupramine at a constant .45 to .52

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
Can you post a short video of the fish swimming in the QT? Even a still photo would help. While prazipro can be dosed with Cupramine, it isn’t ideal, so you want ensure the treatment is actually needed.
The FW dip can be a useful diagnostic tool, but it does add capture stress to the fish’s issues.
Jay

Unfortunately I returned the fish to my LFS. They will try to treat the fish in their QT system. I thought they’d probably have more experience at their disposal and be better suited to treat it. My main concern now is that the fish that have been in my QT have somehow been compromised due to being in close proximity.

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

I did take this video though. I noticed when in the tank it went from mostly staying in the corner of the tank to swimming in circles near the surface of the tank. It did swim around the tank too though.

Fishtheatre · Dec 13, 2020

Jay Hemdal · Dec 13, 2020

Well, I've never tried to diagnose a fish disease through a plastic bag before (grin). The tang is a bit thin, and has a few mucus plugs (probably not a serious issue). It is breathing a bit fast, but being in a bag like that, I would expect that. There is some general "tattering" that would push for the fluke diagnosis.

For your existing tank - I would dose the fish with Prazipro 2x, a week apart, along with the copper, but increase the aeration (not just a powerhead, but actually air bubbles).

Jay