Help??? Sick coral beauty

[Holly w.]

We've had her for about 3 weeks now and she was fine till about 4 days ago. Developed what we thought was ich. We immediately took her out and put her in a QT tank and started treating for ich. After 2 days just got worse. The guy at

the lps told us to add melafix to the ich treatment. Today is the 2and day of adding that treatment and she is way worse. Help... don't know what to do next...

 

[jassermd]

Let's call in the experts...
@ReefSquad @Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

That's a really sick fish... Hope they can help before it's too late.

 

[Holly w.]

Let's call in the experts...
@ReefSquad @Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

That's a really sick fish... Hope they can help before it's too late.

Yea and its progressing quickly...

 

[vetteguy53081]

HOLY MOLY !!! How long has this been going on, as it does not reach this stage overnight. There is cloudy eyes, mild fin rot, velvet and heavy infestation in general. the issue here is bacterial and protozoan which are two different treatment regimens. here you have to prioritize and I would choose to deal with the parasite first. Water quality plays an importance and will hold the bacteria at bay while treating for parasites.
I would begin with a freshwater dip for 5 minutes which will offer the fish a little relief BUT,... . This fish is in such distress that making a temp will either give it relief or offer added distress.
The remedy for the eyes are ehthromyacin AKA Maracyn 1. Fin and tail rot would be Maracyn 2 but with the parasite treatment, you can safely use ruby Rally Pro which will address the secondary issues.
For the velvet. . . . velvet spots on the fish that are much finer than the spots seen in Ich making it harder to catch until in cases too late to treat.
Some behaviors associated with a fish with velvet are :
- Scratching body against hard objects
- Fish is lethargic
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Rapid, labored breathing
- Fins clamped against the body
- rapid breathing and mucus around the gills

Fish with velvet will typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium. As the disease progresses outwards from the gills, the cysts then become visible on the fins and body. Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, like the first sign of Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease, what sets Oodinium apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet-like film, thus the name Velvet Disease.
IF YOURE NOT SEEING WHAT IS DESCRIBED, THEN WE HAVE ICH. Both treat similarly and I would say safe is Copper safe but must be done is a separate quarantine tank.

Is fish eating?
Is it breathing fast or normal?

Melafix is a teak tree oil and will do very little other than aid with fin rot and such.

 

[Holly w.]

HOLY MOLY !!! How long has this been going on, as it does not reach this stage overnight. There is cloudy eyes, mild fin rot, velvet and heavy infestation in general. the issue here is bacterial and protozoan which are two different treatment regimens. here you have to prioritize and I would choose to deal with the parasite first. Water quality plays an importance and will hold the bacteria at bay while treating for parasites.
I would begin with a freshwater dip for 5 minutes which will offer the fish a little relief BUT,... . This fish is in such distress that making a temp will either give it relief or offer added distress.
The remedy for the eyes are ehthromyacin AKA Maracyn 1. Fin and tail rot would be Maracyn 2 but with the parasite treatment, you can safely use ruby Rally Pro which will address the secondary issues.
For the velvet. . . . velvet spots on the fish that are much finer than the spots seen in Ich making it harder to catch until in cases too late to treat.
Some behaviors associated with a fish with velvet are :
- Scratching body against hard objects
- Fish is lethargic
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Rapid, labored breathing
- Fins clamped against the body
- rapid breathing and mucus around the gills

Fish with velvet will typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium. As the disease progresses outwards from the gills, the cysts then become visible on the fins and body. Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, like the first sign of Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease, what sets Oodinium apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet-like film, thus the name Velvet Disease.
IF YOURE NOT SEEING WHAT IS DESCRIBED, THEN WE HAVE ICH. Both treat similarly and I would say safe is Copper safe but must be done is a separate quarantine tank.

Is fish eating?
Is it breathing fast or normal?

Melafix is a teak tree oil and will do very little other than aid with fin rot and such.

No not eating and fast breathing

 

[vetteguy53081]

No not eating and fast breathing

Yes- get treatment going ASAP. - This fish quite frankly is in trouble

 

[Holly w.]

Ok thank you for your insight! Hopefully its not to late

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

We've had her for about 3 weeks now and she was fine till about 4 days ago. Developed what we thought was ich. We immediately took her out and put her in a QT tank and started treating for ich. After 2 days just got worse. The guy at

the lps told us to add melafix to the ich treatment. Today is the 2and day of adding that treatment and she is way worse. Help... don't know what to do next...

Sorry - I am just seeing this now, I hit the rack early last night. The fish may not be alive this morning;

That is a severe case of Cryptocaryon (ich). Melafix rarely works on anything but the most mild case of ich.
I also see some fin erosion on the pectoral fins - could be a secondary infection from the severe case of ich, but you also need to rule out another fish having bitten it.

If it is still alive, you should measure the ammonia in the tank to ensure it is below 0.25 ppm. Then, the best treatment to use is copper. However, copper can take up to three days to work, and this fish doesn't likely have three days. You could try a "Hail Mary" 5 minute freshwater dip to see if it buys you some time, but the fish may not survive that.

Assuming the worst, you need to go into damage control - what else is in your display tank? Any other fish? How do they look? You'll need to leave your display tank empty of fish for at least 45 days, more likely 76 days, to ensure that the ich parasite dies out from lack of any hosts.

Jay

 

[Holly w.]

Sorry - I am just seeing this now, I hit the rack early last night. The fish may not be alive this morning;

That is a severe case of Cryptocaryon (ich). Melafix rarely works on anything but the most mild case of ich.
I also see some fin erosion on the pectoral fins - could be a secondary infection from the severe case of ich, but you also need to rule out another fish having bitten it.

If it is still alive, you should measure the ammonia in the tank to ensure it is below 0.25 ppm. Then, the best treatment to use is copper. However, copper can take up to three days to work, and this fish doesn't likely have three days. You could try a "Hail Mary" 5 minute freshwater dip to see if it buys you some time, but the fish may not survive that.

Assuming the worst, you need to go into damage control - what else is in your display tank? Any other fish? How do they look? You'll need to leave your display tank empty of fish for at least 45 days, more likely 76 days, to ensure that the ich parasite dies out from lack of any hosts.

Jay

Thank you for the advise but she didn't make it through the night... are there any steps I should take to get the tank ready to go again?? There's still a snowflake eel, ch. Chip starfish, and a couple snails and hermit crabs still in the tank.