Internal parasites??

Fishboy9227 · Dec 18, 2020

I’ve got 3 clowns, hawk fish, fairy wrasse, and tail spot goby in QT. 9th day of copper power at 2.25. Dosed the second round of GC two days ago.

Turned the lights on this morning and the three clowns would not eat. One was swimming vertical. No visible signs on disease. I’m thinking internal parasite. Agree?

Currently have them in a 90 minute Rally Pro bath. Not sure what to do for internal parasites when they won’t eat. Thoughts?

Jay Hemdal · Dec 18, 2020

A couple of questions to rule out other possible issues: are the clowns breathing rapidly? Are they shimmying with folded fins? Can you post a short video? What is the ammonia level and what are you testing it with?

Not eating by itself doesn't point specifically to internal parasites, in fact, that may be a final symptom in many metazoan and some protozoan internal infections.

I'm a little concerned about dosing CP and GC at the same time - I know people do it, but I always worry about cross reactions in some fish (although I wouldn't expect that in clowns - more in the fairy wrasse).

I would not expect the Rally Pro bath to actually be a cure, but it might relieve the symptoms temporarily (if it is an external problem).

Jay

Fishboy9227 · Dec 18, 2020

Fishboy9227 · Dec 18, 2020

Here is a YouTube link.

this is during the bath

Fishboy9227 · Dec 18, 2020

Ammonia is not detectable via Seachem badge. Doing 20% water changes everything few days. I QT’d 5 tangs in the same manner so would be surprised if ammonia is the issue. Fairly wrasse is acting completely normal and the clowns are looking a little skinny which was leading me towards internal issues.

Jay Hemdal · Dec 18, 2020

Two of the clowns are negatively buoyant, which points to an air bladder problem. This is actually pretty rare - people attribute this to many fish, but usually they are misinterpreting something else.
I don’t see overly rapid breathing, so that rules out most external issues. The GC should have helped with internal parasites.

So - what to do? I’m not sure. One option would be to treat with antibiotics. Erythromycin (Maracyn 1) is an option many people use for internal infections.

Jay

Fishboy9227 · Dec 18, 2020

I’ve got some Furan-2 and Kanoplex on hand.

after returning to the QT tank, they started acting more normal. I’ll see if they will eat tonight. Thanks for the help!