Lesion on firefish

[hopperjl16]

Just noticed this weird lesion tonight. Only on one side, red mark that runs vertically and seems to have a small hole at the bottom. Fish still swimming and eating fine. It looks like an injury to me but I honestly have no idea. I haven't had to deal with an injury/illness before.

Thanks for any help!

 

[4FordFamily]

Looks like a sting to me but I'm not an expert. Do you have any anemones?

If it's eating well and acting normally I would just ensure that you keep up on keeping the water pristine and watch closely for infections.

 

[Triggreef]

Is just keep an eye on it for now. Many things like this heal on their own.

 

[melypr1985]

I agree. Keep an eye on it for now. If it gets worse, then we can talk about meds for him. You can give him vitamins in his food to help boost his immune system. Things like vitachem and Selcon are good choices.

 

[hopperjl16]

Ok will do, thanks. Doesn't seem to look any worse today.

 

[hopperjl16]

Looking worse today :-(. Definite hole towards the bottom that has a bloody appearance. Whole area seems darker. Still eating/swimming fine.

 

[hopperjl16]

My pistol shrimp has been fiesty lately, he's the only thing I could see hurting the firefish. Two clown fish, a watchman goby and a ruby red dragonet are all fine.

 

[melypr1985]

You may consider feeding an antibiotic in his food since he's still eating. Try kanaplex or furan 2 coupled with seachem's focus to bind it to the food. 1 tablespoon of food with 1 scoop med, 1 scoop focus. Let it soak for 20 minutes then feed once a day for 10 days straight. At the end of it reassess his condition and decide whether to continue treatment or stop.

 

[hopperjl16]

You may consider feeding an antibiotic in his food since he's still eating. Try kanaplex or furan 2 coupled with seachem's focus to bind it to the food. 1 tablespoon of food with 1 scoop med, 1 scoop focus. Let it soak for 20 minutes then feed once a day for 10 days straight. At the end of it reassess his condition and decide whether to continue treatment or stop.

Ok couple of stupid questions:

1) Can I use the initial mixture over several days? Since it seems like a large volume?

2) He eats a mixture of flake/pellets/frozen mysis. Can I mix it with any if these?

3) The other fish eat this mixture of food as well, so I'm assuming they'll consume some of the antibiotics too. This is ok?

Thank you!

 

[hopperjl16]

Shoot....just realized a problem. I'm going to be gone for 3 days this weekend. Which means I can't medicate him those days and I can't watch out for him dying and hurting my tank. Maybe I should set up a QT?

 

[4FordFamily]

You may consider feeding an antibiotic in his food since he's still eating. Try kanaplex or furan 2 coupled with seachem's focus to bind it to the food. 1 tablespoon of food with 1 scoop med, 1 scoop focus. Let it soak for 20 minutes then feed once a day for 10 days straight. At the end of it reassess his condition and decide whether to continue treatment or stop.

X2 with this, although I am no expert I am beginning to suspect uronema but it's too early to tell at this stage your best bet is the above meds.

To the op, to answer your other question a qt may work and you could put those meds in the water column instead if you're going to be out for 3 days. Just make sure it's large enough that ammonia doesn't get out of control while you're gone.

 

[hopperjl16]

X2 with this, although I am no expert I am beginning to suspect uronema but it's too early to tell at this stage your best bet is the above meds.

To the op, to answer your other question a qt may work and you could put those meds in the water column instead if you're going to be out for 3 days. Just make sure it's large enough that ammonia doesn't get out of control while you're gone.

Define "large enough"? I'm a newbie at all this. ;-)

Thank you

 

[4FordFamily]

Define "large enough"? I'm a newbie at all this. ;-)

Thank you

Depends on many factors I guess my point is that a tiny qt that will gain ammonia fast is not a good idea if you're gone for 3 days. A 20 would probably be fine, perhaps you could get away with a ten but the bigger the better in this case. Ensure good flow and or a bubbler for oxygen.

 

[Duke4Life]

Depends on many factors I guess my point is that a tiny qt that will gain ammonia fast is not a good idea if you're gone for 3 days. A 20 would probably be fine, perhaps you could get away with a ten but the bigger the better in this case. Ensure good flow and or a bubbler for oxygen.

+1

 

[melypr1985]

Ok couple of stupid questions:

1) Can I use the initial mixture over several days? Since it seems like a large volume?

2) He eats a mixture of flake/pellets/frozen mysis. Can I mix it with any if these?

3) The other fish eat this mixture of food as well, so I'm assuming they'll consume some of the antibiotics too. This is ok?

Thank you!

Yes you could use it for a couple days. I would use the frozen food. Drain the liquid after defrosting, add meds and focus, add tank water until you get a paste like consistency, then let soak. It's ok if the other fish eat it as well.

I would be better if you used a qt and dosed teh whole tank with the kanaplex or furan 2. Like 4ford said, make sure there is enough water volume to keep ammonia from being a problem. Either that or have a friend come over to do water changes on the QT while your gone. Make sure you pick somebody who doesn't say "huh?" when you say "water change" lol

 

[hopperjl16]

Thank you. Got stuff today to set up a QT tank. Sounds easier to try to treat that way. Plus if she dies when I'm gone she won't wipe out my tank. I looked up uronema since someone mentioned it and it's got me a little freaked out. What do I watch for/do if that's the case?

 

[melypr1985]

Thank you. Got stuff today to set up a QT tank. Sounds easier to try to treat that way. Plus if she dies when I'm gone she won't wipe out my tank. I looked up uronema since someone mentioned it and it's got me a little freaked out. What do I watch for/do if that's the case?

Uronema marinum:

Symptoms - These are the red sores often seen on chromis damsels. The disease seems mostly confined to damsels and clownfish, but I have seen some exceptions to that.

Treatment options - This is a very difficult disease to treat. Possible treatment options include: Metronidazole (ex. Seachem MetroPlex), acriflavine (ex. Acriflavine-MS), Chloroquine phosphate and copper. The problem is the fish can never be returned to the infected tank from which it came. Uronema is a “free living” parasite which does not require a fish host. So, going fallow will not eradicate it. Most fish seem protected from it via their natural immune system; but for some reason, chromis and some other fish are not always afforded this protection. Once a tank has Uronema, it must be assumed that the disease can survive in there almost indefinitely.

Formalin bath or freshwater dip may provide temporary relief for Uronema.

 

[4FordFamily]

Uronema marinum:

Symptoms - These are the red sores often seen on chromis damsels. The disease seems mostly confined to damsels and clownfish, but I have seen some exceptions to that.

Treatment options - This is a very difficult disease to treat. Possible treatment options include: Metronidazole (ex. Seachem MetroPlex), acriflavine (ex. Acriflavine-MS), Chloroquine phosphate and copper. The problem is the fish can never be returned to the infected tank from which it came. Uronema is a “free living” parasite which does not require a fish host. So, going fallow will not eradicate it. Most fish seem protected from it via their natural immune system; but for some reason, chromis and some other fish are not always afforded this protection. Once a tank has Uronema, it must be assumed that the disease can survive in there almost indefinitely.

Formalin bath or freshwater dip may provide temporary relief for Uronema.

For what it's worth, I am not certain it's uronemia by any means, the quick advancement from the photos and the redness had me slightly suspecting but it could also be an infection.

Good information, I've seen butterflies come down with it, a couple gobies, a rare angel and tang, etc but it is definitely most common in chromis with I would guess 9/10 cases being found in these species.

 

[melypr1985]

For what it's worth, I am not certain it's uronemia by any means, the quick advancement from the photos and the redness had me slightly suspecting but it could also be an infection.

Good information, I've seen butterflies come down with it, a couple gobies, a rare angel and tang, etc but it is definitely most common in damsels with I would guess 9/10 cases being found in these species.

+1 I only supplied the info on it since she asked. I dont think that's what it is either.

 

[hopperjl16]

Thank you both. I'll get her started on treatment and hope for the best. My husband fed the tank tonight and said she was still snatching food away from the clown fish so she's def still eating well!