Lost one anthias, looking for help with diagnosis

[dhboiler]

I had two lyretail anthias in QT for observation. They had been there about a week eating well and swimming fine. Then last night I noticed one was pale and bruised under the gills. I tested for ammonia and nitrite and had no traces. She was also was breathing rapidly and the fin on the more bruised gill side was clamped and frayed. I gave her a freshwater dip and found what may have been one fluke, but not for sure. This morning she died.
The other fish seems unaffected except for a small white spot that I thought may be damage since the other fish was the more aggressive, so I'd like to get a diagnosis to know how to proceed with her treatment. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[MnFish1]

Question - so - if I'm reading correctly - there is one anthia left? Can you explain what the pictures are of? In one picture there are 2. In one picture it looks like there is live rock with an anemone (suggesting you're using an observation only QT?

In any case - it would be nice to have some more information - have you used any medication? IMHO - it could be uronema or a bacterial infection such as vibrio. In either case - I would remove the living stuff - and begin treatment (I would start with an antibiotic such as kanaplex). It would be helpful to have more information, though

 

[MnFish1]

PS - welome to R2R. Can you see in my signature - the 'How to ask for disease diagnosis help link'?

 

[dhboiler]

Thanks for the response and sorry. I'll check your signature. I'm not exactly new here, but I'm not a frequent poster.
1. Yes. One fish is remaining.
Pic 1. The fish that died in it's freshwater bath. It was the best picture I could get if the underside of her gills.
Pic 2. The sick fish swimming swimming where you can see her bruised side and clamped/frayed fin.
Pic 3. Best pic of the white spot on the still living fish's head.
Pic 4: now dead fish's side where you can see that it's pale under her gills.
2. Yes it's an observation qt. I prefer to do a week in observation to get settled before treating anything. Especially anthias.
I started prazipro last night. I usually do that after a week for a few treatments. I have metro, kani and some other antibiotics on hand. I have plenty of water on hand to do a large water change to clear the prazi if necessary or even to do a tank transfer

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the response and sorry. I'll check your signature. I'm not exactly new here, but I'm not a frequent poster.
1. Yes. One fish is remaining.
Pic 1. The fish that died in it's freshwater bath. It was the best picture I could get if the underside of her gills.
Pic 2. The sick fish swimming swimming where you can see her bruised side and clamped/frayed fin.
Pic 3. Best pic of the white spot on the still living fish's head.
Pic 4: now dead fish's side where you can see that it's pale under her gills.
2. Yes it's an observation qt. I prefer to do a week in observation to get settled before treating anything. Especially anthias.
I started prazipro last night. I usually do that after a week for a few treatments. I have metro, kani and some other antibiotics on hand. I have plenty of water on hand to do a large water change to clear the prazi if necessary or even to do a tank transfer

I generally dive right in to preventative quarantine, but I sometimes give anthias 48 hours to settle in.
That said, we are seeing a LOT of Uronema in this species, and to be honest, I don’t know of an effective treatment for that. The symptoms here aren’t clear cut Uronema, but I also can’t rule it out.
Did the dead anthias have its mouth wide open?
Jay

 

[dhboiler]

It did not. I should have had sent these earlier, I took pics of the body. I can't remember for sure if it was open in the tank, but I'd lean toward no.
I felt the fish's behavior didn't match up to the uronema or flukes totally, but uronema is obviously the biggest fear. The fish was still eating well right up until the end.
Aside from the spot in the original post picture, I've seen no sign of issues on the remaining fish and it continues to eat well.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It did not. I should have had sent these earlier, I took pics of the body. I can't remember for sure if it was open in the tank, but I'd lean toward no.
I felt the fish's behavior didn't match up to the uronema or flukes totally, but uronema is obviously the biggest fear. The fish was still eating well right up until the end.
Aside from the spot in the original post picture, I've seen no sign of issues on the remaining fish and it continues to eat well.

Without a microscope I can’t say for certain, but I’m leaning away from Uronema now. That discolored belly could be bacterial.
Jay

 

[dhboiler]

Without a microscope I can’t say for certain, but I’m leaning away from Uronema now. That discolored belly could be bacterial.
Jay

Thanks for the response. I moved her to a clean sterile tank and started her on kanaplex.
I was able to get a good pic of the spot on her head while I had her in the specimen container. Doesn't look good, but she was swimming around. I haven't offered food yet.

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks for the response. I moved her to a clean sterile tank and started her on kanaplex.
I was able to get a good pic of the spot on her head while I had her in the specimen container. Doesn't look good, but she was swimming around. I haven't offered food yet.

To me - that is an injury +/- a bacterial infection - with still (to me) potential uronema. great picture

 

[zheka757]

that looks like uronema, fastest thing that can kill a fish. seeing that many times trying to quarantine them, would start with 10 end up with 2-3 survived. same goes for cromies.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the response. I moved her to a clean sterile tank and started her on kanaplex.
I was able to get a good pic of the spot on her head while I had her in the specimen container. Doesn't look good, but she was swimming around. I haven't offered food yet.

This looks more like a strike injury to me - are there scales missing? That doesn’t happen with Uronema.
Jay

 

[dhboiler]

This looks more like a strike injury to me - are there scales missing? That doesn’t happen with Uronema.
Jay

I can't see any scales missing. The pictures are about as good of a look as I've gotten as well. The fish that died was the more aggressive of the two, so I wasn't ruling out aggression. She was out and about last night but hid the second I came in the room. Hopefully tonight she'll eat and I can get a better look. I dropped a few pellets last night and didn't see them later, but they could just be sucked into the sponge filter.

 

[ClownSchool]

I had two lyretail anthias in QT for observation. They had been there about a week eating well and swimming fine. Then last night I noticed one was pale and bruised under the gills. I tested for ammonia and nitrite and had no traces. She was also was breathing rapidly and the fin on the more bruised gill side was clamped and frayed. I gave her a freshwater dip and found what may have been one fluke, but not for sure. This morning she died.
The other fish seems unaffected except for a small white spot that I thought may be damage since the other fish was the more aggressive, so I'd like to get a diagnosis to know how to proceed with her treatment. Thanks in advance for any help.

This info is sourced from my LFS guy, so I’m not sure how it stacks up to those who really know this fish, but I was told if you want two in your tank, you should buy five. Their survival rate isn’t very high.
This may only be true based on how he sources his livestock, but for what it’s worth, that’s what he said.

 

[dhboiler]

This info is sourced from my LFS guy, so I’m not sure how it stacks up to those who really know this fish, but I was told if you want two in your tank, you should buy five. Their survival rate isn’t very high.
This may only be true based on how he sources his livestock, but for what it’s worth, that’s what he said.

I've never heard that, but it does make sense. Kind of like how they say just buy all the neon tetras in a store tank and let them sort it out. I was going for a school of 3-4. I have two in the tank as it stands, and use an acclimation box to introduce them.

 

[MnFish1]

I've never heard that, but it does make sense. Kind of like how they say just buy all the neon tetras in a store tank and let them sort it out. I was going for a school of 3-4. I have two in the tank as it stands, and use an acclimation box to introduce them.

I think you are making a broad generaliation that may be true.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I've never heard that, but it does make sense. Kind of like how they say just buy all the neon tetras in a store tank and let them sort it out. I was going for a school of 3-4. I have two in the tank as it stands, and use an acclimation box to introduce them.

If you can find this species sourced from East Africa, they tend to hold up a lot better.
Jay

 

[dhboiler]

Update: It's really hard to see, but it does look like some scales might be missing. The fish is swimming normally and is eating well. I'll continue to monitor.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Update: It's really hard to see, but it does look like some scales might be missing. The fish is swimming normally and is eating well. I'll continue to monitor.

IMO - since the fish is still eating, I don’t think this is Uronema. Fingers crossed!

Jay

 

[dhboiler]

Well, unfortunately when I got home from work, I found the fish dead. I'm attaching post mortem pics, but my best guess is a bad bacterial infection or uronema, as you all said. Either way I'm just glad this showed up before they made it to the display tank. Thanks for the help from everyone that chimed in. It was greatly appreciated.

 

[LeftyReefer]

double bummer.