Melanurus Wrasse has sore on his side

[thomas4887]

I have my second set of fish in quarantine. I have a Royal Gramma, Yellow Eyed Kole Tang and Melaanurus Wrasse. All are doing good and eating well. However my Melanurus wrasse has a sore on his side. I never noticed this when I purchased him from my local fish store. He is eating well and not showing any signs of stress. I have done prazi and now on my second set of general cure along with Kanaplex. I’m also feeding mysis soaked in metroplex with focus. I have attached photos of what the sore looks like. Not sure if the Tang did this to him or not. I have not noticed any aggression. I would like to start copper treatment but not sure if this will make the sore worse. Any help is appreciated.

 

[fishguy242]

Hi, Welcome to the reef...
let's get you some expert help
#fishmedic

 

[Sharkbait19]

I would say a potential bacterial infection or uronema looks to be the case.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is bacterial and most likely from a wound. As it has become infected, treatment in a quarantine setting is essential
Treatment of choice is seachem kanaplex or neoplex with kabamyacin/kanaplex as my first choice
Maintain good water quality and diet. Add aeration during treatment

 

[MnFish1]

This is bacterial and most likely from a wound. As it has become infected, treatment in a quarantine setting is essential
Treatment of choice is seachem kanaplex or neoplex with kabamyacin/kanaplex as my first choice
Maintain good water quality and diet. Add aeration during treatment

I might consider uronema - BUT either way - there is a bacterial infection as @vetteguy53081 said! Good luck!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have my second set of fish in quarantine. I have a Royal Gramma, Yellow Eyed Kole Tang and Melaanurus Wrasse. All are doing good and eating well. However my Melanurus wrasse has a sore on his side. I never noticed this when I purchased him from my local fish store. He is eating well and not showing any signs of stress. I have done prazi and now on my second set of general cure along with Kanaplex. I’m also feeding mysis soaked in metroplex with focus. I have attached photos of what the sore looks like. Not sure if the Tang did this to him or not. I have not noticed any aggression. I would like to start copper treatment but not sure if this will make the sore worse. Any help is appreciated.

The lesion isn't in the classic location for Uronema in a wrasse, but the angle, running along the line of scales is pretty similar. There is no treatment for internal uronema, so in case it isn't that, you should continue to treat with the Kanaplex. Soaking mysis in metro/focus doesn't really work, you need to actually calculate a proper dose, and then, you won't know how much medication washes off the mysids. If you made gel diet with 5000 ppm metro in it, that would be effective.

Jay

 

[thomas4887]

This is bacterial and most likely from a wound. As it has become infected, treatment in a quarantine setting is essential
Treatment of choice is seachem kanaplex or neoplex with kabamyacin/kanaplex as my first choice
Maintain good water quality and diet. Add aeration during treatment

I have been treating with general cure and kanaplex . I have aeration going in the tank and the QT tank was cycled so it has good biological filtration. Should I continue to treat with GC and Kanaplex until it is healed? I still need to run 30days of copper at 2.25 before I can move these three fish to my main tank.

 

[thomas4887]

The lesion isn't in the classic location for Uronema in a wrasse, but the angle, running along the line of scales is pretty similar. There is no treatment for internal uronema, so in case it isn't that, you should continue to treat with the Kanaplex. Soaking mysis in metro/focus doesn't really work, you need to actually calculate a proper dose, and then, you won't know how much medication washes off the mysids. If you made gel diet with 5000 ppm metro in it, that would be effective.

Jay

Ok, i will continue treating with GC and Kanaplex. I have been doing one scoop of metroplex and one scoop of focus per mysis cube thawed out. He is eating like a pig which I assume is a good sign.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have been treating with general cure and kanaplex . I have aeration going in the tank and the QT tank was cycled so it has good biological filtration. Should I continue to treat with GC and Kanaplex until it is healed? I still need to run 30days of copper at 2.25 before I can move these three fish to my main tank.

Kanaplex should be sufficient.
You mentioned copper- is this a quarantine tank ? If quarantine and no ich, focus on the would before resuming copper

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok, i will continue treating with GC and Kanaplex. I have been doing one scoop of metroplex and one scoop of focus per mysis cube thawed out. He is eating like a pig which I assume is a good sign.

yes. eating in general is a good sign, always

 

[thomas4887]

Kanaplex should be sufficient.
You mentioned copper- is this a quarantine tank ? If quarantine and no ich, focus on the would before resuming copper

Yes this is a quarantine tank. I have not started the copper yet so I will continue to treat the sore first. I appreciate your help! I will continue treating the bacterial infection and keep everyone posted on how it looks in another week.

 

[nereefpat]

Slightly off topic: I would put a sand box of some type in there for the wrasse to hide/sleep in.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

The lesion isn't in the classic location for Uronema in a wrasse, but the angle, running along the line of scales is pretty similar. There is no treatment for internal uronema, so in case it isn't that, you should continue to treat with the Kanaplex. Soaking mysis in metro/focus doesn't really work, you need to actually calculate a proper dose, and then, you won't know how much medication washes off the mysids. If you made gel diet with 5000 ppm metro in it, that would be effective.

Jay

There has been limited success in treating internal Uronema with intramuscular injections of Metronidazole. Not something most reefers can do at home, but if you are in the veterinary field or have a good relationship with a veterinarian who will treat aquatics, it is something worth trying.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

There has been limited success in treating internal Uronema with intramuscular injections of Metronidazole. Not something most reefers can do at home, but if you are in the veterinary field or have a good relationship with a veterinarian who will treat aquatics, it is something worth trying.

None of my formularies list metronidazole injectable doses. Oral is a good route, 5000 ppm in food. I think the issue with injectable is two-fold; the tiny dose needed would require a TB syringe and a serial dilution for most aquarium fish, and then I'm not sure that you can just dilute metro powder and inject it, it may need to be in a different form, or with some other solvent than water.

The biggest issue with treating Uronema is that the first symptom you see is the external lesion. The trouble is, that means the infection has been working in the muscles, undetected, for a long time prior. At that point, when the lesion breaks the surface, the damage has already been done. Perhaps treating in advance, before symptoms show, would have some benefit?

Jay

 

[Fishfreak2009]

None of my formularies list metronidazole injectable doses. Oral is a good route, 5000 ppm in food. I think the issue with injectable is two-fold; the tiny dose needed would require a TB syringe and a serial dilution for most aquarium fish, and then I'm not sure that you can just dilute metro powder and inject it, it may need to be in a different form, or with some other solvent than water.

The biggest issue with treating Uronema is that the first symptom you see is the external lesion. The trouble is, that means the infection has been working in the muscles, undetected, for a long time prior. At that point, when the lesion breaks the surface, the damage has already been done. Perhaps treating in advance, before symptoms show, would have some benefit?

Jay

So far it seems as if it has been used as an experimental treatment, in combination with freshwater baths. The veterinarian doing the treatments has been seeing pretty good results in a maroon clownfish he has been treating with confirmed internal and external Uronema.

@Jay Hemdal I'll shoot you a PM with the link.

 

[thomas4887]

Slightly off topic: I would put a sand box of some type in there for the wrasse to hide/sleep in.

I have a a tupperware container of sand for him but he only used it the first couple nights. Im not sure if his side is bothering him and that is why he stopped using it. I hope his side starts to heal because I would like to start 30days of copper treatment and move the three fish I have in QT to my direct tank.

 

[thomas4887]

unfortunately he passed this morning. He went downhill quick. His side looked like it was getting better and healing but he quit eating yesterday. Any thoughts on if this was uronema or a bacterial infection? He was in QT with two other fish so a little worried if it was uronema. I reall appreciate everyone’s help.