Pink Margin Fairy Disease?

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

I have had a pink margin fairy in qt for two weeks and have yet to see it eat. At times it kind of floats around slowly. That’s the most active that I’ve seen it. There are no visible signs or symptoms of disease. For the most part, it just rests, upright, on the bottom of the tank. The only oddity was during acclimation. When I tested the water in the bag from the LFS that I purchased it from, the s.g. was at 1.030. I drip acclimated it for an hour to match my qt salinity of 1.025. The fish just came in that day, so I’m assuming it quickly went from a much lower salinity from their wholesaler. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been afraid to medicate with anything because it hasn’t been eating. The other fish in the tank (a 20 long) are fine.

Flippers4pups · Nov 29, 2018

Is it's eyes cloudy? Looks that way.

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Is it's eyes cloudy? Looks that way.

I think it’s just the picture, but I’ll check when I get home tonight.

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Is it's eyes cloudy? Looks that way.

I just watched a video I took that I can’t figure out how to upload. The center of the eye does look cloudy. Flukes?

Flippers4pups · Nov 29, 2018

When you drip acclimated, did you remove some water from the container it was in periodically? Could be ammonia burn.

Flippers4pups · Nov 29, 2018

VJM 21 said:
I just watched a video I took that I can’t figure out how to upload. The center of the eye does look cloudy. Flukes?

Could be. Fresh water dip may tell.

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
When you drip acclimated, did you remove some water from the container it was in periodically? Could be ammonia burn.

I did. I typically drip for 20 minutes, then remove water, then continue dripping (when a long acclimation is necessary).

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Could be. Fresh water dip may tell.

Thanks for your help. I’ll give that a shot.

Flippers4pups · Nov 29, 2018

VJM 21 said:
I did. I typically drip for 20 minutes, then remove water, then continue dripping (when a long acclimation is necessary).

Okay, good.

With pinks, it's difficult to see parasites, especially velvet. Don't think it's velvet, as it would have killed pretty quickly.

Flukes is a real possibility, as is internal parasites. Ever seen it poop?

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Okay, good.

With pinks, it's difficult to see parasites, especially velvet. Don't think it's velvet, as it would have killed pretty quickly.

Flukes is a real possibility, as is internal parasites. Ever seen it poop?

I saw some poop on the bottom of the tank last week. It was mostly white, but not stringy white like you’d expect with internal worms. It reminded me more of the poop that a large yellow-flanked used to drop in there, lol. I also didn’t see it hanging from the fish either, although I may have just missed that.

Flippers4pups · Nov 29, 2018

VJM 21 said:
I saw some poop on the bottom of the tank last week. It was mostly white, but not stringy white like you’d expect with internal worms. It reminded me more of the poop that a large yellow-flanked used to drop in there, lol. I also didn’t see it hanging from the fish either, although I may have just missed that.

I'd fresh water dip first to see if it has flukes and then treat all fish for internal parasites as a precaution. Wrasses are know for internal parasites.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-diseases-101.189284/

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
I'd fresh water dip first to see if it has flukes and then treat all fish for internal parasites as a precaution. Wrasses are know for internal parasites.

Will do - thanks again

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-diseases-101.189284/

ii

Flippers4pups · Nov 29, 2018

VJM 21 said:
ii

Good luck! Hope it pulls through.

4FordFamily · Nov 29, 2018

Long acclamations lead go ammonia burns. Wrasse don’t do well with that. Going down in salinity can be done pretty quickly without trouble— going up is where osmotic shock becomes a danger.

Let us know the results of the freshwater dip.

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

4FordFamily said:
Long acclamations lead go ammonia burns. Wrasse don’t do well with that. Going down in salinity can be done pretty quickly without trouble— going up is where osmotic shock becomes a danger.

Let us know the results of the freshwater dip.

No flukes after the dip. It was a pretty low-stress event until he jumped out of the container as I was getting ready to put him back in (d’oh). Fortunately he landed on carpet. Thanks for the info about the acclimation. I wasn’t sure how dangerous it would be to go down quickly. I did get a very large bag for the fish from the LFS. Hopefully that helped.

So cloudy eyes, lethargy, and lack of appetite. Bacterial infection?

4FordFamily · Nov 29, 2018

VJM 21 said:
No flukes after the dip. It was a pretty low-stress event until he jumped out of the container as I was getting ready to put him back in (d’oh). Fortunately he landed on carpet. Thanks for the info about the acclimation. I wasn’t sure how dangerous it would be to go down quickly. I did get a very large bag for the fish from the LFS. Hopefully that helped.

So cloudy eyes, lethargy, and lack of appetite. Bacterial infection?

It’s a good guess. Couldn’t hurt to try some NFG.

VJM 21 · Nov 29, 2018

4FordFamily said:
It’s a good guess. Couldn’t hurt to try some NFG.

Is there a specific brand of NFG that you’d recommend? I have Kanaplex, but I’ll have to look for NFG tomorrow.

4FordFamily · Nov 30, 2018

VJM 21 said:
Is there a specific brand of NFG that you’d recommend? I have Kanaplex, but I’ll have to look for NFG tomorrow.

Any nitrofuracin green should work

Paul B · Nov 30, 2018

I would not do anything to those fish except put them in a real tank. They hate to be out in the open and hate PVC pipes even more as they are very un natural. That Gecko Gobi also. I have 2 of them and have never seen them yet except for a split second when I feed them. All of those fish just need a safe, secure, real tank.
That is the reason 99.0% of fish don't eat and croak just after we get them. If you feel you really need to put them somewhere besides your tank, at least put some real rock in there and some sand. Even in a PVC pipe they don't feel safe because they want rough surfaces where another fish can't come in there and eat them.
But what do I know?

Good luck to all of you. I hope they all make it.

SashimiTurtle · Nov 30, 2018

Wrasse are notorious for flukes and internal parasites. It's best to assume all new wrasse have them and treat in QT to remove. I like to use API General Cure as it has parazi and metro in one dose. I let the fish settle in QT for a week and observe. I usually have a small piece or two of live rock in there for cover instead of PVC. If I don't see anything emergent in the first week, then go thru the treatment with GC. After that the fish is usually observed for a week and added to the display, unless I see signs of internal parasites after the GC. Then I would treat food with metro and focus for 10 days.