Possible Ich?

[Tammylas]

I’m new here. Can anyone confirm that we are dealing with ich on our Flagfin Angel? If you zoom the photo in it’s on his fin.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’m new here. Can anyone confirm that we are dealing with ich on our Flagfin Angel? If you zoom the photo in it’s on his fin.

Seldom I can, but was Able to zoom in on fish and see dots confined to the fin of the fish in which this is a fish susceptible to what is known as Lymphocystis Which starts at fins and with good water quality and diet often this will fall off on its own.
Assure you dont have elevated nitrates and ammonia and salinity is 1.024-1.025
For foods, I recommend:
SFB or Hikari Angel formula
LRS Herbivore diet
spirulina brine shrimp
Mysis Shrimp
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
Small plankton

Add selcon vitamins to the foods occasionally for overall stamina and the garlic will help with immune system

 

[MnFish1]

I do not see Ich - but - again - Its difficult. If the fish is in the position in the photo - continuously - this is a serious issue - his/her abdomen looks extremely swollen, etc. I apologize that I can't enlarge your picture - this looks like a very sick fish. Without more information - it's hard to day - If it has Cryptocaryon - it seems like it also has something else - based only on the picture. PS - Welcome. @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’m new here. Can anyone confirm that we are dealing with ich on our Flagfin Angel? If you zoom the photo in it’s on his fin.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That fish is in a weird orientation, is it able to swim normally? Is it breathing fast?
Are there other fish in the tank? How are they?
How long have you had this fish?

I see some damage to its tail fin, but it also looks like a fine dusting of spots on the fish's back (or is that a reflection of the light?). If it is breathing fast, I would say it has severe Amyloodinium (Velvet).

Jay

 

[Tamberav]

Looks like another fish attacked it's tail or a bacterial issue. I see spots on the fin, sort of looks like early lympho to me.

 

[Tammylas]

Seldom I can, but was Able to zoom in on fish and see dots confined to the fin of the fish in which this is a fish susceptible to what is known as Lymphocystis Which starts at fins and with good water quality and diet often this will fall off on its own.
Assure you dont have elevated nitrates and ammonia and salinity is 1.024-1.025
For foods, I recommend:
SFB or Hikari Angel formula
LRS Herbivore diet
spirulina brine shrimp
Mysis Shrimp
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
Small plankton

Add selcon vitamins to the foods occasionally for overall stamina and the garlic will help with immune system

Thank you for all that information, water quality was good (we use test strips at home, but take samples in to a LFS since the strips aren’t the most reliable). We do use most of the foods you listed as well. Will look into lymphocystis, I’m not familiar with that one. I appreciate your response.

 

[Tammylas]

Looks like another fish attacked it's tail or a bacterial issue. I see spots on the fin, sort of looks like early lympho to me.

Sadly, since this fish started having issues, I’ve caught a fire shrimp nibbling on the tail. Thank you for the information, appreciate it very much. I’ll look into lympho.

 

[Tamberav]

Sadly, since this fish started having issues, I’ve caught a fire shrimp nibbling on the tail. Thank you for the information, appreciate it very much. I’ll look into lympho.

Sorry to hear, lympho isn't a problem but a sign the immune system of the fish is low. The bacterial infection and possible bloating are though.

Sounds like the fish might be on it's way out I would try a methylene blue bath and move to QT with antibiotics but sounds like it may be too late.

 

[Tammylas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That fish is in a weird orientation, is it able to swim normally? Is it breathing fast?
Are there other fish in the tank? How are they?
How long have you had this fish?

I see some damage to its tail fin, but it also looks like a fine dusting of spots on the fish's back (or is that a reflection of the light?). If it is breathing fast, I would say it has severe Amyloodinium (Velvet).

Jay

We added this fish on 9/21, it got very stressed during transport and acclimating, but seemed ok after being added to the tank. After about a week, it stopped eating for a couple of days, then resumed. After another week that’s when he started swimming weird and stopped eating a second time, and we noticed the places on the pectoral fins. Breathing has definitely become labored in the last week. I’ve honestly expected it to pass for the last couple of days but it keeps hanging on. All other fish in the tank are fine, some are ones we’ve had since 2019. If this is velvet, how do they get that, and do we need to be concerned about the other fish in the tank? The tail fin damage is from a fire shrimp that we’ve caught nibbling .

 

[Tammylas]

Sorry to hear, lympho isn't a problem but a sign the immune system of the fish is low. The bacterial infection and possible bloating are though.

Sounds like the fish might be on it's way out I would try a methylene blue bath and move to QT with antibiotics but sounds like it may be too late.

Sadly, I can’t imagine it’s going to recover. We do not have a QT, but after dealing with this, we will sure be setting one up. Will all of this possibly impact our other healthy fish?

 

[Tammylas]

I do not see Ich - but - again - Its difficult. If the fish is in the position in the photo - continuously - this is a serious issue - his/her abdomen looks extremely swollen, etc. I apologize that I can't enlarge your picture - this looks like a very sick fish. Without more information - it's hard to day - If it has Cryptocaryon - it seems like it also has something else - based only on the picture. PS - Welcome. @Jay Hemdal

Thank you, sadly the last few days it’s become worse and is laying on its side most of the time or leaning against a rock. It’s so sad to watch it go through this and not know what to do. LFS had us start treatment for ich, but it doesn’t sound like anyone thinks that’s the issue here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you, sadly the last few days it’s become worse and is laying on its side most of the time or leaning against a rock. It’s so sad to watch it go through this and not know what to do. LFS had us start treatment for ich, but it doesn’t sound like anyone thinks that’s the issue here.

Sounds like fish is becomming Moribund and weakening. Have dots increased or remained the same ? Not so much that shrimp is going after the fish but recognizes the fish is weak.
Test strips are less than reliable as are ammonia badges which both also work for freshwater also.
I highly recommend to invest in Hanna or salifert test kits. I will not risk a vial of $7 strips or a $24 master kit to sustain a few hundred dollars of livestock.

 

[MnFish1]

Thank you, sadly the last few days it’s become worse and is laying on its side most of the time or leaning against a rock. It’s so sad to watch it go through this and not know what to do. LFS had us start treatment for ich, but it doesn’t sound like anyone thinks that’s the issue here.

The answer - IF its velvet - your other fish are also at risk. I would carefully watch them. I would also have some Copper on hand - and a hospital tank set up (as you've planned)

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

We added this fish on 9/21, it got very stressed during transport and acclimating, but seemed ok after being added to the tank. After about a week, it stopped eating for a couple of days, then resumed. After another week that’s when he started swimming weird and stopped eating a second time, and we noticed the places on the pectoral fins. Breathing has definitely become labored in the last week. I’ve honestly expected it to pass for the last couple of days but it keeps hanging on. All other fish in the tank are fine, some are ones we’ve had since 2019. If this is velvet, how do they get that, and do we need to be concerned about the other fish in the tank? The tail fin damage is from a fire shrimp that we’ve caught nibbling .

Given the number of days it has had issues, it most likely is not velvet (that kills fish very quickly).
The swelling of the abdomen that somebody else noted is a concern - could be a sign of some internal infection and those are difficult to treat.
One issue that causes rapid breathing, but doesn’t kill fish too quickly are gill flukes. You could try a 5 minute freshwater dip, it could help diagnose that by offering some relief and you might even see flukes in the dip water. HOWEVER, the fish seems pretty far gone and the FW dip is stressful, it might kill it outright.
Jay

 

[Tammylas]

Sounds like fish is becomming Moribund and weakening. Have dots increased or remained the same ? Not so much that shrimp is going after the fish but recognizes the fish is weak.
Test strips are less than reliable as are ammonia badges which both also work for freshwater also.
I highly recommend to invest in Hanna or salifert test kits. I will not risk a vial of $7 strips or a $24 master kit to sustain a few hundred dollars of livestock.

Dots have remained the same. Thank you for the suggestions on test kits, that will be next on the list of purchases for sure!

 

[Tammylas]

Given the number of days it has had issues, it most likely is not velvet (that kills fish very quickly).
The swelling of the abdomen that somebody else noted is a concern - could be a sign of some internal infection and those are difficult to treat.
One issue that causes rapid breathing, but doesn’t kill fish too quickly are gill flukes. You could try a 5 minute freshwater dip, it could help diagnose that by offering some relief and you might even see flukes in the dip water. HOWEVER, the fish seems pretty far gone and the FW dip is stressful, it might kill it outright.
Jay

Thank you for that additional information. Now I'm curious about gill flukes and will research that further. I realize he's too far gone, but makes me wonder what causes them. Also, the first couple days in the tank, he would open his gills and let the cleaner shrimp go to town cleaning........ which really makes me wonder about those. The next dose of treatment for ich was supposed to be this evening, do you, or anyone else have a recommendation if that should be continued?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for that additional information. Now I'm curious about gill flukes and will research that further. I realize he's too far gone, but makes me wonder what causes them. Also, the first couple days in the tank, he would open his gills and let the cleaner shrimp go to town cleaning........ which really makes me wonder about those. The next dose of treatment for ich was supposed to be this evening, do you, or anyone else have a recommendation if that should be continued?

Oh yeah, if it was opening it’s gills for shrimp it almost 100% had gill flukes.
Jay