Red/Black marks near gills

[Dvir]

Hi,

Fish is on 3rd day of quarantine. Copper power is at 2.26.
Today I noticed these black and red marks on one side of the gills, the other side is fine. Fish is looking fine other than that

Is this an injury / disease / copper symptom?

Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi,

Fish is on 3rd day of quarantine. Copper power is at 2.26.
Today I noticed these black and red marks on one side of the gills, the other side is fine. Fish is looking fine other than that

Is this an injury / disease / copper symptom?

Thanks

There is one truism when it comes to environmental issues - if they cause problems, those are almost always symetrical. That is, if something in the water were to cause one gill edge to turn red, then both would be red.

It is probably an injury, but I can't account for what would have caused that. Injuries can become infected of course, so you'll want to watch that it doesn't grow larger.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree- looks like bruising rather than a condition

 

[Dvir]

So the plot thickens.

The fish looks a bit lethargic now and I believe I see some cloudiness in both eyes, attaching a clip and some pics. Sometimes it even looks like the fish is trying to scratch its eyes with its pectoral fins. Never seen such a behavior with fishes previously.

What do you recommend as the next step? does this look flukes related? how can I confirm?

Thanks

 

[Dvir]

Ok, now I'm getting worried since the fish is showing some of the similar symptoms I had in a previous QT cycle here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-looks-in-distress.1005342/#post-11706345 where I lost all fish. The fish is showing strange head movements and rapid burst swimming as if trying to shake something off. There is no head scratching or heavy breathing though.

The difference from that cycle is that now the fish has been in therapeutic copper before starting to develop these symptoms. I didn't sterilize the tank between these QT cycles, but I did have a regal angelfish completing a cycle in the tank without any of these symptoms, before starting this current cycle.

Last time I lost the fish within 24 hours, I hope this won't happen again. Would appreciate any help.

Thanks

 

[Dvir]

Anyone?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok, now I'm getting worried since the fish is showing some of the similar symptoms I had in a previous QT cycle here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-looks-in-distress.1005342/#post-11706345 where I lost all fish. The fish is showing strange head movements and rapid burst swimming as if trying to shake something off. There is no head scratching or heavy breathing though.

The difference from that cycle is that now the fish has been in therapeutic copper before starting to develop these symptoms. I didn't sterilize the tank between these QT cycles, but I did have a regal angelfish completing a cycle in the tank without any of these symptoms, before starting this current cycle.

Last time I lost the fish within 24 hours, I hope this won't happen again. Would appreciate any help.

Thanks

Sorry - just seeing this now.

The Naso sure looks like it has flukes: darting, head shaking, eye lesion. However, IIRC, praziquantel didn't work for your other fish, right?

Jay

 

[Dvir]

Sorry - just seeing this now.

The Naso sure looks like it has flukes: darting, head shaking, eye lesion. However, IIRC, praziquantel didn't work for your other fish, right?

Jay

@Jay Hemdal, that's correct. Is there any other medication for flukes that could be used?

I dosed prazipro about 3 hours ago and added heavy aeration. It looks like the Naso's eye is a little bit better now, less cloudy, and I think I see white spots on the tank bottom. However, the fish is still showing the other symptoms you mentioned.

Should I do anything else at this stage, like a FW bath, or just wait for now? The big difference from last time is that the fish are in therapeutic copper level from the start.

Thanks

 

[nereefpat]

If it is eye flukes, hyposalinity would be worth trying if the Prazi fails. S.G. of 1.009 for 45 days would cover ich and probably the flukes.

I'm not sure about combining that with copper, however. Let's see what Jay says.

 

[Dvir]

@Jay Hemdal , any advice?

I can drop salinity, but how gradually should I do it? I also have rubby rally pro.
Both fish are looking not so great today, breathing heavily and lethargic.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal , any advice?

I can drop salinity, but how gradually should I do it? I also have rubby rally pro.
Both fish are looking not so great today, breathing heavily and lethargic.

Ruby Reef doesn’t contain ingredients that are really good against flukes.

For flukes, you don’t need to go to full hyposalinity 1.009, you just need to get to 1.012. You can probably get there in 24 hours, but that means you’d have to do some of the drop over night, so you’d have to wake up to do that.

Jay