Regal Angel Fin Issue

[Orly20]

Hi guys,

I got this little guy last week, it was eating live brine. It’s now eating LRS and mysis shrimp aggressively several times throughout the day.

Today I saw it in a corner a little shutdown and when I looked closer I noticed it’s fins a bit torn. I suspect it’s fin rot but I wanted a second opinion before treating with Kanaplex?

I appreciate the responses

 

[Maritimer]

Kanaplex shouldn't hurt.

Has the fish been treated for anything since you got her?

~Bruce

 

[Orly20]

Kanaplex shouldn't hurt.

Has the fish been treated for anything since you got her?

~Bruce

Appreciate the response

No I haven’t yet

Planning on doing two rounds of prazi and coppersafe for 30 days

 

[Orly20]

Another thing I notice is that it doesn’t move the fins much now, they look stiff

 

[Maritimer]

I have seen that sort of behavior in bacterial infections - and some of them move _fast_. You may want to go for the full "trifecta" - Kanaplex, Metroplex and Furan-2.

Possible that @melypr1985 or @Humblefish can offer more clarity on the subject when they drop by.

~Bruce

 

[Humblefish]

Clamped fins & hiding in a corner are both signs of flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flukes-–-general-guidelines.224423/

I would FW dip for 5 mins to confirm/rule that possibility out: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree I’d start freshwater dip in dark bucket and look for fluke “sesame seeds”. If that yields nothing, I’d treat for bacterial inflections with the trifecta mentioned by @Maritimer.

Regals are particularly susceptible to bacterial infections, they’ve plagued more of my regal angels than any other fish. Damaging the fins as you describe can be both. If you have flukes, it can also lead to infection.

 

[melypr1985]

Freshwater dip is where I would start. An acriflavin bath after he has recovered some from the freshwater dip would be helpful with the fins.

 

[Orly20]

Hi Everyone
I was only able to get Kanaplex and I had metro already, dosed last night. Today it was way worst breathing heavy and not able to swim upright
I did the 5 minute dip just now

I can’t see any evidence of fluke in the dark bucket

It doesn’t look like it’s going to make it

 

[Orly20]

I’m amazed at how fast the fish went down hill
It was eating extremely well with no signs of head twitching or scratching

I was able to observe the fish for over 30 minutes twice a day w no evidence of infection

 

[Orly20]

Well i just found it dead
So upsetting, it was eating so well and in 24 hours it went down hill fast

I put it back in the freshwater bucket to see if anything comes off

You can see how the fin rot was evident on the tail this morning as well.

I wish I knew for certain what it was that killed such a healthy looking fish so quickly

 

[Orly20]

The small green strands are small pieces of cheato that were stuck to the bucket

 

[Humblefish]

If it had a gram negative infection, that can kill faster than velvet.

Hindsight is 20/20, but did you increase gas exchange after dosing those 2 antibiotics? One of the things I dread about having to use antibiotics is how much they can deplete oxygen out of the water...

 

[4FordFamily]

Another thing to consider is the region the fish was collected from — the indo variety (most commonly found gray belly regal) are notorious for poor collection methods and many suspect they still use cyanide for collection

It’s relatively common for fish collected this way to seemingly die out of nowhere within the first few months. There are many other reasons this can happen, but gray belly regals are very difficult, more so than most of their yellow belly cousins (except Sumatran, I don’t know why but those yellow belly are just as tough maybe harder IME).

Sorry for your loss, whether gill damage from velvet, a gram negative infection, or perhaps low oxygen after treatment, or something completely outside of your control like collection methods — it’s still no fun to lose a fish.

 

[Maritimer]

So very sorry to hear this gal didn't make it. They're such beautiful fish, with such a fragile reputation ... they can be a real roller-coaster ride.

~Bruce

 

[Orly20]

Hi

I think it was a gram negative infection, it moved too quickly.
I had an air stone in the qt since day one.

I totally agree about the collection method played a roll. I remember reading this many times but still choose to try my luck. Maybe getting it to pull through qt would have been nice

 

[Orly20]

I really appreciate the help everyone as always. You guys make it the best forum by far

I don’t plan on getting anymore fish for now and going to focus on Corals.

I know you should qt Corals as well but that’s a whole other story