Saltwater Fish Disease Database

[SeahorseKeeper]

At some point in time, most hobbyists will face a fish that comes down with a disease. The purpose of this database is to serve as a guide for people to use to help diagnose their fish. Please use the following format to help fill up the database. Thanks!


Disease Name:

Symptoms:

Cause:

Treatment:

Prognosis:

Preventative Measures (if applicable):

Pics:

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Disease Name: Lymphocystis (lympho for short)


Symptoms: Lesions on a fish that resemble a cauliflower or wart. The lesions can range in size from tiny like a grain of sand or much larger.


Cause: The disease is caused by a virus and is transmitted through direct contact with the virus. It is NOT highly contagious to other fish.


Treatment: The best course of treatment is to quarantine the affected fish in an established quarantine tank. The fish needs to be in a stable tank that is stress free. This is because it is caused by a virus and the virus must run its course. It is important to do everything possible to reduce the stress level of the fish. The fish should also be fed quite well. I recommend feeding frozen food and to soak the food in selcon or zoe.

To help put lympho in perspective, it is very similar to the human cold virus and how there is no cure, but ways to ease the symptoms. This includes making sure that we are well rested and eat nutritiously.


Preventative Measures (if applicable): The best preventative measure is to maintain good water quality and ensure to choose tank inhabitants wisely. Calm environments help to reduce the chances of lymphocystis from popping up.

Prognosis: Lympho is not a death sentence, especially if the fish is quarantined to a stress free environment. If the fish is in a stressful environment, it is possible to for fish to contract other illnesses such as fungal or bacterial infections. This is due to having a compromised immune system.


Pics:

Trigger with lympho https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-discussion/97087-blue-throat-trigger-fish-stuff-mouth.html

 

[Aquaph8]

Great thread Krista, I made it a sticky

 

[Jon Schutte]

Disease Name:fish flukes

Symptoms:Fish will dart or scratch. Can see cloudy spots on the eyes and in bad infestations on the body and fins too.

Cause:Usually attaches to fish at a holding facility or in transit when stressed. Many stores have many disease issues that stem from these little guys.

Treatment:The best way is to quarantine and treat with praziquantel (prazipro). Must keep well feed, temp stable, and a clean water quality
If the fish is strong to began with. I have done freshwater dips with methalyne blue. Takes about 2 minutes for the flukes to turn opaque in color and then use a turkey baster to blow off any stragglers.

Prognosis: The flukes themselves aren't hard to get rid of. It's the other diseases that take advantage of the compromised immune system that usually takes the fish out

Preventative Measures (if applicable): quarantine all fish for several weeks and watch for symptoms. Also watch the fish for any symptoms before buying. Skunk cleaner shrimp are known to eat them also

Pics:

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Disease Name:fish flukes

Symptoms:Fish will dart or scratch. Can see cloudy spots on the eyes and in bad infestations on the body and fins too.

Cause:Usually attaches to fish at a holding facility or in transit when stressed. Many stores have many disease issues that stem from these little guys.

Treatment:The best way is to quarantine and treat with praziquantel (prazipro). Must keep well feed, temp stable, and a clean water quality
If the fish is strong to began with. I have done freshwater dips with methalyne blue. Takes about 2 minutes for the flukes to turn opaque in color and then use a turkey baster to blow off any stragglers.

Prognosis: The flukes themselves aren't hard to get rid of. It's the other diseases that take advantage of the compromised immune system that usually takes the fish out

Preventative Measures (if applicable): quarantine all fish for several weeks and watch for symptoms. Also watch the fish for any symptoms before buying. Skunk cleaner shrimp are known to eat them also

Pics:

Thanks for the addition!!!

Bump for more additions!!

 

[yazeed]

What about using copper in the main tank if its fowlr! !

 

[Aquaph8]

What about using copper in the main tank if its fowlr! !

Its not advised to use copper with live rock cause the rock will obsorb the copper. Ive honestly never tried it myself so Im not gonna pretend to know all the details but Ive read that keeping the right concentration of copper can be tricky with the rock and then leach back out and cause too high of levels. Hopefully someone with a little more experience and a better explaination will chime in haha.

 

[lost02]

Mysterious maroon clownfish death last nite. it showed no signs of being sick and was hosting my bubble coral. I introduced a new six line wrasse yesterday but they didn't seem to be fighting or anything. I have a 14 gallon biocube that has been set up for a year now.. two months ago I lost fish to ich,

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Disease Name: Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE)

Symptoms: The distinguishing traits of this condition are erosion of the scales of the head and lateral line along the fish's body. The erosion of the scales can also occur on other parts of the body. In extreme cases, the erosion can go beyond the skin and erode away the tissue.

Cause: There is much debate about why a fish exhibits HLLE. There is some research that claims that tanks that utilize carbon have an increased chance of the fish exhibiting signs of HLLE. HLLE is also linked to poor water quality and poor nutrition.

Treatment: HLLE is NOT contagious and it is not necessary to quarantine a fish with HLLE. It is imperative to keep a fish with HLLE in a stress free environment. The water parameters should be spot on. Also, it is important to ensure that the dietary needs of the fish are met. If you had been running carbon, it would be a good idea to discontinue its use, at least until the fish heals.

Prognosis: A fish can make a full recovery from HLLE. Depending on the severity, there maybe some scarring. The primary concern with HLLE is to stop it from spreading. In severe cases of HLLE, the fish will be vulnerable to bacterial or parasitic infections.

Preventative Measures (if applicable): Ensure that optimal water quality is kept and the fish are fed properly.

Pics:
R2R member slugwall

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Disease Name: Hype-rmelanization

Symptoms: Dark pigmentation on the fish's skin. Typically, the spots are somewhat small. The fish may look like pepper has been sprinkled on it. Typically, clown fish are the main fish that affected by hyper-melanization. The reason for this is that anemones seek to be hosted by anemones or corals. This action can cause them to be stung by their host.

Cause: It is the result of coral or anemone stings.

Treatment: Over time, the clown fish should develop a tolerance to the stings.

Prognosis: The fish will most likely retain the darkened pigmentation.

Preventative Measures (if applicable): The only way to prevent hyper-melanization is to not have stinging corals or anemones. Not all fish will develop hyper-melanization from corals.

Pics:

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Disease Name: Marine Velvet/Amyloodinium ocellatum

Symptoms: Amyloodinium ocellatum is often difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are subtle and are difficult to recognize. Symptoms include respiratory issues, loss of appetite, and rubbing against rocks. Also, the fish may appear to have a velvety appearance. The fish may also be gasping at the surface or hanging out at the top of the tank even to the point where they are jumping out. The parasite usually attaches itself to the gills first, which is why breathing issues are the first symptom.

Cause: Amyloodinium ocellatum is actually a dinoflagellate. In other words, it is a parasitic, single celled algae. It will attach itself to the fish and feed off it.

Treatment: Copper treatment seems to be one of the most effective treatments. Formalin or freshwater dips are other common treatment methods. It is advised to keep the fish in quarantine for at least 30 days.

Prognosis: Marine velvet can kill fish quickly and spread to other fish as well.

Preventative Measures (if applicable):The best preventative measure to take is quarantine. If marine velvet is suspected in a tank, I would recommend keeping the tank fallow for 8 weeks. This will stop the life cycle.

Pics:

For more in depth reading: Marine Velvet Disease Marine Oodinium Disease | Brooklynella & Amyloodinium Ocellatum

 

[BDeVaney]

Not sure if my coral beauty has ich?? So I just got a coral beauty 3 days ago. My LFS buys fish from a wholesaler that supposedly qts all fish. I trust this LFS though I do not know the wholesaler. Anyways the LFS is extremely adamant about selling only healthy fish and any fish he suspects might be sick he observes them for a while and will only sell when he thinks they are ok. The coral beauty I bought never showed any problems at the store but when I got it home it didn't eat the first day, normal I guess. Since then he has eaten quite a bit the past few days but today I noticed some small spots on him, fins and body. Yesterday I got a new tank and transferred all the fish into it last night. I'm thinking this is just stress from the move even though he seems to be swimming around and eating just fine. Fins are not clamped and he does not seem like he is being lazy. Any thoughts on what this might be?

 

[mike.creech.39]

 

[mike.creech.39]

What is causing this and I have a black damsel that's turning white

 

[mike.creech.39]

 

[mike.creech.39]

No scars on the damsel but you can see his scales had the light out for 3 days in case of stress but no help

 

[JTurman]

Hlle???

hey guys. I noticed this today on my flame angle. thinking maybe Head and LateralLine Erosion. wanted to get some second opinions. any of you have had an experiences with HLLE?