Tang - bacterial infection?

[ngoodermuth]

Fungus is almost unheard of in SW fish. Most likely the "funky black marks" are secondary infections developing from where the flukes had left bite marks.

Although, I'm just now realizing that is a (juvenile) Chocolate Tang and the body color will darken as he matures.

Yea, I've never seen one transition before but I thought the color change would be more of an all-over darkening and not just patches on one side... but maybe it's just "extra" pigment there . I have no idea [emoji848]

Do you think maybe adding in the furan-2 would be beneficial for the wound on the gill? Or just give it another day in the current meds to see if it continues to look better?

 

[Humblefish]

Do you think maybe adding in the furan-2 would be beneficial for the wound on the gill? Or just give it another day in the current meds to see if it continues to look better?

Yes, I would add Furan-2 to the mix to knock out any lingering infections he may still have.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Well the injury on its gill looks worse rather than getting better, and since adding the Furan-2 Saturday, it has begun breathing rapidly. I decided to pull the meds out for now, worried that he's having a bad reaction. Did a large water change and added some carbon.

@Humblefish @melypr1985 what do you think? It had been 8 days with kanaplex/metroplex, I can add those two back in for the last two days and hold back the furan-2. Or is it possible it's not actually bacterial and maybe another treatment might be more effective? I'll try to get better pictures of what it looks like now.

 

[ngoodermuth]

This is the best I could get, he's pretty camera shy. It's brown and kind of fuzzy looking. Just that line on it's face, the rest of the fish looks much better. He's eating fine, active, but breathing kind of fast.

 

[melypr1985]

I think it would be a good idea to finish out the antibiotics. Has he started doing anything else besides breathing heavy? No spots or dusty appearance?

 

[ngoodermuth]

I think it would be a good idea to finish out the antibiotics. Has he started doing anything else besides breathing heavy? No spots or dusty appearance?

Nope, nothing except the fuzzy brown wound and breathing heavy. Otherwise, his health looks to be improving, gaining weight, color looks better, and all the other abrasions he had besides this one are healed. This one is getting larger, not smaller. It extends the entire way across his cheek now, it started just like a little tiny cut.

 

[melypr1985]

Nope, nothing except the fuzzy brown wound and breathing heavy. Otherwise, his health looks to be improving, gaining weight, color looks better, and all the other abrasions he had besides this one are healed. This one is getting larger, not smaller. It extends the entire way across his cheek now, it started just like a little tiny cut.

You might need to switch up the antibiotics and try something else. You might try Maracyn 1 (erythromycin) + Maracyn 2 (minocycline)

 

[Humblefish]

You might need to switch up the antibiotics and try something else. You might try Maracyn 1 (erythromycin) + Maracyn 2 (minocycline)

+1 Just like with people, one size does not fit all when it comes to which antibiotic(s) to use. Your fish might do better with the above, or possibly something like Sulfaplex or Neoplex (both made by Seachem.)

Or an unconventional move would be to switch over to an herbal remedy like Melafix. Or start soaking his food with vitamin supplements and hope the immune system can take it from here. The last two options are risky, as they could allow the infection to spread. However, it sounds like he needs a "break" from the antibiotics.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I left him free of meds overnight and dosed the second round of prazi this morning first thing. I've been adding vita-chem to his food as well.

Unfortunately, I think the absence of antibiotics is making it worse rather than better. His mouth looks kind of swollen :/ the wound on his cheek is still there, and he's still breathing heavily. I'm going to try to get a video of his breathing and so you can see his mouth.

I'm thinking about pulling the prazi out tonight (about 12 hours in) and resuming antibiotics instead. I was able to get erythromycin and neoplex, but the store didn't have Maracyn 2.

I was thinking to try the erythromycin tonight, after a 50-60% wc and a couple of hours of carbon to pull the prazi. Does this sound like a good plan? How effective will the prazi be, considering it's the second dose and he will have had roughly 12 hours exposure? I haven't seen any flashing since the first dose.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Here's a video @Humblefish @melypr1985

 

[Humblefish]

I'm thinking about pulling the prazi out tonight (about 12 hours in) and resuming antibiotics instead. I was able to get erythromycin and neoplex, but the store didn't have Maracyn 2.

I was thinking to try the erythromycin tonight, after a 50-60% wc and a couple of hours of carbon to pull the prazi. Does this sound like a good plan? How effective will the prazi be, considering it's the second dose and he will have had roughly 12 hours exposure? I haven't seen any flashing since the first dose.

12 hours should be enough exposure time to make all the worms detach - I just prefer 24 hrs to be sure.

That heavy breathing looks bad. Looking back over this thread, I don't think you've actually treated with copper yet? So I'm wondering now if he could have ich or velvet in his gills.

I wouldn't mix erythromycin with neomycin (Neoplex). Of those two, I would try the Neoplex next.

 

[ngoodermuth]

@Humblefish No, I haven't treated with copper. He did have a rally bath right when we got him, so maybe that could have suppressed it? You've given the ok with other antibiotics, but just to confirm...neoplex and copper are ok?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Also, would another rally bath help relieve symptoms while the copper is ramped up?

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish No, I haven't treated with copper. He did have a rally bath right when we got him, so maybe that could have suppressed it? You've given the ok with other antibiotics, but just to confirm...neoplex and copper are ok?

Also, would another rally bath help relieve symptoms while the copper is ramped up?

Yes & yes. Also, a FW dip would help if he has velvet.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I think you hit the nail on the head with velvet, started going downhill really fast. Freshwater dip, rally bath, and into .2 copper. I'll raise it up to .35-.4 tomorrow, and .5 the next day. Since I'm doing copper instead of cp (it's all I have) should I do another dip/bath tomorrow to help him survive to .5?

 

[Humblefish]

I think you hit the nail on the head with velvet, started going downhill really fast. Freshwater dip, rally bath, and into .2 copper. I'll raise it up to .35-.4 tomorrow, and .5 the next day. Since I'm doing copper instead of cp (it's all I have) should I do another dip/bath tomorrow to help him survive to .5?

Only if his breathing becomes labored like that again. A fish can only take so many FW dips.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Only if his breathing becomes labored like that again. A fish can only take so many FW dips.

His breathing is still very fast right now, I hope he can hang in there :/ he's still swimming and seems alert and active so fingers crossed.

 

[ngoodermuth]

He's not eating this morning [emoji20] still breathing heavy. I'm not sure if it's the velvet or the infection or a combination of both. Soaked some algae in vita-chem and left it in there for him, but he snubbed frozen and pellets that he usually devoured so I'm losing hope. I really thought we would get him turned around, the velvet is a real kick in the gut.

 

[Humblefish]

He's not eating this morning [emoji20] still breathing heavy. I'm not sure if it's the velvet or the infection or a combination of both. Soaked some algae in vita-chem and left it in there for him, but he snubbed frozen and pellets that he usually devoured so I'm losing hope. I really thought we would get him turned around, the velvet is a real kick in the gut.

Get the copper up to at least 0.35 ppm ASAP. Or you might just need to chance it and get it up to 0.5 to be sure it's killing any dinospores.

Another FW dip + acriflavine bath might be in order. It's risky doing the FW dip again so soon, but it sounds like he won't last much longer without more temporary relief.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I added in the kanaplex this morning, could that have upset his appetite? I'll add a bit more copper this afternoon it's at .25-.3ish now. I'll get it up to .35-.4.