What’s on this Copperband?

ElementReefer · Aug 21, 2023

Got this fish 6 days ago. My best guess is brooklynella, but maybe ich? The spots are whiter in person. Onset 48 hours ago.

In quarantine (with an aiptasia rock that’s in quarantine too.) I can move the fish to a treatment tank.

vetteguy53081 · Aug 21, 2023

ElementReefer said:
Got this fish 6 days ago. My best guess is brooklynella, but maybe ich? The spots are whiter in person. Onset 48 hours ago.

In quarantine (with an aiptasia rock that’s in quarantine too.) I can move the fish to a treatment tank.

Looks like mucus cones often associated with skin irritations and Marine ich. The size and location of protrusions suggest marine ich and fish will have to be quarantined and treated with Coppersafe or Copper Power at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
If there are other fish in tank, how are they looking ?

ElementReefer · Aug 21, 2023

No other fish. Mucous cone fits the description pretty well. I will set up a copper tank today and update.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 21, 2023

ElementReefer said:
No other fish. Mucous cone fits the description pretty well. I will set up a copper tank today and update.

If you are setting up a new tank, be sure that it has a good bio-filter. You don't want to add ammonia issues to the mix. You can use seed media from one of your established tanks, or you can add bacteria in a bottle products.

Jay

ElementReefer · Aug 21, 2023

Thanks all! I really appreciate this forum.

ElementReefer · Aug 22, 2023

Update:

Set up treatment tank at around 30 PPT and 76 degrees with a HOB seeded with media.

Did a 5 minute freshwater bath. Tolerated well.

Fish now has inflamed areas of skin around the white bumps, looks bacterial. I have Baytril on hand, so I dosed at 5mg/L and deferring the copper for now.

@Humblefish I have metronidazole/prazi standing by. Should I dose it with the Baytril?

Fish has not eaten in a week. I think prognosis is poor but Baytril is a great antibiotic.

Reefkeepers Archive · Aug 22, 2023

ElementReefer said:
No other fish. Mucous cone fits the description pretty well. I will set up a copper tank today and update.

If you do setup a copper tank be careful, copperbands are extremely sensitive to trace amounts of copper which is why it's really hard to treat them. Make sure you give him a safe dose

ElementReefer · Aug 22, 2023

Jay Hemdal · Aug 22, 2023

ElementReefer said:

Has that red lesion been on the fish’s left side for long? The previous pictures only showed the right side, and those looked superficial compared to this view. Also, I didn’t realize the fish hadn’t eaten for a week - so essentially it hasn’t eaten for you at all?

Baytril / Enrofoxicin is mostly delivered orally or by injection. For a bath, the dose is broad - 2.5 to 5 mg per liter daily for 5 days. However you need to do a partial water change prior to each day’s dose.

You might also want to treat the water with Metroplex just to increase the scope of the treatment.

Copperbands do fine with Coppersafe, but at this point, I think you need to focus on what looks to be a bacterial infection first, and run coppersafe if it survives.

Jay

resortez · Aug 22, 2023

I would definitely scratch ich off the list. In my experience I’ve never seen ich do that. Does look like a bacterial infection & I would personally go with prozipro.

ElementReefer · Aug 22, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Has that red lesion been on the fish’s left side for long? The previous pictures only showed the right side, and those looked superficial compared to this view. Also, I didn’t realize the fish hadn’t eaten for a week - so essentially it hasn’t eaten for you at all?

Baytril / Enrofoxicin is mostly delivered orally or by injection. For a bath, the dose is broad - 2.5 to 5 mg per liter daily for 5 days. However you need to do a partial water change prior to each day’s dose.

You might also want to treat the water with Metroplex just to increase the scope of the treatment.

Copperbands do fine with Coppersafe, but at this point, I think you need to focus on what looks to be a bacterial infection first, and run coppersafe if it survives.

Jay

The new pics are today. The red lesion(s) appeared faintly yesterday and are worse today. I have added metroplex to the mix. Agreed to focus on bacterial first and start copper if he survives.

The fish is active and currently around 180 gill BPM.

ElementReefer · Aug 22, 2023

resortez said:
I would definitely scratch ich off the list. In my experience I’ve never seen ich do that. Does look like a bacterial infection & I would personally go with prozipro.

Ich seems less and less likely, although the coppersafe is on standby. The metronidazole is a combo with praziquantel, so as long as there’s no weird interaction with Baytril, I should be covered.

And for what it’s worth, nothing fell off in the freshwater dip.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 22, 2023

ElementReefer said:
The new pics are today. The red lesion(s) appeared faintly yesterday and are worse today. I have added metroplex to the mix. Agreed to focus on bacterial first and start copper if he survives.

The fish is active and currently around 180 gill BPM.

That is very fast respiration, much over 200 is often fatal. This could be Uronema….
Jay

ElementReefer · Aug 23, 2023

Respirations now over 200 BPM. Fish is swimming aimlessly and gasping at surface. Left side lesion has doubled in size and ulcerated. This has deteriorated quickly with no response to antibiotics. Uronema is probably the correct call. I will euthanize tomorrow if it survives that long.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 24, 2023

ElementReefer said:
Respirations now over 200 BPM. Fish is swimming aimlessly and gasping at surface. Left side lesion has doubled in size and ulcerated. This has deteriorated quickly with no response to antibiotics. Uronema is probably the correct call. I will euthanize tomorrow if it survives that long.

It does sound like Uronema, sorry. If you have a microscope, you can do a scrape of the lesion after it dies. If you see pear shaped protozoans, that confirms it. There just is no effective treatment for this......

Jay

ElementReefer · Aug 24, 2023

Fish was dead this morning.

I’m guessing that since it was a Copperband it had stopped eating at some unknown point prior to or right after purchase and deteriorated until it decompensated.

Pickle_soup · Aug 24, 2023

ElementReefer said:
Fish was dead this morning.

I’m guessing that since it was a Copperband it had stopped eating at some unknown point prior to or right after purchase and deteriorated until it decompensated.

Sorry to hear it. I love them, but they are a B to keep.