What is this? How do I treat it?

[jcricket]

Hey Folks,I have something in my tank that is new to me. At first I thought it was Ich. Now I don't think so. The fish has many spots that look like ich, but some of them have grown to where they are like a worm or thick thread on the sides. I tried to get pictures of it, but they are not so good. I have the fish in quarantine and have them in cupramine. It has been maybe a week but it seems to be getting worse. I checked a few days ago and cu was .028. I haven't checked today, but I can see how it would drop. So folks, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The parasite seems to be on most of the fish, the moorish idol also has a hole in his cheek plate. The plate is also extending out from the body a little bit.

 

[Big G]

Consider trying a freshwater dip to see if those things are worms/flukes.

Freshwater Dip

Freshwater Dip What It Treats – Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases: 1) Marine Velvet Disease (Amyloodinium ocellatum) 2) Brooklynella hostilis 3) Uronema marinum 4) Flukes (Monogeneans) 5) Black Ich (Turbellarians) Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes (see video...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree with Big G on FW dip. Always a first step in parasite identification.
Looks like velvet although PB tangs are notorious for ich. Quarantine will be the first item on your list (Petco has $1 a gallon tank sale for black Friday weekend)
Copper based treatment will be the likely treatment

 

[jcricket]

THANKS!!!!
I currently have them in a quarantine tank(42 bow front). I think a good ro/MB dip is in order. That will help the fish.

What about the tank? I can do a massive water change, maybe 80%. That will certainly help, but it will not eradicate what is in the tank. I know what ich looks like. I really doubt that is it. I know velvet, same, not it. Brook, uroneama ,and flukes I am not sure about. I'll look and see if I can find the appropriate treatment for those. I did treat with prazi this morning.
I'll post more as I progress.

 

[jcricket]

I was able to get more pictures this morning. They are still not great, but I found something that I think is a what I am referring to. The camera caught this. I have looked VERY closely and they are invisible to the naked eye. They are not "scratches" in the glass, which was my first thought. They are small white threads in the picture. I think this is the organism that is burrowing into my fish.

The hole in the gill plate on the moorish idle is shown. From the hole to the mouth is a line in the picture. That is actually the part of the fish that is bulging or turning outwards. I would say it extends about 1/8" from the body of the fish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Seems like crypto on tang and erosion of skin on idol. For tang, freshwater bath followed by copper or formalin treatment in a lower salinity quarantined environment.
On the idol. . . . because the issue it has and the causes are not well understood, effective treatment can be difficult to nail down. Here is what you will need to do at minimum:

· assure water quality is high and stable
· Use a trace supplement such as Kent Marine’s Essential Elements
· Feed a varied and nutritious diet (using a vitamin supplement like Selcon) to its food
· Reduce the amount of chemical filtrationif any is being used n the system, especially activated carbon
· Check for any potentially faulty powerheads, heaters or other equipment that could be releasing stray voltage into the aquarium

 

[jcricket]

Crypto(cryptocaryon) as I understand it is called saltwater ich. I believe it is a very common thing. I also understand that cryptocayon is in fact not ich at all. It just looks like ich. The life cycles are the same, with the incubation and free swimming, gestation time being a bit different. Copper is still the go to treatment for that parasite.
That being said I am pretty sure this is not ich, but a different parasite.

Water quality is good, but I will make it perfect. I got this current parasite from the idol. I got him about 2 weeks ago. Then the parasite appeared. It is the thread like parasite.

what to do????????????

 

[vetteguy53081]

Crypto(cryptocaryon) as I understand it is called saltwater ich. I believe it is a very common thing. I also understand that cryptocayon is in fact not ich at all. It just looks like ich. The life cycles are the same, with the incubation and free swimming, gestation time being a bit different. Copper is still the go to treatment for that parasite.
That being said I am pretty sure this is not ich, but a different parasite.

Water quality is good, but I will make it perfect. I got this current parasite from the idol. I got him about 2 weeks ago. Then the parasite appeared. It is the thread like parasite.

what to do????????????

Treat ASAP. Copper or general cure

 

[jcricket]

Treat ASAP. Copper or general cure

They are in copper and have been for several weeks. The level is .26 today. It seems to have little to no effect on them.
I am going to do another MB/RO bath today. Probably follow up with a significant water change and then retest and retreat with copper and prazi.

The parasite I believe is what looks like small short strands of a fine thread. They are pictured in the last two photos. Does anyone here have opinion or knowledge of what that is and how to treat it?

In my fresh water days, I would consider these to be an anchor worm or gill fluke. I have seen that many times.

 

[jcricket]

I did a methylene blue bath. One teaspoon of MB to one gallon of RO. I let them soak for about one minute. They actually look a little more lively. The bottom of the bucket had some definite organisms. I am pretty sure the sesame seed gill fluke was in the batch, as well as at least one worn, maybe 1mm long and half as wide.
The moorish idol has always eaten, not great but consistently. After the bath he actually became very active at picking at rock and chasing small algae flake. I have never seen him pick at the rock. I think it definitely helped him.

I'll post more as I go .....................