Anthias Dying....Need Quick Help

Spyderturbo007

Spyderturbo007

New member
I picked up two Lyretail Anthias on Saturday and put them in my 20g long QT. The both looked fine at the LFS and were acclimated by salinity matching the QT with the bag water and floating for 30 minutes. pH was within 0.2 of the bag water so I released them into the tank.

The lights were left off until Sunday when I fed both of them some Cyclopeeze, which they both ate. I noticed that one of them wasn't as brightly colored as the other and that its fins looked a little clamped, but they were swimming together.

I went home for lunch today and found the one jammed between the heater and the glass. I moved the heater thinking it was dead and it swam around for a few minutes and then went back to the heater.

Symptoms:

  • Bulge on right side
  • Quick breathing
  • Clamped Fins
  • Loss of color in places
  • Red Poop hanging from its butt (I'm assuming its read because of the Cyclopeeze)

The other one looks fine, but unfortunately, I don't know what it might have or what treatment to administer.

Thank you for helping to save my fish.
















 
The legion/cut behind the fin on it's right side looks like uronema marinum. I had this late last year with a batch of 8 lyretail anthias I got. The legion in the picture looks exactly the same. The supplier I got them from new about it and had them in qt. The ones I received weren't marked for delivery, but someone accidently sent them out by mistake. Unfortunately this parasite kills almost 100% of the time. I tried four types of antibacterial before finding out what it was, cupramine, and prazipro, not at the same time. Nothing worked, and I lost all but one. Sorry to hear, hopefully it's not uronema.
 
Newsmyrna80 said:
It looks like a bacterial infection. Do you have any antibiotics on hand?
Click to expand...

I do not but I'm more than happy to go buy something. I have a PetCo and PetSmart within 15 minutes of my house. If they don't have what I need I can drive to That Pet Place and buy something. They are about 50 minutes away.

I don't care about the cost or the time. I just want to help this poor little fish. :sad2:

Should I separate the one that looks healthy and treat the one that sick or treat them together?
 
if you have the space and equipment, then yes separate them and then treat. Go with Maracyn Plus unless someone jumps in saying something stronger/different is preferred.

I had a whole batch of Bartlett's that had this a long while back.
 
So only treat the one that is sick if I separate them?

I checked all the places websites and none list Maracyn Plus as being availble. Can I look for anything labeled as a broad spectrum antibiotic?
 
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Update:

I went downstairs to check on the anthias and she was dead. RIP poor little fish. :sad2:

The other one looks fine. Do I medicate the tank, or wait and see what happens? I have enough water to do a 100% water change if necessary. I just don't want to lose this one either.

I feel terrible when this sort of thing happens. :(
 
I read that last night once I got home from the store. I couldn't find any broad spectrum antibiotic at either PetSmart or Petco.

The problem with that link you sent me is there isn't anywhere that lists the medication by brand name, only chemical constituent. Unfortunately, searching for ingredient name, yields me nothing on any of the reputable sites like BRS, or Marine Depot. I did find Acriflavine at National Fish Pharamacy, but I've never heard of them before and not even sure if I'm looking at the right thing. Snorvich has Acriflavin listed as a treatment option, but everywhere I look has it labeled as Acriflavine. I'm assuming they are the same thing?

If it is Uronemia, is it wise to treat the remaining Anthias or wait to see what happens.

I really wish I could find something local, since overnight shipping and medication cost would be around $83 for the Acriflavine. The Anthias was only $20, but I would really hate watching the poor thing die. :sad2:

Is the API Fungus Cure Powder alright to use? I might be able to find that locally. According the package, it looks like it contains Acriflavine and Victoria Green B. I attempted to PM Snorvich, but it appears he / she has that turned off and doesn't accept PMs.
 
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Those pet stores usually don't carry meds like that for saltwater. You could try Quick Cure which usually can be bought at Walmart. It contains formalin which is one of the treatments listed for uronemia. National Fish Pharmacy is legit. Uronemia, from my understanding, is highly contagious and deadly. I would do a lot of reading on the disease and treat prophylactically.
 
The WalMart down the street from me has it in stock!!! :D

I'm sending my wife down there right now. I can go home on my lunch break and medicate the tank. Should I follow the instructions on the package?

The instructions, from what I found online, are 1 drop per gallon daily, with a max treatment of 3 days. It says 24 hours after the last treatment to replace the carbon.

Snorvich's thread you linked to only indicates one treatment and doesn't say anything about adding carbon after 24 hours.
 
Newsmyrna80 said:
Those pet stores usually don't carry meds like that for saltwater. You could try Quick Cure which usually can be bought at Walmart. It contains formalin which is one of the treatments listed for uronemia. National Fish Pharmacy is legit. Uronemia, from my understanding, is highly contagious and deadly. I would do a lot of reading on the disease and treat prophylactically.
Click to expand...

Uronema CAN be contagious and deadly. The biggest challenge with this protozoan is that it is normally a free-living parasite (i.e. doesn't require a fish host). It attacks fish opportunistically, usually due to poor water quality and/or injury. If it were me, I would treat with Acriflavine as it is highly effective against both brook and uronema. I'm going to order some from NFP to have on hand in case I ever have to deal with these parasites. Formalin is so harsh on fish, and it's a carcinogen, so I'm less inclined to use it.
 
Deinonych said:
Uronema CAN be contagious and deadly. The biggest challenge with this protozoan is that it is normally a free-living parasite (i.e. doesn't require a fish host). It attacks fish opportunistically, usually due to poor water quality and/or injury. If it were me, I would treat with Acriflavine as it is highly effective against both brook and uronema. I'm going to order some from NFP to have on hand in case I ever have to deal with these parasites. Formalin is so harsh on fish, and it's a carcinogen, so I'm less inclined to use it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there isn't any way for me to get Acriflavine locally and the only option is Formalin. I'll go ahead and order some to keep on hand, but unless I spend ~$85, I can't get it today or even tomorrow.

Would your recommendation be to wait and order some online? Meaning, get the Formalin now and watch the fish for symptoms while I wait for the Acriflavine to be delivered?
 
After some further reading, I think that's the best course of action. I found this on another forum, from someone that appears to have done a serious amount of research on this parasite.

gwaco said:
Please pay attention to my next sentence! Once a fish is showing any outward tumors the ciliate has entered the blood stream and there is nothing, no medicine, no dips, nothing that can be done to save the fish!
Click to expand...

I think if I went the "wait and see" path, it would be too late by the time I got to the "see" part.

What is the recommended way to prevent cross contamination? I know enough not to use anything between tanks. I have separate buckets, droppers, feeding vessels, siphons, etc for the QT. But what about my hands? My gloves don't go far enough up my arm so I get water in my gloves if I have to put my hand in the tank. I'm so scared that I will accidentally transfer this to the DT.

Does washing my hands in hot water with soap prevent spreading this? I try to put my hand in the tank as little as possible, but as we all know, sometimes you have to.
 
I treated the other Anthias with Formalin according to the instructions. Then I ran carbon for 24 hours, but noticed red blotches beginning to appear on her side. I ran out and got some Erythromyacin and treated the tank. She wasn't looking very good when I added the medication and was dead a few hours later. I feel terrible. :sad2:

Can anyone identify the disease? I'm beginning to think that it was bacterial as opposed to Uronema.




 
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