Bartlett's Anthias in QT - nipped tail? fin rot?

[zachxlutz]

I've currently got 4x Bartlett's Anthias in a 29 gallon tank with a HOB filter, a heater, a small piece of live rock and some PVC elbows. The tank has been up and running for a couple weeks prior and was seeded using tank water, the piece of live rock and a weekly used filter sock. The fish have been in the tank since 11/05/16. Everything was looking good when we left to go out of town Thursday AM. I had my ehiem set to auto feed a small amount 2x a day. All fish were eating fine. When we got back into town last night, they all appeared fine and happy. I checked the parameters and saw 0 ammonia, .25-.5 nitrite and maybe 10 ppm nitrate. I'm wondering if the feeding plus the pooping over did the small capacity of the biological filter. I was pooped from traveling last night and since the fish looked fine I just planned on doing a w/c when I got home from work today.

Well... when I got home, I noticed one of the anthias has some serious damage done to his tail. Not sure if it's fin rot or nipped. I did a 90% water change using established water from my main system and the parameters are all reading fine now. I added some ceramic pellets to the HOB filter to hopefully provide more space for the bacteria. In observing the fish tonight, it appears there is quite a bit of aggression going on. I'll continue to monitor the parameters and do w/c as needed to keep any nitrite/nitrate levels low. I've also started adding seachem stability as directed to hopefully keep another spike at bay.

Is the 29g just too small to QT 4x anthias and I'm getting too much aggression? Did the nitrite spike stress this fish out and allow fish rot to set in?

^ it's not dead, this was during the water change and they were wedging themselves under the rock and in the pvc. it's swimming around now, not really with the other three though. steering clear?

Thoughts? I have Erythromycin on hand and could begin treating immediately. If so, should I treat with all 4 fish in the tank?

Thanks!

 

[zachxlutz]

Tuesday AM update:

Water quality is pristine. All 4 were swimming around this AM. The tail is almost completely gone now though. I don't really know what to do... I'm really concerned this is an aggression issue and that I'm to blame. I'm really not sure what my next steps should be.

 

[zachxlutz]

Looks like I'm probably going to lose her. Tail is almost completely gone and the area is red. Not eating frozen mysis or pellets. Should I bring her out, put her in a separate tank and treat erythromycin?

 

[Maritimer]

Not a pro, but that looks more bacterial than aggression. They may pick on her because she's already weakened, the bacteria will take advantage of existing injury.

Either way, I'd think that antibiotics might well help her.

~Bruce

 

[zachxlutz]

Not a pro, but that looks more bacterial than aggression. They may pick on her because she's already weakened, the bacteria will take advantage of existing injury.

Either way, I'd think that antibiotics might well help her.

~Bruce

Thanks! I pulled her out last night and put her in a small tank, running just a small powerhead and a heater with a few pieces of PVC. I dosed the tank with erythromycin. She didn't look great last night, bobbing and floating a bit on the bottom. This morning I woke up and checked her... still alive and hanging out in one of the pvc pipes. Couldn't really tell if the redness was subsiding or if it was just the lighting. I'll check her again at lunch and see how she's looking. I'll continue dosing the erythromycin as directed and keep my fingers crossed. I'll see if i can pipette some mysis to her and get her to feed later today if she's still alive and kicking.

 

[Maritimer]

Good luck with her!

~B.

 

[zachxlutz]

Good luck with her!

~B.

She's still kicking this AM. Not eating and very skittish though. The tail rot seems to have taken the whole tail, the red might be subsiding... hard to tell. We'll see how she does!