Christmas Wrasse Sick

[marti224]

I got a Christmas wrasse the a week ago from the fish store and he seemed to be doing great in qt until today when I saw like some yellow mucus from his gill. I gave him a methylene blue dip blue to try to remove some of the stuff. Anybody know what this may be?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Is the fish showing any other symptoms; flashing, scratching, not eating, etc? Mucus in the gills could be any type of infection/reaction. I'd de-worm him with Prazi-Pro; gill flukes just might be the root cause and fish shroud be de-wormed anyhow; IMO & IME. If it looks like you need an antibiotic; Maracyn- Two may be a good choice. Another option, and few hobbyists seem willing to do this, is to hold the fish in a wet towel and look into his gills; I have removed isopods from the gills a few times. its easy and safe. Fish gills are very sensitive and anything could be causing this; that being said, stuff like this will often just clear up on its own. I think the fish's day-to-day symptoms should determine what you do---but use PP, regardless.

What led you to the meth blue dip? MB is an old-time FW fungicide and a weak antibiotic. I don't think I've ever even seen it suggested for SW use. Its used mainly to protect fish eggs from fungus. Unless you had some reason to think it would help; I'd sure avoid random use of any meds.

 

[cngreg]

Methylene blue can also be used to reverse nitrite toxicity in fish. If the gills ever look brown, "brown blood disease", from being bound to nitrite instead of oxygen, methylene blue can swap in oxygen. If a tank doesn't cycle well or if the fish has been in a bag or bucket for too long, methylene blue may help the fish breath easier. Nitrite has a similar binding mechanism to hemoglobin as cyanide. Cyanide poisoning is actually treated with methylene blue in humans but I don't know if anyone has looked at the effect it can have on fish. I'd guess when fish are caught with cyanide far away, like in the pacific islands, and live through the whole chain of delivery, they probably die of another effect of cyanide like liver or kidney failure and the buildup of internal toxins. Whoa i got off topic but if anyone has input, please post.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I do remember MB being used to combat nitrite toxicity. Now, although I'm not ready to really buy it yet; it appears nitrite may not even be toxic to SW fish-----at least at anywhere near the levels it is to FW fish. Your comments on cyanide are very appropriate; this problem just never goes away. Its the reason I never buy a fish with the origin listed as just "Indo-Pacific" . That includes all of Indonesia and the Philippines, where cyanide is still often used.