Copperband Butterflyfish

[Al Bendiksen]

Hey guys i am having a little bit of an issue with my CBB. I was wondering if y'all could help me out.

Here is my thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=13302972#post13302972


Here are some pictures and i'd like to see if anyone can spot what the real issue is and how to treat it.


The CBB is in QT with a Banggai Cardinalfish and a Fiji Foxface.

Anything is appreciated

 

[Al Bendiksen]

Im thinking it may be a fungus. A bacteria outbreak?

 

[Al Bendiksen]

Well i am going to give all of the QT a freshwater dip and dip all of their food in garlic about three times a week.

 

[limitdown]

Likely a bacterial infection. Fungus is extremely rare in marine environments.
Try treating with Maracyn 2 (minocycline) or Trisulfa.

 

[Al Bendiksen]

Perfect thank you.

I'll do a freshwater dip and then go with the Maracyn and Maracyn 2.

 

[limitdown]

I recommend using just Maracyn 2 and skipping Maracyn. Maracyn 2 is minocycline, a stronger and broader spectrum antibiotic, whereas Maracyn is erythromycin which is old and weak. Also, erythromycin is effective primarily against gram-positive bacteria, whereas most marine bacteria are gram-negative.

One caution with minocycline is that you cannot use it past the expiration date. Most antibiotics just lose potency, but minocycline (as with other tetracyclines) actually because toxic after it expires and has been known to cause kidney damage in humans (perhaps also in fish).

 

[Al Bendiksen]

But is it not just for freshwater? That is why i picked Seachem Cupramine 100 mL. The LFS dude said it was the better way to go. And i did a Freshwater dip on him yesterday and hopefully another tomorrow.

After the dip though there was floating ''skin''. I am going to guess it was the bacteria and stuff?

 

[limitdown]

Seachem's Cupramine is my number 1 choice for treating ich and velvet, but it's not suitable for bacterial infections. Did the guy at the LFS suspect one of these infections?

Maracyn 2 has to versions, 1 for freshwater and one for saltwater. The saltwater version has higher minocycline content, I think 20mg vs 10mg for the freshwater version. The SW version also contains other vitamins and supplements.

If your fish is twitching his body or head, then he might have flukes. Prazi-Pro by Hikari (ingredient praziquantel) is best for this.