Does this Fish Look Sick?

[Patrick Cox]

I recently purchased a Yellow Assessor and because of my own stupidity, I was only able to QT it for about a week. I was worried that the water quality was not sufficient in the QT so I decided to move it to my DT. I purchased this fish from ORA and it went straight from ORA to me in the sealed up ORA bag, so I felt like the risk was low of having problems. Also the fish was eating well and seemed to be healthy. Once I moved it to my DT, I feel like it's body started looking a bit odd. Now the lighting in my DT is much better than QT so maybe that is the issue, but the color looks a bit uneven and the head looks a bit dark. I don't see any ich looking dots on it and it is eating well and seems to be OK, but it still looks less yellow and even in color than I thought it would. I know this isn't the best picture but do you think this fish has any health issues by looking at it?

Thanks!

 

[MrTuskfish]

I'm not good with pics. But this fish is seriously sick. The blotching skin looks like its possibly velvet or brooklnella. The red gill area point to an underlying problem too, and he seems very thin. Even accounting for the folded fins. Why were you worried about the water quality in the QT? Using DT water is always a good way to get good water into a QT and makes it easy to move them when its time. I'd do some research on marine velvet and brooklynella. I have a feeling you'll need to treat all of your fish for one of these parasites; both are much deadlier than ich and you need a QT to treat either. I hope I'm wrong; but this looks close to death.

 

[Patrick Cox]

I'm not good with pics. But this fish is seriously sick. The blotching skin looks like its possibly velvet or brooklnella. The red gill area point to an underlying problem too, and he seems very thin. Even accounting for the folded fins. Why were you worried about the water quality in the QT? Using DT water is always a good way to get good water into a QT and makes it easy to move them when its time.

Should I be worried about this spreading to other fish? I thought my QT was cycled but it was not and I was getting ammonia spikes so I took a chance on moving it on over. The fish did not look like this in QT. I guess I made a bad decision. Do I need to get the fish out of my DT or is it too late? Thanks!

 

[MrTuskfish]

Should I be worried about this spreading to other fish? I thought my QT was cycled but it was not and I was getting ammonia spikes so I took a chance on moving it on over. The fish did not look like this in QT. I guess I made a bad decision. Do I need to get the fish out of my DT or is it too late? Thanks!

If this is brook or velvet, your whole system has it now. If this is velvet or brooklynella and this is my best guess, it is extremely deadly and fast spreading. The fact that the fish hasn't died yet is a good sign. You'll have to do some research to tell if its either of these parasites and be ready to treat one or the other. Is the skin sloughing off or peeling? Is the fish scratching, flashing on rocks, etc? is the fish eating? Like a lot of these things; hope for the best, but be ready for the worse. Again, this is just my best guess, its obvious that the fish is very sick, but I don't know the exact cause. The blotches on the skin do strongly resemble the two parasites I mentioned. A description of the fish's behavior would help too. Eating (doubtful)? Does it behave "alive; or more like the swimming dead? Etc., Etc.

For the future: ammonia spikes can be controlled with WCs or an ammonia neutralizer (Prime, Amquel.) . Never put a sick fish into your DT, for any reason.

 

[Patrick Cox]

If this is brook or velvet, your whole system has it now. If this is velvet or brooklynella and this is my best guess, it is extremely deadly and fast spreading. The fact that the fish hasn't died yet is a good sign. You'll have to do some research to tell if its either of these parasites and be ready to treat one or the other. Is the skin sloughing off or peeling? Is the fish scratching, flashing on rocks, etc? is the fish eating? Like a lot of these things; hope for the best, but be ready for the worse. Again, this is just my best guess, its obvious that the fish is very sick, but I don't know the exact cause. The blotches on the skin do strongly resemble the two parasites I mentioned. A description of the fish's behavior would help too. Eating (doubtful)? Does it behave "alive; or more like the swimming dead? Etc., Etc.

For the future: ammonia spikes can be controlled with WCs or an ammonia neutralizer (Prime, Amquel.) . Never put a sick fish into your DT, for any reason.

Thanks for your help. Yes, I know I made a mistake. I guess I got over confident in the health of the fish because it came straight to me from ORA. And it appeared healthy in my QT for the short time it was there. On the fish's behavior, it actually seems lively and is eating. It is more skittish than the other fish in my tank though. It hides more but as recently as 2 hours ago it was out swimming in the open water. The skin does not seem to be peeling, but the body is a bit translucent in spots. Also it is not scratching or rubbing on anything. I guess I will see where I am in the morning. Thanks again.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well, the fish was out and about this morning but still looks about the same. It is eating and swimming around but still doesn't look very good. It has looked like this for 2-3 days. Not sure what is going on. It looks like maybe it is missing some scales but I can't tell. Right now it is in the back of the tank behind the rocks and swimming in an upward facing position. My blenny has been kind of following it around. I can't tell if it is having breathing problems or not. I don't see how I can catch it without tearing down my tank and that is not an option. So I guess I have no choice but to wait and see. All other fish look OK to this point.

 

[ladyshark]

Sounds like you will need to keep your QT up and ready and working toward full cycle, and start planning for how you will treat the other inhabitants in the event this is a contagion problem. You may want to consider removing the other fish now, rather than allow ongoing exposure, esp if you can't remove the assessor. If this fish has bugs, they will not go away when the fish dies, I presume (I am no expert, so will follow to learn along with you).

My thoughts are that you have two problems--the new fish, and protection/treatment of the tank.

Not good news, I know.......

I hope others chime in to help

 

[Patrick Cox]

Any thoughts on the possibility that this fish is being picked on by other fish and is injured and stressed? Likely candidates would be my clownfish pair. He seems to be staying away from that area of the tank. The fish is still alive and seems to be about the same as it has for the past couple of days. I don't really see deterioration or improvement. With what others have said, it seems that these infections would be taking the fish out more quickly. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Mated clowns are possibly the most territorial fish we commonly keep. But most fish learn where their territory is and leave them alone. If this was brooklynella; more likely than velvet, after seeing the 2nd pic above, I'm surprised he's still alive. that peeling sign is the main giv-away for brook. But it could easily be something else. Is the fish eating, very lethargic, like to be in front of a PH discharge?

Keep a good eye on the clownfish. They are the most likely to catch brooklynella, by far. Brook is often called "clownfish disease".

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well, my fish woke up this morning and was hungry. It came out to the front of the tank with the other fish and I fed them all. It swam around and ate like it was hungry. Then it swam to the back of the tank and is just hanging out behind the rocks. I sent a picture to ORA and they were the ones who suggested that maybe the clowns were picking on it. They thought it could be a bacteria/parasite but they said those things normally happen more quickly. So I am thinking more and more that this fish is just a bit injured and scared. All other fish appear to be healthy. Will continue to monitor. Thanks.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Update - The fish spent most of the day in behind my rock work. I have a channel across the back of the tank between the rock and back wall and it is covered on the top and the assessor spent most of the day back there. It seems that it will come out and swim more during my dawn and dusk periods (lower light) and then it mainly hides when the tank is fully lit. However it is still normally hungry. It got excited and ate when I fed during the day. And I just checked on the tank and it was out swimming around so I dropped in some flakes and it went crazy feeding like the other fish. It really seems to be OK, other than it looks a little rough. At what point (period of time) can I say that it is not one of these deadly diseases?

Thanks.

 

[ladyshark]

Sounds real good. I am no expert, but if he had an infection, he would get worse and worse, esp with appetite. I would be really encouraged (but if its a parasite, I have no idea, sorry)

Long term problem will be the little guy is scared/bullied. I will keep my fingers crossed....Keep us updated.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well, I think this one has pulled through whatever was bothering it. It is still a fairly shy fish but seems to be coming out more, especially when the lights are low/off. Here is a picture from today...

 

[Fretfreak13]

Congrats! Risky as it was to move him from QT to DT so quickly, a lot of us tend to forget that these guys go through a lot to get to us, even the captive bred ones. He just had the fishy sniffles. lol

Beautiful accessor!