Flesh eating virus!

[GhostCon1]

Or something like that is what I have concluded is on my Firefish.

When I got him from a LFS he looked fine, when I got him home I notice he had a small, tiny blister (best description I can give) on him. I thought it would be fine and go away (mistake #1).

Well, about 2 weeks later it progresses some and is a bit bigger, looks like something bit a chunk out of his side, and there is also a bit of blood in the flesh some, but not bleeding. The blood goes away the next day. I keep hoping that it will fix itself (mistake #2).

I look at him about 3 weeks later and it looks the same, except I notice that some of his anal fin is missing (almost a miniscule amount, about the size of the pods you see on tank walls).

I set up a 10g as a QT and also to top off some water I took out the other day, refilled it back up and was heating it and aerating to make it good for a QT. (Mistake #3 (waiting so long))

Well, I wake up today and notice this giant patch of missing flesh on him, almost half of his anal fin is gone and I think he has some type of fungus, but the reason why I think it isn't fungus is because there is zero puffy-ness around the wound.

I remove him to this new tank and put some product in it that has something and mlachite green in it and am hoping for the best

QUESTION to all is.... What does he have? I don't have a way to take a pic, sorry, and in all my years of having fish I have never seen anything like this at all.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Maybe some sort of bacterial infection but I can't be certain. You could try a 50/50 mix of pimafix/ melafix. That has helped me in the past when my fish had similar symptoms (fin rot, red blotches on the skin near the rotting fins).

 

[GhostCon1]

Thanks for the response, melafix, that was the name of the thing I put in the water in the QT.

Sadly, he passed a few hours ago.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Sorry for your loss. Pimafix/melafix are debated as to when they work and when they don't work. I keep some on hand just to try as a last resort in case of a suspected bacterial/ fungal infection. I've had some good luck with the mixture.

 

[Jacob D]

It probably was bacterial, and maybe too far along to save the fish.

Re: Melafix, somewhere I once read a statement from the folks at API explaining that it was very specific in which strains of bacteria it would treat (which would explain mixed reviews).

 

[GhostCon1]

Thanks, Jacob. And yeah, I will have to look into that. Also, once he died, that wound spread like wild fire on him.

 

[GhostCon1]

Ok, so um... kind of an update/discovery. I just saw in my LR that the Firefish slept in, there is a crab... he's hairy. From what I hear, hairy crabs are bad.

Possibly he was eating my firefish a little bit?

Also, how do I get rid of this thing, I've had this LR for about a month and a1/2, never seen him before. Help!

 

[Ryno368]

best bet is to post a picture of the crab so we can id it. m,ay be a gorilla crab or something you need to remove quickly

 

[GhostCon1]

I can only take a pic at night since that's when he comes out, but then when light gets anywhere near he scurries back into the LR. I know he has red eyes on stalks, holds claws to body, greyish brown tint to body, and hairy legs. About one inch.