Helifrichi Dartfish

[ramseynb]

I have Helifrichi dartfish that has been showing signs of disease or parasites. I've seen ich and other terrible stuff before but this seems different. The best way I can explain it is it looks like blisters on it's sides. It's also been darting down and scratching itself in the sand quite a bit. It's still eating and doesn't seem lethargic but I worry about her. Pulling out all my fishing and doing a two month QT is pretty much out of the question due to space and having some tiny blennys that would be next to impossible to get out of the tank without pulling everything out.

I did order some Polyp Lab Medic and I'll give it a shot, but I'm pretty skeptical on any product that claims to fix fish illness and still be reef safe.

Any suggestions or an ID would be appreciated. Like I said, it pretty much just looks like blisters on the side of the fish. No white dots or anything like that.

 

[Dsekula]

Did you look into brooklynella? Even though it's know as common in clownfish, evidently most fish can get it. The fish would have skin peeling issues but the beginning signs look kind of soreish. It could also just be a sore/infection from getting wacked on a rock or something. Without pics it's hard to help btw

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[ramseynb]

Yeah, I can try to get a pic. It's really strange. There's no peeling or anything. It's not really even discoloration. Just raised skin. She's still out swimming like always and eating. no heavy breathing or anything that I can tell. Just the raised skin and darting down some to scratch against the sand. Thanks for the reply! I'll do some digging on brook and see if that's it and try to get a pic tonight.

 

[ramseynb]

I wasn't able to get a decent picture. However, I did notice the spots moving so it must be some sort of parasitic *pods. I also got in my Polyplab Medic treatments and started dosing that. I put a net in the tank to let my firefish get used to it and a container with RO water (to get it the same temperature). I'll try to catch her and do a freshwater dip and keep up with the Polyplab stuff too. After the first dose, there's been no adverse reaction to my corals, but I'm not sure it's made for this type of parasite either. I'm hoping I can catch her and do the freshwater dip. It's odd that my other fish don't appear to be plagued by these nasty critters.

 

[Tripod1404]

It sounds like flukes

 

[ramseynb]

It sounds like flukes

Thanks, I googled it and it seems like it could be. They don't appear on the gills or eyes but some of the pictures look very similar. I started using Polyplabs Medic last night but I think it's more for ich. I know it's a shot in the dark, but is there any reef safe options for flukes? Will a fresh water dip get them off or do I need to house her elsewhere and use prazi? Thanks!

 

[Tripod1404]

Thanks, I googled it and it seems like it could be. They don't appear on the gills or eyes but some of the pictures look very similar. I started using Polyplabs Medic last night but I think it's more for ich. I know it's a shot in the dark, but is there any reef safe options for flukes? Will a fresh water dip get them off or do I need to house her elsewhere and use prazi? Thanks!

Polyplabs Medic is snake oil.

Deworming drugs like Prazipro is used for treating flukes and it is more or less reef safe. But it will kill most of the beneficial worms like tube worms, feather dusters, etc.

 

[ramseynb]

Polyplabs Medic is snake oil.

Deworming drugs like Prazipro is used for treating flukes and it is more or less reef safe. But it will kill most of the beneficial worms like tube worms, feather dusters, etc.

LOL, yeah, I kinda figured that when I bought it. Anything claiming to be reef safe for ich or most parasites makes me skeptical. Yeah, I read that Prazipro is somewhat reef safe. I'll have to think about it as my (once dry) rock has just started to seed nicely with feather dusters and other worms. I might just try to catch her and QT and treat her for a while. I have a couple 20g longs in the garage I could use. In any case, I just checked on her and it doesn't seem like the plague or anything. There's maybe 5 or so that I can see.

 

[ramseynb]

Just a quick update. I went ahead and used the Polyplabs snake oil twice, last night and this morning. Though I can't find anything about it killing flukes but they seem "different" today. First, and maybe all this is my imagination, but there seem to be less. More importantly though, two of them just seem to be hanging on but floating around. I hadn't seen that before. They've always been firmly attached not dangling. Finally (again, could be my imagination) but they seem to be lighter and not as transparent. Anyway, I thought it was interesting and I'll keep you posted. I do have a container with RO water inside my tank and my fish net dangling in the tank as well. I might try to catch her tonight right before the lights go out and she hides in the rock and dip her in the freshwater.

On a side note, of course they get on the most expensive fish I have and not the $20 wrasse that's a pain in the butt.

 

[ramseynb]

Another update! Something positive is definitely happening! I counted at least 5 of the parasites on her yesterday. As I mentioned, two just seemed to be hanging there barely attached. Today, I can only find two! I'm not sure if it's the Polyplab Medic or something else, but everything was getting worse before I started with the Medic. As you can imagine, I'm quite happy. I'm going to keep dosing it and report on my findings.

 

[ramseynb]

Yet another update. I can't find a single parasite! I can't be 100% certain but I attribute it to the Medic. The problem was definitely getting worse and within a day after starting the dosage they started looking pale and a couple were just lightly dangling. Yesterday there was only one and it was dangling. Now there are zero! I didn't do anything else to the tank so again, I have to credit Polyplab Medic. I didn't expect it to work and was a desperation thing but I'm so happy it worked out! I also have LPS and SPS in the tank and none of my corals have been bothered. I also have several types of feather dusters and they were bothered either. Oh yeah, and a pistol shrimp I never see and he's obviously still alive since I hear him popping. I'm going to keep the dose going for a few more days and I'll update if anything changes!