Help ID Spot/Sore on Anthia

[Paul B]

Unfortunately, as in people, not all fish malady's can be cured. Especially given the ability of bacteria to migrate in water. That said, It does look like a tumor to me. There is a small chance it is a paracitic copepod but I doubt it. If it were mine I would surgically remove the lesion. I know this is not easy but I have done it numerous times in aquarium stores. Hold the fish in a net and try to snip the growth off with a sterile nail clipper as much as you can. You may also need a tweezer, Then swab the area with mercurichrome and put in a tank with Chlorimphenicol 50 mg/gal and neomyacin 250 mg/gal.
The antibiotics are not to cure the tumor as I think they will have no effect, they are for secondary effects of the surgery.
As I said, not all maladys can be cured but it is my best advice.
Good luck.
Paul

 

[ufchristyb]

Fish is much improved after iodine treatment last night. Don't think we are dealing with a tumor. I think (as I always have) that its one of those rare fungal infections that set in after the original bacterial infection he was suffering from. Will get some pics up with further info soon.

--Christy

 

[jeffbrig]

These are probably the best pictures yet to characterize what we're dealing with...

Yesterday, before the iodine swab, the fish had a large protruding mass. Clearly, most of that is gone now, leaving what we hope is healthy pink flesh, with still a problem area in the center, where it is white and brown. We really think we are dealing with a fungal infection that necrotized the flesh, turning it brown/black. We're planning to continue our observation, and will treat again with iodine if needed.

The fish is still swimming well and has a voracious appetite, so we are still hopeful for a postiive outcome.

 

[ufchristyb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7987090#post7987090 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
If it were mine I would surgically remove the lesion. Then swab the area with mercurichrome and put in a tank with Chlorimphenicol 50 mg/gal and neomyacin 250 mg/gal.
The antibiotics are not to cure the tumor as I think they will have no effect, they are for secondary effects of the surgery.
As I said, not all maladys can be cured but it is my best advice.
Good luck.
Paul

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the advice. Its funny that you mention mercurichrome. I was asking a pharmacist for that yesterday - turns out they don't sell it in FL anymore, so I went with a straight iodine tincture instead. We have already removed some of the damaged flesh by swabbing at it and applying iodine, and it is much improved. We will continue treating this if need be.

Regarding the true surgical removal - when you say nailclippers, do you mean scissors or clippers? And, would a scalpel or exacto be better?

--Christy

 

[Paul B]

Christy, I have used nail clippers, razor blades and scizzors. I would keep all handy to see what works best. Of course if you have a scalpel, that may be better. Sometimes if it's a tumor you could pull it with a tweezers and snip it with a scizzors.
I have never lost a fish to surgery, they must have great recovery powers and I have removed quite a few growths. The worst was on a large green moray eels mouth. Really tough fish to hold.
As for mercurochrome, a lot of places do not sell it anymore because there are a lot of better alternatives now for humans.
Your fish does look better but you really can't tell whats going on inside. I hope all goes well.
Paul

 

[jeffbrig]

Here's the latest update...

The growth started/fungus returning, so we pulled the fish out for another iodine swab on Wednesday night. Still looked bad yesterday, so we tried again, and also rubbed on a little anti-fungal cream on it. With nothing really helping to cure it, we figure we'll try anything before we give up. No idea if it's helping. This last time, as we swabbed the area with iodine, it seemed as if adjacent scales are coming off, which can't be a good sign.

The secondary problem is that being netted 3 times inside a week has seriously freaked out the fish. He now hides whenever I approach the tank, and it's been harder to catch him each time we've needed to treat him.

Not terribly hopeful right now, but we'll continue to observe...

 

[ufchristyb]

The anthia did not eat yesterday afternoon, and we noticed he was breathing heavy. This morning he was dead. The dark stuff had returned, and the way it spread really looks like a fungus. The surrounding fins seemed to be eroded as well.

At least we can say we did everything we could think of to try to save this fish.

Christy & Jeff

 

[rdmpe]

Sorry to hear it. You did make a great effort to try to help...

 

[jay24k]

Did you cut it open to see how bad it spread? I know it isn't a fish, but our cat had a tumor that sends out feeders and no matter how many times you cut the tumor off, it will continue to regrow quickly. Perhaps that fish had something similiar. I'd say you gave it a good effort and most people would of just bought another fish since you probably spent more money on meds then the cost of the fish.

 

[ufchristyb]

No autopsy was necessary. We could see that it had spread internally because it was visible under his scales in his abdomen area. Think it was definitely a fungus because the external part that was showing was furry.

We will break down the QT tank and bleach everything (if it works for ebola should be good for rare marine fungal infections). We will probably toss the biowheels and hang up the QT until next January. We don't want to go through another hurricane season with fish in QT - that was not fun last year.

Thanks for everyone's help!!

--Christy