hey guys please HELP!

turboex901

turboex901

New member
hey guys, first off ill introduce myself as steve. i came from the west tn club and will soon apply for membership here. i have a bit of a problem and need some help. my fiance bought me a beautiful harlequin tusk a few weeks back at the critter. it had a spot on his abdomen area that looked like a few missing scales, now it has progressed into a deep sore about the size of a dime. she didnt notice it until after she brought it home to surprise me.i use stress coat (im sure it does nothing but im trying everything here) soak all his food in garlic/vitamins, and he recieves a very varied diet of fresh seafood twice daily. i also have been doing 20% w/c's every 3 days to keep the tank sterile. he still eats like crazy and swims as if nothing is wrong but it seems to get worse daily as opposed to healing. im out of ideas guys and i really dont want to lose this one. not only is my absolute favorite fish but she bought it for me as an anniversary present :) heres a picture so any of the fish docs can help if possible! the sore is towards the back behind the pectoral fins. thanks and i cant wait to be in the mtrc family!<~~~~~steve
100_2074.jpg
 
I'm no "fish doc" but what about...

MelaFix
Contains the natural botanical extract from the Tea Tree (Melaleuca, an excellent alternative to resistant strains of bacteria that are unaffected by traditional medications. Treats bacterial infections such as red ulcers, fin and tail rot, cloudy eyes, mouth fungus, and others in as little as 4 days. Also heals open wounds, ulcers, and damaged fins. Doesn't affect pH; safe for invertebrates. 8 oz treats 480 gallons of marine or freshwater. 64 oz is a concentrated formula and treats 19,000 gallons.

Just a thought...
Steve
 
what a great suggestion. i cant believe i didnt think of that myself! i guess thats like looking at something a million times and being stumped then someone walking up and figuring it out right away. ill grab some melafix tommorow and start the regime. any other suggestions guys? thanks again steve, from the other steve :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7875081#post7875081 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Do not medicate your main tank: get him into qt.
Click to expand...
sk8r, thanks for the response. hes actually in a 46 bow by himself with nothing but some live rock scraps while im setting the 92 up. i had to sell everything when i moved from memphis a few weeks back. id prefer meds that wont demolish the bacteria in the rock but if it does its not the end of the world. this is actually my qt tank <~~~steve
 
I used melafix in FW with great results and I did use it in a reef when I was just starting out without nuking the corals but don't even remember what I was treating for....
Since it is in a QT of sorts why not just go for anibiotics? It would be a more aggresive treatment than melafix but may work better. If melafix doesn't work in 2-3 days I would definetly swap plans. Hope it gets better!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7875621#post7875621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angela Short
I used melafix in FW with great results and I did use it in a reef when I was just starting out without nuking the corals but don't even remember what I was treating for....
Since it is in a QT of sorts why not just go for anibiotics? It would be a more aggresive treatment than melafix but may work better. If melafix doesn't work in 2-3 days I would definetly swap plans. Hope it gets better!
Click to expand...
what antibiotics do you recommend? like i said i really want to save this guy. i try not to lose any of my animals and it doesnt happen very often but this one is turning out to be a huge challenge. im willing to do whatever it takes for him though. thanks for the suggestions everyone!<~~steve
 
I would still put him in a seperate tank. Unsing meds in your main tank is a bad idea! IMHO QT with a sponge filter or box filter no substrate and possible some pvc as a hide. Again thats just my 2 cents.

BTW it looks like ammonia burn to me. I would get it to QT treat for a secondary bacterial infection with maybe a sulfer based medication. If it continues... move up to an antibiotic like Erthromyacin. Also something that is ofter overlooked. Clean water and warmer temp helps a tropical fish fight their own diseases. Try doing 80% water changes daily (again another reason to use a smaller QT tank) and bumping the temp up just a tad.

Good Luck!
 
what are the params in the tank? if the tank wasn't cycled and this spot is getting worse it could definetly be due to ammonia/poor water quality. a fish this big eating big dinners of fresh seafood has alot of waste :) 20% every 3 days is not enouph from keeping a tank from cycling, 20% daily with a big fish is more likely. Run the actual params and we can go from there. Hope he makes it, he is very nice!
I agree counter 0's qt set up is ideal. we all should have a sponge filter mature and ready to go at all times.
 
Not to beat a dead horse but there should never be a fish that goes straight from the store to your tank. I know its the first fish in the tank...that doesn't matter. When your dealing with wild caught species especially. All fish should spend their first 3-4 weeks in a QT tank. Now of course this is good theory and good fish practice. Do we all do it ... >:) ... unfortunatly nope!
 
hey guys thanks for the feedback! the tank params are fully cycled and the "big 3" are undetectable. i used the rock, water, sand and filter that was all transported fully submerged and the tusk wasnt added until i purposely "re-cycled" the tank for 3 weeks beforehand. also the 46 is actually my qt tank, not my show tank. its been in constant use as a qt for 6 motnhs . the tusk was in a tank at the critter with a huge clown trigger from what lauren told me and i think the trigger got hungry and the sore has grown since then. today was a vast improvement. his side looks to be closing over but im still going strong keeping it as sterile as possible. ill keep everyome posted and im still def. open to all suggestions. you guys have been great so far!<~~~steve
 
hey angela i did, of course its too early to tell but he did "perk up" slighty after about an hour of adding it. on a side note, youre new tank is amazing! are you pleased with the gc tank? im thinking of getting the 125 wide or standard 120 and ditching the corner i got. its a challenge to light it correctly so i might have to go back to a rectangle tank. ill post the tusks progress tommorow. thanks for the help everyone!>~~~steve
 
When I see that picture Vibrio comes to mind and ,if it is, Melafix will do very little if anything for the fish. Don't get me wrong I've seen Melafix do some amazing things but just not when it comes to Vibrio infections. If you can't treat it out of the display I'd get some oxytetracycline or tetracycline and mix it with the food (IIRC the mix should be about 700mg of med to 100gm of food) and feed the fish only this. Keep in mind that these are antibiotics and will have some impact on your bacterial filter so you should keep a close eye on water params. You may also look at Kanamycin which treats some gram negative bacteria (Vibrio is gram negative) and is sold by Seachem and can be mixed with food as per their directions. If you treat outside the system or in a system without inverts I'd use Nitrofurazone as per the directions and you could also feed with food laced with Kanamycin. I'm certainly no expert and am not an advocate of indiscriminate antibiotic use but after doing this for awhile I've lost more fish from indecision then bad decisions.
 
I don't know that you need to order it. I would think somebody in Nashville would carry them. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals packages tetracycline and nitrofurazone and Seachem packages kanamycin.
Those are two common brands. I think Jungle still sells medicated fish food but you would need to see what medications it contains. Mixing meds with food is not as simple as just sprinkling the meds on the food. Lastly, I don't know that it is a Vibrio infection. That's just what comes to mind when I see the picture. IME if it is something that Melafix will work on you should see improvements in a couple of days. If it's not and it is Vibrio it probably will not matter anymore where the Harlequin Tusk is concerned.
 
I just notice your post about GC's and so far I have been pleased with it. I only have it 1/2 full of water right now so ask me again in 2 more days! :) Yes, How is the fish?
 
unfortunatly he didnt make it. he go much much better then to my horror abruptly turned upside down and died instantly. all my specs were perfect water wise. im not quite sure but i think he was a cyanide collected fish and it may have something to do with that. all in all im pretty bummed about it. thanks for all the help guys! <~~steve
 
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