Kole with sores on both sides

[uscgbeachbum]

I picked up a kole tang and melanurus wrasse on Thursday from an LFS. None of the LFS around here seem to have 100% perfect fish, but the kole was about 95% perfect (visually) with the melanurus near 100%. As per leebca on reef sanctuary I performed a 5 min FW dip with methylene blue followed up with a 45 min dip formalin dip with the tang and only a 5 min FW dip with the melanurus. Immediately upon placing the tang in the tank he looked stressed. Missing scales/lesions on his face and all of his fins looked tattered. That night I dosed Paraguard as per the directions. I also placed an 8x8 pyrex container of silica sand (Quikrete pool filter sand) that I rinsed about 3 times within the QT for the melanurus. The QT is a 30 gal breeder with an AC70 with the foam block and 2 bags of biopellets which are fully cycled.

Day 2 nitrates through the roof (50-100 ppm with Salifert). Kole's fins looked less tattered, but still rough and labored breathing. Kole developed what looks like large sores on both sides of the body. Melanurus fine. Kole didn't eat all day. Only had enough water on hand for a 5 gal water change so I did that. Dosed Paraguard.

Day 3 nitrates still through the roof (50 - 100 ppm). Kole still looked the same and labored breathing. Did a 10 gal water change. Thought I might not have rinsed the sand sufficiently so I took it out and rinsed it about 20 times with RO/DI water. Kole still not eating. Dosed Paraguard.

Day 4 nitrates still 50 - 100 pm. Kole still looked the same and labored breating. Did another 10 gal water change and added 100ml of Purigen. Decided to stop the Paraguard until I can at least get my nitrates in check.

That brings us to today. Any thoughts on what's going on or what to do? I've read previous posts where something similar happened, but they all suggested to do FW dip or formalin treatment, which I've done both already and he looked like this AFTER. The Kole is either hiding or swimming around quickly so I couldn't get a great picture of him (see attached).

Thanks.

 

[HumbleFish]

First off, there's no need to test for nitrates in a fish QT. Corals/inverts are adversely affected by high nitrates... but not fish.

Secondly, with all due respect to Seachem, they are somewhat cryptic with regards to what exactly is in ParaGuard. Below was taken directly from their website:

ParaGuard™ employs a proprietary, synergistic blend of aldehydes, malachite green, and fish protective polymers that effectively and efficiently eradicates many ectoparasites on fish (e.g. ich, etc.) and external fungal/bacterial/viral lesions (e.g., fin rot).

Malachite Green (and Blue) may be useful for treating ammonia burn or healing wounds, but the aldehydes/polymers part sounds like a load of BS to me. Maybe something akin to MelaFix and their "all natural" Tea Tree extract. Understand I'm not wailing on you - but these products dismay me because it delays real treatment.

Your tang probably has a bacterial infection or possibly even Uronema. Although I sorta doubt the latter, being that's almost exclusively seen in chromis. I would treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic such as those found in Furan-2 or Kanaplex. It's also very possible this is a "secondary" ailment to a parasitic infection. So, I would also prophylactically treat with copper (i.e. Cupramine), and probably Prazipro after copper treatment is done. Just to cover all the bases.

Edit: If you can get your hands on some Chloroquine phosphate, that would be a better alternative to copper; especially if this does turn out to be Uronema marinum.

 

[Mr. Limpid]

Have you checked your ammonia and PH?

 

[uscgbeachbum]

Thanks for the info. And no offense taken. The kole's sores have developed this white fuzzy coating on them. Not sure if this provides any more info. I'll check ammonia and pH in a little bit.

 

[uscgbeachbum]

OK so ammonia is 0 and pH at 8.1. I swung by my LFS (the same one I got it from) and spoke to 2 guys there. One believes its a bacterial infection and the white fuzz is a secondary infection. The other believes its a fungal infection. I also found out that they run a background level of copper in their tang tanks. Unfortunately, I believe that this can mask symptoms and as soon as you get something home you find out you have a problem. I've read that Furan 2 (also recommended by HumbleFish) can work well with these so I picked up 2 boxes. Here's hoping it works...

 

[uscgbeachbum]

Update. So after 24 hrs of Furan-2 the kole is appearing...different. His breathing appears to be less labored so I assume that's a good thing. The white fuzz appears to be gone, but underneath the fuzz is now a bright red sore. The box of Furan-2 says I can repeat the 4 day dose. Am I supposed to wait a certain number of days before repeating?

 

[HumbleFish]

The sore is what's infected. If you wanted to be brave, you could apply some antibiotic ointment topically. I'm not that brave - but I know people who swear by that approach. Get right to the "source" of the problem.

With Furan-2 you can run two full courses of treatment. One "course" involves 4 doses, as outlined below.

Directions for use: For best results, remove activated carbon or filter cartridge from filter and continue aeration. For each 10 gallons (38L) of water, empty one packet directly into aquarium. Repeat dose after 24 hours. Wait another 24 hours then change 25% of the aquarium water. Repeat this treatment for a second time, for a total of 4 doses. Then make a final 25% water change and add fresh activated carbon or replace filter cartridge. Treatment may be repeated, if necessary. Note: This medication will cause a slight discoloration of water which can be removed with activated carbon. This package treats up to 100 gallons. Four doses required for full course of treatment.

 

[uscgbeachbum]

Update. So his sores look worse today (more red and larger). Also, he's no longer "swimming" in place like he has been. He's more propping up on objects. Breathing looks normal. I'm hoping he makes a few more days at least to allow the meds to work.

 

[Rea17]

Did you notice any swelling or blemish at all prior to the sore opening?

 

[HumbleFish]

Unfortunately, not much you can do except continue treatment. Some bacterial infections are nasty and not easily treatable. Post an updated pic if you can. Are any additional sores popping up? I still think it's unlikely, but you might wanna Google "Uronema marinum" and be sure that doesn't line up with what you're seeing.

 

[uscgbeachbum]

So I'm nearly done with my second round of furan 2. He's still not very active. Hiding most of the time. I haven't been able to see his sores, but i'm assuming they aren't 100% better. How long can I continue treatment? I have to admit that these damn water changes are kicking my butt.

 

[HumbleFish]

So I'm nearly done with my second round of furan 2. He's still not very active. Hiding most of the time. I haven't been able to see his sores, but i'm assuming they aren't 100% better. How long can I continue treatment? I have to admit that these damn water changes are kicking my butt.

You can run two full courses of treatment, or 8 doses total. After that, it's either hope for the best or choose a different medication to try. Just like with humans, sometimes a particular fish will respond better to a different antibiotic.

 

[uscgbeachbum]

Update. So my kole's "sores" look better, but he still looks pretty rough. He's been through 2 full treatments of Furan 2 and 3 full treatments of Kanaplex. He's finally out from constant hiding. His fins still look a little tattered and he, overall, looks a little pale (especially in the face). I've not seen him eat yet, but there are the characteristic marks on the glass from bristletooth tangs. I also add sheets of nori daily, but not sure if he's eating any of it since by the end of the day it ends up on the bottom of the tank in very fine shreds like it fell apart. I was able to take a few pictures. This was about 40 min after lights on.

 

[HumbleFish]

I think you've done all you can do for now. I would do WCs/run carbon to take all the medications out. Maybe soak his food in garlic or vitamin supplements to entice eating. I would probably also treat with copper and Prazipro, but not until after he's eating and looking better.

Edit: Or do TT in lieu of copper.

 

[uscgbeachbum]

Update. So last night the kole wasn't looking good at all. His face had turned pale, fins ragged, and appeared to have labored breathing. By 6am this morning he had passed. I never was able to tell if he was eating, despite the green flake and nori i continued to provide. So I have 2 questions:
1) I've had a melenarus wrasse in there this whole time who has always looked ok. Any special treatment I need to do now that the tang has passed? How long to keep him in the qt until I bring him in the main tank?
2) Do I need to do anything special before adding new fish into the qt? Let the tank go fallow for x time?

 

[HumbleFish]

All you can really do now is keep a close eye on the wrasse. Bacterial infections are weird... sometimes it spreads like wildfire, sometimes it seems to remain isolated to one fish.

I would leave the wrasse in QT for at least another month. Hopefully, the Furan-2 helped & protected him better than it did the tang. Sorry for your loss :sad1: