Longnose butterfly looks like it has a bruise

[Gluestick]

This longnose butterflyfish looks like it a has a bruise, purpley-red, on it's back, towards the top/front.
I looked on Fosters/Smith for recommendations for meds, and I remembered to look here for archives and the FAQ, but I'm not seeing anything similar....
Can anyone help?
Thanks

 

[Gluestick]

Okay, I uploaded some photos.
It looks like there are some red streaks in his "beak." Also some fins damage, which may or may not be from other fish in the tank...
He does not appear to be gasping for air or having a hard time swimming, although he does seem to hide amongst the rocks more than usual. He is now in a 10 gal QT tank by himself. He seems to twitch every now and again, just a quick shake of his head.
Thanks for any help
~Valerie

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[Hattie B]

HI valerie,

Is that the transfer tank? or is he in there for good, it does not look like he can right himself up.

How long have you had him?

It could very well be an bacterial infection, maybe even internal. Sometimes it shows up in red streaks/patches esc..

is he eating? any new tank mates? Anyone harrassing him.

(I tend to think a bacteria of some sort is affecting him).

 

[Gluestick]

Hi Hattie,
Thanks so much for the response. That is just a dish I put him in to get pics of the troubled areas.
He is in a 10 gal QT tank now by himself.
I brought him home from work because he looked so pitiful. None of the other fish seem to be affected. They put him in the tank about 2 wks ago, no problems initially. Tankmates do not seem to be harrassing him.
He was eating on Friday, he's picking at stuff here and there, but not ravenously like he usually is.
I'd like to start tx asap, what would be the best method?

 

[Hattie B]

Well, since I suspect bacterial I would start with Maracyn 2 (minocycline).

There is also Kanacyn, Furacyn (nitrofurazone) and Neomycin.

I personally have had a lot of luck with Maracyn 2 and I would start that as soon as you can.
(its a gram negative antibotic, a lot of SW bacterias are gram negative and since you dont know exactly what kind of bacteria I would start with that treatment).

Good luck with him..

(WHEN he gets better you should keep him. =) )

 

[Gluestick]

I will go to the store and get some of that. Thank you so much for your help. I would love to keep him, but I'm not sure if he is reef safe. Maybe we'll give it a test run. I have mostly softies, polyps and mushrooms, and I do have one clam.
I've never treated a fish in Qt before. What to feed?

 

[Gluestick]

I do have some melafix and pima fix at home. Are either of those recommended? If not, I will pick up what you recommended

 

[Hattie B]

That depends on who you talk to. Some people say yes, others say no. They are more like a natural or homeopatic type remedy.

Your little guy is sick so I would tend to go with something that is more 'powerful'

I have used both of them in combnation, I didn't like it for the fact that I used it in a small QT (could have been a problem) and had some oxygenation problems (but that was a loooong time ago, and I haven't tried since).

Still feed him what he normally would eat and what he used to.

Good luck, LMK how it goes.

Amber

 

[Gluestick]

Okay, I bought the Maracyn 2. I'm crossing my fingers.
It's funny how attatched you can get to a fish....
Thanks again Hattie for your help, I'll keep you posted!

 

[Gluestick]

Something very strange happened when I woke up this morning.
The butterfly seems to be a little more active and alert, however I can't get him to eat. I've tried my frozen mix, mysis by itself, frozen brine, anything mixed with garlic....
Okay, so here's the strange thing that happened:
There are hundreds of these tiny tiny (and you're going to think this is weird), they look like sperm almost, with shorter tails!!! They are everywhere, and they are alive, swimming. The butterfly is not eating them, not really paying attention. They don't seem to be attacking the butterfly or paying much interest.
What the heck are these??? Could it have had babies (lol, probably not, but I'm at a lost....) Should I add copper to see if it eliminates them? They are white in color, about 1 milimeter or so in length. I really don't want to stick my hands in there - - they are grossing me out!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hattie B]

what? no babies.. =) but that could be interesting in itself.. another topic.

Seriously,

can you take a picture with a macro?

Its probably a parasite of some kind. and that could be bad.

or even take a pic as good as you can and maybe enlarge it?

How does the body look today? still red?

 

[Gluestick]

I took several pictures, even when zoomed or enlarged you can't make it out....

 

[Gluestick]

Okay, so hear's an update.
This is disgusting....
I woke up this morning and there were those thingys swimming around, as I had mentioned.
So I put some coppersafe in the water. I came home about 4 hours later and they were gone, but there was nasty debris floating in the water, which I would assume was the dead thingys. I did a complete water change. The water in the bucket was brown. Very gross. After only 1 night of being in there!!! Not even 24 hr.
So while I was changing the water, I gave the guy a freshwater dip. There were white things and brown things just falling off of him, covering the bottom of the bowl I dipped him in. I am so disgusted. Wherever my boss got this fish from..... ugh!
So he's a little stressed, but I anticipated that. I also have some brine shrimp hatching since he still is not eating very much.

 

[Hattie B]

Gluestick,

Free fish are the best huh..

without seeing them I don't know what they are but if there is that many and you can see them then I would guess you have some sort of parasitic copepod or something of the like.

I would try to feed him anything he will take as he needs to eat something to help him along.

And continue to do what you are doing. If they are coming off and you can get them out of the tank its best for the fish.

He seems like a tough one.

Have any more pics of him today?

 

[Gluestick]

This morning when I woke up he was alive, swimming fine, not gasping for air, besides the not having eaten (however not looking emaciated yet) he seemed normal.
I fell back to sleep and when I woke up he was dead!
I feel really bad about it.
My boss spent $35 on this fish and then spent an additional $140 to save him, lol. I told her not to buy from the pet store anymore... I don't but they do because they don't know much about the hobby and it's the only place right in town.
Thanks for all your help, Hattie.
At least I can walk away with experience in how to treat sick fish.

 

[Hattie B]

Dang Glue, sorry for the loss.

You gave it a good try.. The stuff coming off him, was probably to much for him..

(ya, I would not buy there either, but if she does and you get another fish, tell her you want comp time to take care of him).

 

[Gluestick]

she did give me $50 for my time
Well, this definetly enforces the QT first thing.