My female masked swallowtail died in QT today

[coolxborg]

I had a female masked swallow with a female swallowtail in QT for the last few weeks. They both went through TTM and prazipro doses and had been in a cycled QT for the last 2-3 weeks.

About a week ago, I saw aggression from the regular swallowtail so I divided the 10g QT with an egg crate. Everything seemed to be fine until last night when I noticed the masked didnt eat. She had been eating fine prior to that.

When I checked on her this morning, she was leaning against the egg crate and not swimming.

I took a couple of pics which are attached. A few hours later, she passed.

No ammonia. I didnt test for nitrite or nitrates. Salinity is 1.025.

The other female is fine at the moment.

The masked had bruised like spots and somewhat red around the gills. No other noticeable white spots except around the eyes.

Does anyone have any idea what could've happened? Could it be velvet?

I want to know what I need to do for the other swallowtail prior to moving to DT.

Should I start with any FW dips or formalin or anything else? Or observe for a couple of more days?

 

[coolxborg]

My other swallowtail angel has stopped eating as well, at least not this morning. She usually eats pellets or mysis, but didnt want to touch it this morning.

No other symptoms.

What should I do next? Should i start treating as its velvet? CP or copper?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jsnrho82]

Is the swallowtail still alive? Sorry to hear about this loss!

 

[coolxborg]

I came home and noticed that shes breathing heavily so Im heating fresh RODI right now to match temp for a 5 min dip, then will get a acriflavine bath. Then she will go to a QT with CP.

Hope she makes it through the treatments.

 

[coolxborg]

No way to tell for sure what they had, but swallowtail didnt make it through the night.

While Im bummed i lost two fish, Im glad it didnt happen in my display.

 

[ThRoewer]

Sounds like it was velvet.
I would suggest adding a formalin bath to your quarantine procedure.

 

[coolxborg]

Thanks throewer. Ive seen you add that in a couple of threads. What do you actually do?

Would this work? Prior to transferring to the next tank during TTM (let say 30-45 min), could I dose formalin in the tank then transfer to the new tank?

 

[ThRoewer]

Thanks throewer. Ive seen you add that in a couple of threads.

I add that because most are overly concerned about Cryptocaryon and do TTM right away, but ignore the far greater threat of Brooklynella, Amyloodinium and Uronema. Especially the last two need to be fought before you see any symptoms. By the time the fish show symptoms it may already be too late to save them.
Cryptocaryon on the other hand becomes only dangerous when the infection is well visible and usually even then easily treated.

What do you actually do?

I give every new fish a formalin bath while still in the acclimatization container, before it goes into the QT.

Would this work? Prior to transferring to the next tank during TTM (let say 30-45 min), could I dose formalin in the tank then transfer to the new tank?

That should work as long as there are no medications in the tank that may react with the formalin.