Need help with purple tang

[Ragtop68rs]

First a little background. I have a 300 FOWLR that I bought as a complete setup about 1 1/2 years ago. All of the fish have been completely healthy the whole time. All new fish were quarantined for 6-8 weeks. The last new fish was added about 3 months ago and looks great. All water parameters are good. For about the last week my purple tang has been breathing very rapidly. He also stopped eating. He just hides a lot now although he still will swim around some. The only thing I notice is his gills may look a little inflamed. I know this isn't much to go on but does anyone have any thoughts? If I could catch him I would move to quartine but I'd probably have to pull all the rocks out to get him. Thanks, John

 

[Khazmodain]

That isn't a ton to go on. If you suspect it to be gill flukes you could try dosing prazipro into the display. Supposedly reef safe except for worms/tube worms.

 

[ldballoon4]

What solution did you QT with for 6-8 weeks? You may have only prevented parasitic infections.
Remove the fish if you can and treat with a broad spectrum, feed it well and monitor its health. BTW, your other fish probably have started their infection as well.

 

[Ragtop68rs]

The last fish added(fox face)was quarantined for 8 weeks but I didn't do any treatment as he looked completely healthy(and still does). I know I need to get him out of there. But what should I treat him with?

 

[CrayolaViolence]

If you don't treat the fish as if they are diseased while in QT, you're just delaying the contamination of your display tank. Marine velvet, ich and other diseases are apart of the water column in the ocean. I don't think it would be far fetched to say, all wild caught fish are exposed.

 

[Ragtop68rs]

Purple tang is going into quarantine tonight. I have metroplex and karaplex. Should I treat with both of these? I also have prazipro. Should I use all three of them or just the first two?

 

[KevinsHVAC]

Purple tang is going into quarantine tonight. I have metroplex and karaplex. Should I treat with both of these? I also have prazipro. Should I use all three of them or just the first two?

Do you have access to formalin or seachem para guard? I'd do a freshwater dip with either one of those first then use prazipro. I know I have had a bad run with Velvet that I am still treating for with CP but I plan on using prazipro in my QT for any future fish I get.

 

[Mishri]

yeah, i'd agree that gill flukes are a strong contender... another possibility is ich that has just been anchoring to the gills so far.. if you keep your fish healthy they might be able to just fight it off and survive with ich in the display. since you haven't done added anything new in 3 months that pretty much rules out any of the fast killers that are a real problem.

You still only have fish right? no snails/crabs/shrimp added recently?

if it's still fish only you have a variety of things to try. You could start with prazipro to the entire display(this will kill any beneficial worms you might have), another one would be dosing the entire tank with Chloroquine Phosphate - however, the live rock will likely have stuff on it that dies, such as algae that will cause an ammonia spike.. so be prepared for water testing/ammonia binder/locker/remover and water changes if you go that route.

You could decide to observe for now and see if symptoms get worse or other fish show signs.. depends on how long the purple tang has been not eating and if you are worried it could die soon. I had a powder blue tang I waited a few weeks on before it finally showed ich.. I hadn't added a fish to that tank in years... turns out it got it from a water change.. changed the water in a tank with fish I didn't treat for ich then used same equipment on the other tank.

 

[Ragtop68rs]

Thanks for the replies. The purple tang is in quarantine now. Is it safe to use prazipro along with metro and kanaplex?
I've thought about dosing the display tank with prazipro just in case. I do have snails and crabs along with the fish.

 

[Khazmodain]

I would certainly think Metroplex and PraziPro can go together (especially if Metro is mixed with food rather than generally dosed). API has a med called General Cure which contains a combo of praziquantel and metronidazol. However, the dosage of praziquantel in General Cure is lower than what PraziPro directs.

If it were me I would just go with PraziPro for now assuming he is still eating and behaving somewhat normally. If things are worsening I would maybe be inclined to go for more drastic measures (perhaps to the point of a formalin dip depending on the condition).