Parasite (?) on Clown, Please Help!

[Spyderturbo007]

I think my beloved Clownfish is dying and I don't know what to do. I posted this in another forum, but didn't get much of a response. I have searched the Internet for hours and have found nothing similar.

Quick background:

-No new fish have been introduced in at least 6 months, if not longer

-Added new corals from a frag swap a few weeks ago

-All fish went through 5 weeks of QT before being added to the tank

-All the other fish are fine. In fact, my male Banggaii has been holding eggs for about 2 weeks

Out of desperation, I dosed Prazipro in the take yesterday.

Clyde is doing worse today than he was yesterday. I first noticed a small bump about 4 days ago which has gotten worse.

Video from Tuesday. You can see what looks like a digitate hydroid flopping around attached to the wound. An hour after taking this video, the worm like thing was gone, but the sore remained.

You can see the sore / parasite / wound between his pectoral fin and his gill. The video was shot in HD, so the quality can be adjusted for a better view. You can see it best from the 35s and on mark.


http://youtu.be/aGrFgWSUsIg


Pictures from today. He really isn't moving much and is really favoring his right pectoral fin. It almost looks like cauliflower.





























Please help Clyde.

 

[Mrscribbled]

I can see what your talking about bu not well enough to diagnose. Have you waved out lymphocystis? Does it have any redness?

 

[Spyderturbo007]

I don't see any redness. I'm pretty sure it's not Lymphocystis, but I can't be 100%. This looks like a pimple, with a crater in the center. Inside the crater it looks like cauliflower.

All the pictures I've seen of Lymphocystis is just the whitish lump and no swelling.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I take it he is still in the main tank? How is his eating? Is he lethargic? The redness would indicate some sort of bacterial infection.
Did you happen to QT the coral frags you got a couple of weeks ago? Something could have come in from them.
Unfortunately I can't offer any concrete solution other than dosing a broad spectrum antibiotic.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Here are some more photos I just took. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for my iPhone to focus when I try and zoom to get a good picture. I cleaned the glass to try and get a picture and he got scared and swam away. When I was done cleaning the glass, he swam back over and you could see something stringy flapping around out of the wound again.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

I take it he is still in the main tank? How is his eating? Is he lethargic? The redness would indicate some sort of bacterial infection.
Did you happen to QT the coral frags you got a couple of weeks ago? Something could have come in from them.
Unfortunately I can't offer any concrete solution other than dosing a broad spectrum antibiotic.

He is still in the main tank. He is eating, but isn't a pig like he normally is during dinner time.

He is definitely lethargic. He hangs out in one spot most of the day.

I did not QT the frags, but they were all dipped in CoralRx prior to introduction.

 

[Mrscribbled]

Not sure exactly what the growth is but I've had fish with similar growths. The course of treatment I've haf luck with is-remove the fish, wrap in damp paper towel, take a Q-tip dipped in 7 percent iodine, hold on the area for 30 seconds then move into a hospital tank for observation, and possible nutrifurican green treatment.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Not sure exactly what the growth is but I've had fish with similar growths. The course of treatment I've haf luck with is-remove the fish, wrap in damp paper towel, take a Q-tip dipped in 7 percent iodine, hold on the area for 30 seconds then move into a hospital tank for observation, and possible nutrifurican green treatment.

Unfortunately, I don't have any saltwater made up for a HT. I was waiting to get my new filters and Chloramine add on that was delivered today, but Spectrapure messed up and sent me the wrong stuff.

It wouldn't be until tomorrow that I could get a HT up and running.

Poor Clyde. I don't know what to do. :sad2:

 

[Spyderturbo007]

I'm on my second round of Prazipro, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. It still looks the same, he is still breathing rapidly and lethargic.

I just don't know what to do. I can't find out what he has so I don't even know if I'm administering the correct treatment.

 

[Cymonous]

Did you get a HT setup yet?

 

[Spyderturbo007]

I have the water all mixed up and just need hang the filter on the back. Shouldn't I just leave him in the tank for now so the Prazipro has a chance to work? I added the second dose today during my lunch break.

 

[Cymonous]

Give it another day. If he doesn't show improvement tomorrow, then I would get him into a HT.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Well, here is the update for today. Clyde's sore looks better. The cauliflower looking white portion is almost all gone, but there is still missing flesh. He is still lethargic at times and is still breathing rapidly in my opinion. He is starting to use his pectoral fin more than yesterday.

The weird thing is that when I fed the tank earlier tonight he was flying around like a crazy fish eating like a pig again. Then about 10 minutes after eating, he was hanging out in the corner down at the sand again.

You could see that after eating, he was breathing very rapidly.

I'm thoroughly confused?? Should I remove him after this round of PraziPro and medicate him with Antibiotics? Do I have to worry about this infecting my other fish if he gets better and this goes away?

 

[Cymonous]

Its hard to say imo. But, you did medicate the whole DT. So, if prazipro really took care of the clown's parasite, I would think it would not spread to the other fish. I would say to give the clown more time since he is showing some improvement. He will need to heal now since the parasite is either gone or dieing.