Please help identify this infection/parasite!!!

[Manicosi]

I am hoping that someone could help me identify the issue with my PBT. I purchased this fish roughly two weeks ago and he was super healthy up until a few days ago. He has been in Qt with 2 other small tangs and 2 onyx Picasso clowns since bringing them home from the lfs. He has always eaten everything insight and from all outward appearances looked very healthy. For the past few days he has been very lethargic sitting at the bottom of the tank breathing really heavy and also has developed a foggy right eye and a few miscolorations on his body. I am not new to this process and have pretty much all medications on hand to treat if I only new the diagnosis. Any insight that can be provided would be greatly appreciated. I will upload a few pictures taken from my phone, I apologize for the poor quality. Thanks

 

[Manicosi]

Sorry, I don't post much and can't figure out how to attach more than one photo at a time from my phone...

 

[Shark.Bait]

looks like flukes to me. Use prazipro

 

[Manicosi]

That is what I thought but a FW dip did not yield anything I could see. This morning, the fish is on it's side and still breathing heavy, I don't think he has much time left.... Will a quick formalin bath buy him some time if it is gill flukes?

 

[Manicosi]

I doubt he will make it through the day...

 

[billsreef]

Not looking good Since a FW dip didn't reveal any flukes, I'd suspect amyloodinium or some other protozoan parasite based on the symptoms and speed of progression. If you have any chloroquine handy, that would be the best bet.

 

[Manicosi]

Bill, thanks for your reply. I have actually been running CP for the past week and that is why I was leaning toward the problem being flukes. To be honest, the fish did not do well in the FW dip, so I had to remove it pretty quickly (max 2 min) so it is entirely possible that the contact time was not long enough. I also read that FW dip works on external fluke but does not always get to the flukes in the gills. I am going dose Prazipro with the CP and hope for the best but unfortunately I think it may be to late for this guy.

Do you think a formalin dip would be worth a try as a last ditch effort?

 

[billsreef]

2 minute FW would have been adequate enough to strip some flukes off if they were there, enough for you to have noticed. What level have you been running the CP at? Usually works pretty quick for Amyloodinium and several other protozoans. A formalin dip can be stressful, might help, but also might push the fish over the edge. If you try it, be sure and heavily aerate the dip, as formalin chases O2 out of the water.

 

[Manicosi]

level should be at 10mg/l; calculated by (29 gallons x 10)/266= 1.1 grams of CP.
I am fully expecting this fish to be dead when I get home from work but I still need to make an accurate diagnosis so I know how to treat the remaining fish in the QT. Fortunately, they are all still eating and not showing the signs like the PBT does. What do you think about increasing the CP to 15mg/l and running prazipro incase the issue really is flukes?

 

[billsreef]

Not sure I'd run the CP and prazi together. Don't know how they'd react, or how the fish would handle the two at the same time. The CP dosage can be safely raised to 15mg/l, even 20mg/l, though usually the 10mg/l dosage is sufficient.

 

[Manicosi]

Bill, thanks for your responses but unfortunately he didn't make it. After he died I placed the body in fresh water and confirmed the suspect was flukes. It took nearly 20 min in the FW for the flukes to release. All of the other fish in qt are now being treated with prazi and CP, so I will let you know how it goes but so far so good.