Square back anthia in qt. possibly has flukes.

[greg1786]

I picked up a squareback anthia yesterday at my LFS. It was hard to resist as Ive really been wanting one for a while and it was proce marked wrong so i got a great deal. Its a 4.5" male and i paid 45 dollars. The problem is im pretty sure it has flukes. Its currently in my QT tank and is showing the following symptoms; cloudy eyes, heavy breathing, random head shaking, no appetite, frayed fins, and hiding. Its the only fish in QT at the moment and I immediately added recommended doseage of prazipro to the QT when i got the fish home. I planned to keep him in qt for a month before adding him to the DT. How long should i treat the anthia with prazi pro during his time in QT? Is there anything else I should be doing or that i should be aware of with the flykes situation. Im really looking for any and all advice from you guys here in the fish disease forum because i know there are some brilliant minds that are well versed in marine fish disease here. Thanks in advance for any help. -Greg

 

[HumbleFish]

2 rounds of Prazipro (5-6 days apart) are usually needed to clear Flukes. Do a 25% WC before administering the 2nd dose. However, a couple of the symptoms you described (cloudy eyes, frayed fins) makes me think you might have more going on with this fish than just Flukes. But treating with Prazi is a good first step.

 

[MrTuskfish]

You should treat all new fish with PP even if you don't suspect flukes. It is possibly the safest med we use.

 

[scuzy]

You should treat all new fish with PP even if you don't suspect flukes. It is possibly the safest med we use.

My flame wrasse didn't like the prazipro much when I first put it in he stop swimming. Moved him to another qt thank with only cuisine he's back to good old self

 

[greg1786]

2 rounds of Prazipro (5-6 days apart) are usually needed to clear Flukes. Do a 25% WC before administering the 2nd dose. However, a couple of the symptoms you described (cloudy eyes, frayed fins) makes me think you might have more going on with this fish than just Flukes. But treating with Prazi is a good first step.

Perhaps I should clarify the cloudy eyes statement. Only one of his eyes are cloudy and its mor like a few cloudy spots rather than the whole eye. But what comes to mind for you that may be affecting the fish orher than flukes. Thanks for the response

 

[HumbleFish]

Perhaps I should clarify the cloudy eyes statement. Only one of his eyes are cloudy and its mor like a few cloudy spots rather than the whole eye. But what comes to mind for you that may be affecting the fish orher than flukes. Thanks for the response

The cloudy spots on the eye and frayed fins makes me think possible bacterial infection. But it could also just be damage from shipping or another fish. Do the fins look "rotted" to you or just damaged?

 

[greg1786]

The fins look damaged more so than rotting. The kid at the LFS was telling me it was from the clownfish in the tank but he was less than unreliable. I asked him where the recieved their fish from and his response was"i dont know, does it really matter"? I stood at the tank to watch the fish for almost an hour in the store and not once did the clownfish show any agression towards the anthias. If it were a bacterial infection what would be my treatment options if the prazipro doesnt improve the situation?

 

[HumbleFish]

The fins look damaged more so than rotting. The kid at the LFS was telling me it was from the clownfish in the tank but he was less than unreliable. I asked him where the recieved their fish from and his response was"i dont know, does it really matter"? I stood at the tank to watch the fish for almost an hour in the store and not once did the clownfish show any agression towards the anthias. If it were a bacterial infection what would be my treatment options if the prazipro doesnt improve the situation?

Erythromycin, Furan-2 are a couple of options. But I wouldn't be in a rush to start antibiotic treatment until you're reasonably sure it's needed (post pics of this fish if you can). Oftentimes new fish will look a little battered from transportation, and/or coming & going from so many different tanks/tank mates.

Btw, I know what you mean about kids working in LFS. :mad2: And what's the big deal about telling a customer who your wholesaler is? Most LFS guard that info like it's top secret. :bigeyes:

 

[greg1786]

Erythromycin, Furan-2 are a couple of options. But I wouldn't be in a rush to start antibiotic treatment until you're reasonably sure it's needed (post pics of this fish if you can). Oftentimes new fish will look a little battered from transportation, and/or coming & going from so many different tanks/tank mates.

Btw, I know what you mean about kids working in LFS. :mad2: And what's the big deal about telling a customer who your wholesaler is? Most LFS guard that info like it's top secret. :bigeyes:

Ill post a pic up as soon as I get home from work tonight. Im hoping i dont have to treat with antibiotics simply because im unfamiliar with bacteria infections in marine fish. Ive treated a tang for flukes before and it was a relatively painless process so hopefully this will be a similar situation. Im concerned about it showing no interest whatsoever in eating though. Im going to try soaking some spirinula enriched brine that i have in a supplement that i have that is sipposed to stomulate appetite and replenish electrolytes and see if that works. And i dont understand not wanting to share where you get your fish from. If i owned a fish store i would be proud to tell my customers i use reliable well known vendors to help put their minds at ease knowing they can trust the source

 

[greg1786]

Heres a picture of the anthia this evening. Its eye has lost the cloudy look but now has almost what looks like a bubble in it?? Not sure what it it maybe someone can help

 

[HumbleFish]

This is just one eye, right? It's very possible this is popeye. It's more of a condition than an actual disease, caused by eye trauma. You can do nothing and the situation will most likely remedy itself; or you can add epsom salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gals) to help ease the swelling. This site has more detailed info.

 

[greg1786]

I was thinking popeye when i was originally writing this thread but it doesnt really appear to have any actual damage to the eye. I could certainly be wrong but i was watching it very closely last night and it looks like something is actually on its eye. Like the area where the clear spots are look like they are raised a little off the actual eye. I fed a few brine shrimp last night and the fish reacted to them but didnt eat them at first. I was going to net them out because they were just resting on the bottom of the tank but an hour later when i came over with the net they were all gone so im thinking he may have eaten them. Ill try again tonight after work and let you know what happens. Thanks for all your help so far

 

[greg1786]

Ok i have an update. You were spot on about the popeye. His eye has gotten substantially worse in the last six hours. It was fine before i left for work today other than the spots which im thinking may have been flukes or eggs. And i think they may have hatched and began irritating his eye i need some help on what to do for the fish. What would you do in this situation and do you think im going to lose the fish or is the fish going to lose his eye

?

 

[HumbleFish]

How many rounds of Prazi has he gotten so far? For the swelling in the eye, I would definitely dose epsom salt. Just make sure it says "USP" (food grade). It may not help; but I also don't see how it can hurt.

 

[greg1786]

Ive only had the fish a for 72 hrs and hes been in qt since. Prazi pro was started about 20 hrs after i got the fish. I have a 24 hr pharmacy around the corner so ill go grab some epsom salts now. Is this a life threatening situation ?

 

[HumbleFish]

Is this a life threatening situation ?

IMO, probably not. However, there's a possibility he could lose the eye. But it would probably only become life threatening if there are further complications (i.e. the eye gets infected). If the eye doesn't improve in a few days (or gets worse), then I would treat with antibiotics as a precaution. But, for now, epsom salt is a noninvasive first step.

 

[greg1786]

Ok. I added epsom salts at 1tblsp per 5 gallons about an hour ago. Upon adding the salts i noticed the eye had gotten significantly worse. The bulge now has a white growth on it shaped like a tube that is curling around itself. Its actually got me a little worried because once it had swelled up it seemed relatively the same size and shape wise for a few hours and now all of a sudden it looks like its got a white tube worm growing on the end of it. Perhaps im being over worried because ive never dealt with anything like this before. Never the less ive included a picture of what it looks like now. Its a cell pic so its not the greatest but if you look right in the center of the eye you can see the hole in the tip of the tube like growth ive described. The growth is about 2mm from the base to the tip

 

[HumbleFish]

When is he due his next Prazi treatment? If it is a worm, Prazi should kill it. You could also try a f/w dip for immediate relief, but that is more risky. A formalin bath would be another option. Honestly, I can't be certain if that's a worm (or just a cloudy eye) from the pic.

 

[greg1786]

Hell get his next prazi treatment sunday. Im a little unsure about the epsom salts though. Is that something i have to add again or was one dose good for the duration ? Also he is stil excreting stringy white poop so whatever hes battling is definitely still there. He seems to be slowly getting better though hes not very active at all his breathing has slowed significantly and he is swimming around some.

 

[HumbleFish]

I would probably do one more dose of epsom salt in another day or two. To alleviate your concerns about it; epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate. Some reefers use it in their DT as a cheap way to raise magnesium. But for your purposes, it should help alleviate the swelling around his eye. It may not help; but it certainly won't hurt either.

If he's still excreting white stringy poop then he's still infected with some sort of internal parasite. Hopefully it's just Flukes. I would dose Prazi again on Sunday, and then see if symptoms continue. If it does, you may be dealing with intestinal parasites and that's a whole different ballgame. For that you would treat with this (not as "easy" on the fish as Prazi is).