Treatment for Mouth Sores on Butterfly fish

jjk_reef00

jjk_reef00

New member
I've had this butterfly fish for 3 or so months in qt. He went through prazi, then cupramine fine and I noticed he had a little red mark on his mouth. I switched him to a different qt tank to observe him. The red marks progressively got worse.

I've tried with nitrofuracin green power for over a week. The first two days it helped out but then the sore remained but didn't get any worse. By day 6 the sore started getting worse.

Next I tried pimafix/melafix combination for about 7 days, same results. Got a little better the first 2 days and then lost effectiveness.

Now I'm on my 4th day of Furan-2. It seems to help but I'm afraid the sore will continue to get worse without medication.

I had another BF with the same symptoms a long while back it died because the infection got so bad it couldn't eat.

Does anyone have any idea about any medication or treatment I can try to eliminate these sores?

 
I had a fish develop the same symptoms in my display tank 6-12 months ago. His mouth got worse and worse until he died from not being able to eat. At this point I'm not very hopeful...
 
I just lost a fish with a wound on its nose that got worse--same thing, it stopped eating and got thin. In my case, it looked like a wound he got from being startled and running into rock (my best guess), as he was healthy and fine in my DT for about 5 years. Then developed an infection. I tried maracyn, then Furan-2 with no results--at least you are seeing some improvement with your efforts.

It sounds like you are doing what you can, and if the Furan-2 worked, I would give it another round--

Its my understanding that these issues can be a combination of bacteria and fungus, so its really hard to know how to treat, but if you see results, keep doing the same thing.

Note that I am a bit of a newbie in terms of treatment, so I would be interested to see what others with more experience think--I will be following this thread.

I hope it works out for you
 
I've had some butterflies get similar problems during/after cupramine. How long has he been out of cupramine?
 
He did develop this in cupramine, and I can believe that a physical injury could have opened the wound for infection.

Approximately 2-3 weeks, it was getting worse without medication.
The various medication is slowing or limiting the infection but doesn't seem to kill it off.
I see cycles of red and then black skin (dieing skin).

He is still eating well the entire time, other than when I treated pima/melafix.
Very frustrating to get a healrhy butterfly through pazi and copper and then have this.
 
I appreciate the info guys, I've contacted two online sourses and I'm just hoping for a combination of treatments that will cure this infection.
 
You probably know this already, but keep in mind that antibiotics are slow acting. Unless someone with more experience says otherwise, seems like continuing with what you have seen work is a good bet. Esp if the little guy is still eating
 
Thanks, I've never had to apply them. How slow are we talking about?
I've applied a week of each medication and I did see some improvement, but the infection lingers. I'm going to continue using furan 2 as that what was recommended by the vendor. I've been using that for a week now, and the fish eats the best in that medication.
If I go 2 months with bi-weekly water changes and the infection doesn't clear then what?
 
I wish I knew, but I am not that experienced.

Its great that he is eating, since antibiotics tend to suppress appetite.

It looks like MrTuskfish, Humblefish and gone fishin are folks that post a lot on these threads and seem to have several years of experience.

If they don't respond to this thread, try pm-ing them. Esp MrTuskfish and Humblefish

I hope you get some feedback
 
I've been treating Furan-2 every day at stronger than recommended dose (I have about 7 gallons in the tank and have been dosing 10 gallons worth). The mouth has improved quite a bit but still isn't completely cured. At this point I'm afraid if I remove the meds the infection will get worst. I emailed National Fish Pharmaceuticals and they called but I haven't returned their call yet. I might call this week to see if I can get some stronger meds.

The fish is still eating well and I'm hopefull he will eventually make a complete recovery as long as I can find the right medication to wipe this infection out. I ordered an acclimation box from elite aquatics which should be finished in a couple of weeks. When I think the infection is gone I will keep the fish in there for a few weeks and observe closely.

I appreciate the advice you guys have given.
 
Maracyn 2. Most bacteria infection are treated by this. Most of the other antibiotics are more specific to less likely bacteria. from what I've learned recently I would slays try m2 before other antibiotics.
 
Wanted to update. I've continued with the furan-2 treatment, and I think all the redness is 100% gone. I still see black skin (I think dying skin) and it doesn't seem to go away. I'm going to call national fish pharmaceuticals tomorrow to see if they can recommend something to kill this off for good.
 
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