Trigger with flukes? (Pics attached)

[Sonicblast12]

I have a recently acquired pinktail trigger that's having a hard time. Came into my tank with a pretty bad dose of ich. After about 10 days of hyposalinity there were only a couple of remaining blotches, but I don't think they were ich. Seemed too large. Checked my SG and it was 1.009 and has been for weeks. Now on week 4 of hypo and he has slowly developed white blotches over his entire body. Progressed to the point where he looks like this. Looks almost like dust.

His crypt looked like this...

...so I'm almost sure it's something else. I have prazipro, time to dose?

 

[geaux xman]

how is he eating? i would go ahead and jump on the prazipro since it can be done in conjunction with hypo.

perhaps do a FW dip to see if any flukes falls off?

 

[Sonicblast12]

Eating fine. In fact, eats an incredible amount for his size. I've had a couple of fish stop eating and die after a prazi treatment so I'm a little hesitant to just jump right in.

 

[geaux xman]

I dont know, but i doubt it was the prazi treatment that did those fish in. they might've been on their way out already. Prazi might have them lose their appetite for a day, but not much longer.

I have an emperor juvie and an adult blueface both in one QT tank and went thru 2 treatments of prazi and they've been eating fine. They're in .5ppm of copper right now too.

Another tank I have a powder brown tang thats been in 1.009 hypo for 5 weeks. hes about ready for a 2nd dose of prazi. hes been eating fine throughout.

Another tank with 4 carberryi anthias thats been in hypo for 4 days and in prazi just as long. their eating has not slowed any either.

These are all what appears to be healthy fish prior to QT though.

You really dont want the parasite to really settle themselves in and the treatment becomes too late.

I guess wait and see what some of the other forum members think...

 

[Sonicblast12]

They were dwarf angels that stopped eating and never re-started, not exactly as food crazy as a trigger. As you said, might have been on the way out anyway.

I went ahead and dosed the prazi, figured it couldn't hurt this fish. Didn't want this to get any worse.

We'll see how it goes.

 

[MadBeach79]

Prazi should do the trick for you, we have had a couple niger triggers show the same type of fluke here at the aquarium, dosed the whole exhibit with a praziquantel solution and within a week all the fish looked great.

 

[andrewsky]

i did a fw dip, even though my thread says he was stressed alot, dont know if you want to go through with that but the flukes on mine came right off of him. leave him in for like 5-10 mins, and wind him with a net on his side, worked for my guy. was a little stressful, but these guys are very hardy and can most likely take it.
thought i might've put my experience with my trigger. excactly what happened with me.

 

[Sonicblast12]

Snapped some more pics tonight to see how much progress has been made in 48 hours. As best I can tell...not much. The head/mouth area does look better. Behavior has changed a little, flicking on rocks...a little more active in the water column. Some of the discoloration near the mouth is from flicking.

Still eating like a pig.

See...on top near his head/eyes still looks like crypt to me. But those marks have not moved from that spot....still has that overall blotchy look. Made sure my refractometer was calibrated, still holding at 1.009 and has been there for a month. I dunno.

Bonus pic: Ghost mode!

 

[Sk8r]

One problem may be trying to treat him with a sandbed and rock involved. Try a pot-filter with a really powerful pump, changing the floss daily, and see if you can suck up anything that drops off him before it gets a chance to implant in that sandbed and hatch into more. Second question: are you using an ATO in the tank, to keep that salinity steady? If it wobbles, it gives a break to the parasites.

It's certainly taken a while, and if he's had a double whammy of both ich and flukes, he's been a very sick fish. If he's eating, that's really helpful. Fortunately, what he's got in both cases are external parasites which respond more or less to the same treatment; but the flukes are a little different than ich.
Potassium permanganate is a dip treatment: look up its use and dosage.
Even cleaner fish, useless with ich, can be of some use---but being a trigger in good appetite, he'd eat them.
You have examined these with a magnifying glass, right? Definitely flukes? See the shape, the movement?

One thing that might assist the fish to throw off his passengers is Stress Coat, which increases a fish's slime.

Keep us posted.

 

[Sonicblast12]

I don't know if it's flukes for sure, I haven't examined. I'm scared of the stress of a FW dip at this point. Never stopped eating and appears to be showing improvement.

I've never had an issue before with hypo knocking the ich even with sand and rocks. This tank has been at hyposalinity since it was set up not quite a year ago, and has had many fish pass through...treating it like a semi-permanent QT that will morph into a smallish FOWLR DT after I'm done fully stocking my tanks.

Tank is lidded and I drew a line to keep the waterline consistent so the salinity should never waver. Evap control is part of my daily feeding routine.

See, the ich disappeared after seven days like it always does. Those specks on his head have remained. (Actually, looking back it appears they developed after the ich disappeared, the evidence is in the 2nd pic of the thread. No white clumps but an obvious case of ich.) Now I'm thinking that could be lymph transmitted from his Lei trigger tankmate. Seems to be larger, irregularly shaped, and kind of clumped together and seems to be the only thing that makes sense after this long in hypo. It's certainly possible, the Lei entered QT with some lymph on his side and jaw area. Triple whammy? I've just never encountered an issue like this latest one.

I've already been hitting the stress coat since dosing the prazi, anticipating some healing.

And maybe it's my imagination, I'd never be able to capture it in the photo, but when I look really close and the pinktail is doing its lime green thing, it looks like there are tiny black holes as if something has indeed released from the body. I'm thinking I'll be able to see a difference in 24 hours.

 

[Sk8r]

Lymphocystis is viral and relatively benign, despite the look: it'll go away on its own, once the stress level drops.

But here's hoping those gaps in the situation are real.

 

[Sonicblast12]

Lymph has been a problem in my DT, it has been passed from fish to fish for awhile. The only time it was an issue is when my Niger developed a large spot near it's mouth.

Took a look at the pinktail this morning with a flashlight, looked a little better than last night.

 

[Sk8r]

Melanurus wrasses are said to pick parasites off their neighbors. But whether a trigger would be grateful for this attention is a dangerous bet. You might end up with one more infested fish. I think your best bet is exactly what you're doing, just patience.

 

[Sonicblast12]

Not much improvement. Will look better, then look worse again.

Any chance this is a reaction to the hypo? I'm about to reach the five week mark with this fish.

I once had a trigger that never adapted to hypo and wasn't really healthy until a week of 1.023. Still had a good appetite or I would have pulled the plug earlier, but spent much of the time flicking around the tank and acting stressed.

 

[Sk8r]

Have you been able to confirm flukes? You should be able to see them with a strong magnifying glass.

 

[Sonicblast12]

If he did has flukes, that's not the problem anymore.

This guy is still hanging in there but has an emaciated look and an ashen color to his whole body. Still eating well but losing size, cheeks are hollow and the stomach has a pinched look most of the time. I'm cutting hypo short to see if it helps. Not sure what to do.

Not optimistic at this point.

 

[jhentr]

Prazi and hypo should have done the job by now or show improvements. I would say raise it backup and try Cupramine if you feel comfortable. IME, I had similar case with my Tomato Clown - same skin symptoms and I tried Cupramine at last and that cleared it up after 2 weeks.

 

[Sonicblast12]

A bit of an update and I won't post pictures because it's just a shame. Back to normal salinity but he's a skeleton. One gill plate is no longer moving. Has a large skin rupture under his jaw. Still eating, bless his heart.

The worst part with triggers is that they are aquatic dogs. Their eyes focus on you and you can almost see the tail wagging. Ugh.

 

[Sonicblast12]

I was sure he would be gone a couple of days ago but this is quite a battle. Had been getting by on several small feedings per day, eating less and less and visibly losing body mass. I had considered pulling him out so he didn't suffer.

But the skin rupture under his jaw is healing, and stuffed himself full of silversides tonight for the first time in awhile. Belly looks full and some of his emerald green color has returned. You can still see the hollowed out cheeks. Still has those white blotches but the whole body is no longer covered. Not out of the woods by any stretch, but headed in the right direction.

Mercy, triggers are tough.

 

[Sonicblast12]

Just a bit of an update, the trigger died about a week after that last picture. It had a white spotch on it's side and a hole where something appeared to burst out of the middle of it.