Splinter looking things

[wontonflip]

I wasn't trying to be a jerk in your other thread when I said something didn't look right with your tang.The bug eye look of your tang at the time reminded me of early HLLE.

Do you think that could be it?

I know you were being a jerk. Cuz you're a..a....JERK..kidding :) I know you weren't. I like to get observations cuz obviously I miss stuff. Plus I thought you said the color didn't look right, so I wanted to be sure that's what you were talking about.

EDIT: I see now what you're talking about -- the not-so-bright yellow stripe along its side....i'll keep an eye on that.

Here's some stuff I found on it:

HLLE disease in the short run is not fatal, but over the long run if the disease continues to progress the fish stops eating and becomes lethargic.

and

Most of the above possible causes can be easily addressed. Stray voltage induces stress, so adding a grounding probe to the aquarium is a wise thing to do in any case. For poor water quality and environmental issues, follow good regular aquarium maintenance routines. Reduce and eliminate any other stress inducing factors, correctly diagnosis for parasites and always feed fishes foods that any particular species require in their diets.

So really, if he does have HLLE (ironically, looks like HELL lol), as long as he eats and gets better care, he should get better. Right now, he's eatin' like a pig and very active.

So if this is white ich, from what I've read, he has better chances of self-curing if he's eating healthily, so I'm hoping he pulls through. My LFS said, though, that although hippos are more prone to ich than yellows, hippos get over it faster w/ treatment, while yellows don't. Dunno if it's accurate, but I have to keep my fingers crossed.

If it's black ich, the meds are on the way. For now, I don't want to stress it more by trying to chase it around the tank. I had the qt tank set up for him, but he was hard to catch. Plus I want to treat the whole tank since with black ich, the eggs fall to the substrate where they wait to hatch and latch on to the other fish. I might as well kill them all in the tank.

EDIT: OH and forgot to mention..the splinter looking things are more on one side of his body, not his head.

 

[wontonflip]

According to a response from the wet web media guys, it could be monogenetic trematodes....trying to research them now. :dunno: But it could also be small gashes from rubbing on the rocks (which means possible start of white ich).

I'm observing the tang today, and he's gobbling up algae sheets like crazy, swimming well. I'll have to just watch him and see if I see anything new.

 

[tlsims]

this might be a stupid question but would a cleaner shrimp help. i had a shrimp long time ago that would clean my fish he was always chasing them down and picking stuff off them, some of the fish ran from him lol. oh and i had a cleaner wrasse one time that did the same thing but he jumped the tank. anyway like i said may be stupid suggestion but thought i would throw it out there.

 

[wontonflip]

Good suggestion tisims. i had a peppermint shrimp, but he died :( Time to pick up some more, I guess. My tank's in need of more cuc....since the move from the 45g, I haven't added more cuc (but considering my low bioload, I wasn't too concerned). But I guess I will pick up a few peps :)

It's always good to her everyones opinions, cuz often times, you forget simple things ;)

 

[Bifferwine]

Peppermint shrimp are not cleaner shrimp. Picking up cleaner shrimp is a good idea -- but you will need to get CLEANER shrimp. The striped skunk shrimp and the blood red shrimp are the most common cleaners you'll find.

 

[tlsims]

yhea you got be careful cause i got a skunk shrimp ( i think) but he does not clean my fish just the filters? or maybe my fish are clean already? anyway, some stores will mark them as cleaner shrimp when there really not, i dont know the difference so i think when i get my next one im going online to get it.

 

[wontonflip]

Ok...so skunk shrimp...what other good cleaner shrimps? Think they'll pick off parasites? Hehehehe....I'm trying to find the best non-medication cure for his parasitic infection. I dont' want to stress him.

My lfs is awesome and very knowledgeable, so I'm sure they'll sell me the right shrimp :)

 

[daugherty]

fire or blood shrimps are good ones along with the skunk cleaner

 

[wontonflip]

How many of each would be good for my 125g?

 

[tlsims]

yhea what they said. and a cleaner wrasse fish if they would happen to have one they do a great job. but you might look them up before you got one to make sure he is compatible with what you have now. they are jumpers is the only bad thing i can remember about them.

 

[wontonflip]

I'm wary of adding fish right now....hehehee.

 

[wontonflip]

I'm so confused. My head is going to explode with the different treatments, and I still don't know what the tang has.

I just watched him again today. First of all, so far, he's still eating like a pig. I've watched him constantly munching on pieces of the algae sheets. He's activiely swimming, but occassionally has this jerky movement -- kind of jerking his body to the right, mostly, as if trying to shake off something in his ear.

No white spots, but I still see the "splinter" looking things -- they're not bruise-like; they're more splinter-like. Based on a description on wetwebmedia.com, one person described it similar to mine (can't find the link)....it's either monogenetic trematodes or parasitic copepods, according to wetweb. Plus, if he's already stressed, I'm sure I might start seeing ich.

I'm thinking I will have to try to qt him, even if it stresses him to the point of death. I was just going to treat the whole tank, but now I'm thinking I should go ahead and single him out.

I've read so much about freshwater dips...and I'm lost. I've read some that say it's literally just rodi at the same temp and ph as the main tank...others say it's not just rodi...I don't know....I was going to do the dip then qt him to medicate him. The Seachem Paraguard I ordered (will be here by friday) is copper and formalin free, and reviews from people have had good results with it curing ich and other parasites.

Some guidance please.

Step by step guidance please?

 

[tlsims]

If it were me i would go as natural as i could at first. since he is eating and doing pretty well i would hold off on drastic measures and drive to the fish store and get a skunk maybe more if you can afford it, or red shrimp (only get one if choosing the red i think they dont get along with each other unless their mates) if the shrimp does not start cleaning him and it may take a day or so for the shrimp to get comfortable? then i would start with a plan B.

 

[wontonflip]

But what do the shrimp clean off? Just parasites? I kinda figure he's already got ich, just not surfacing yet, but I've read people don't mess with it if their fish is eating, and they've had luck with the fish fending off the ich on their own.

So my biggest concerns are the parasites...ideally, would shrimp pick those off?

 

[tlsims]

yes they eat the parasites and dead skin

 

[Bifferwine]

The shrimp will pick at the lesions and dead skin at the surface -- but they will not get the parasites that are embedded in the skin. Cleaner shrimp are not a solution to parasites. They are more of a part of the regular maintenance of fishes' health more than anything else.

 

[wontonflip]

Thanks for the info, Biff. So it's still suggested that I go ahead and risk qt'ing him?

I finally got a shot. You'll have to click on the image to view it larger, then zoom into it when you get into the photobucket image...I didn't want to shrink the image. The spots seem to only be on that side, but he tends to jerk to the right.

http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/...allon/Fish/?action=view&current=sick_tang.jpg

 

[tlsims]

have you looked at tang turbellarian disease, it kinda looks like that to me. if so yhea qt might be good, cause i think the other fish can get it but not sure.

 

[ccCapt]

I say it's definitely black ich flatworms. Read the article I linked to earlier. It gives some treatment options with formalin. Don't put your faith in any "reef safe" med. If it's safe then chances are it's not effective.

Also that's not HLLE, it's too low on it's body. The lateral line starts right behind the eye and runs along the side. You can see it in the pic. Now looking closely, right next to the eye where the lateral line starts, if that's a mark, that may be the start of HLLE.

 

[wontonflip]

Wetwebmedia crew told me it could also be paravortex...

Ok....thanks CC...I reread the article, knowing what I know now. Seems like whether it's black ich or paravortex, a freshwater dip might be good...

So what are my steps -- I've got the qt set up (Unfortunately it's only a 10g :( I'm hoping it'll be ok because he's tiny)....catch him, do a freshwatetr dip (which I need clarification on -- Do i put anything else in the rodi? Or just rodi (and make sure it's the same temp?) I get that I monitor him the whole time, and only for 5-10 min in there... Then I put him in the qt...and do this every other day? For how long?

EDIT: Forgot to add....if I get rid of it in the Tang....putting him back would reinfect him though, right? :(