White lesions/flaps on my Purple Firefish

[TakenAuthority]

Hi guys,

Yesterday my little Six-line wrasse died and I noticed he had strange white flaky marks on the side of its flank. At the same time, I noticed them on my Purple Firefish too - but none on my clownfish, Coral Beauty or Royal Blue Damsels (other tank mates are one Zoanthid, cleaner shrimp and 2 turbo snails).

My LFS said it looks like he's been aggressed on by a tank mate and what he's seeing (in the same pics I'm attaching here) is damage to the slime coat, and recommended I use Acroflavin (after taking the invertebrates out) for a week or two.

However, this is just one piece of advice from the same LFS who sold me the fish so I'd like a second opinion just to hear other people's thoughts.

I've not seen any aggression in the tank but I can't stare at it 24/7 to see what they're up to. My water parameters are all totally normal - both I and my LFS have tested them.

Pics attached.

 

[fishguy242]

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

 

[vetteguy53081]

Bacterial outbreak
Focus on water quality followed by diet.
I recommend a ruby rally bath followed with maracyn 2 in a separate tank.
You can continue with ruby rally for10 days as it takes longer than maracyn 2.
For LFS to suggest aggression with fins in good condition- I’d find a different LFS

 

[TakenAuthority]

Bacterial outbreak
Focus on water quality followed by diet.
I recommend a ruby rally bath followed with maracyn 2 in a separate tank.
You can continue with ruby rally for10 days as it takes longer than maracyn 2.
For LFS to suggest aggression with fins in good condition- I’d find a different LFS

Thanks a ton for your reply! They suggested aggression because I mentioned I had damsels which I know can be aggressive and they just indexed on that being the likely cause.


Is there any reason why my clownfish or coral beauty won’t be showing any signs of bacterial infection and just my wrasse which has died and my fire fish? With putting my fire fish in a separate tank and giving it the suggested bath with Ruby rally and such would I not need to do something to the main tank to kill any existing bacteria?

 

[vetteguy53081]

The goby may have had as simple as an injury or nick ir even internal which progressed . Bacteria is one of the least spreading up front until it becomes accelerated . Another reason the other fish didn’t get it is Healthy fish have a strong, natural resistance to bacteria and can usually fight it off on their own, but weak, sick and/or stressed fish can be very susceptible to this illness. The tiny open pores of the lateral line or open wounds are most often the point of entry for the onset of internal infections, but the soft tissues of the gills are also a prime entry point

 

[TakenAuthority]

The goby may have had as simple as an injury or nick ir even internal which progressed . Bacteria is one of the least spreading up front until it becomes accelerated . Another reason the other fish didn’t get it is Healthy fish have a strong, natural resistance to bacteria and can usually fight it off on their own, but weak, sick and/or stressed fish can be very susceptible to this illness. The tiny open pores of the lateral line or open wounds are most often the point of entry for the onset of internal infections, but the soft tissues of the gills are also a prime entry point

This is the other side of him, pictures taken 24 hours apart.

I have a hospital tank I can put him in. Stick to Ruby Rally? I'm in the UK, in the quick browsing from my phone, I couldn't find anywhere that sold maracyn 2.

 

[TakenAuthority]

Update...

He just died. I have no idea what happened or what could have caused it but he'd been in the tank 3 weeks and only in the last 2 days showed any behaviour and physical changes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So sorry to hear. This is very similar to uronema and immediate treatment was warranted.

 

[TakenAuthority]

So sorry to hear. This is very similar to uronema and immediate treatment was warranted.

Uronema was suggested by someone on a UK Reefing Facebook page but as neither my wrasse nor my fire fish had any red marks, it was kinda up in the air.

Should I spot any other uronema, what's the best most effective treatment you recommend?

 

[vetteguy53081]

The treatment of choice is a 45 minute formalin bath using Quick Cure or rally pro followed by transfer into a fresh quarantine tank. Once in Quarantine, it is important to do follow up treatment to assure all the parasites have been eliminated. This can be accomplished by dosing and food soaking metronidazole -commonly used under the name: Seachem Metroplex for 10-14 days.
Uronema is a free living parasite which does not require a fish as a host. It can subsist off bacteria and dead tissue in which your fish displayed.