New clownfish with Lymphocystis

jvdb · #1 09/28/2007, 12:54 AM

I bought an occelaris clown last week, the second day I had him I noticed a couple of white spots on his gills. I thought it might be ich or a parasite, so I did a 5 min. freshwater dip, but a couple of days later it only looked worse.

I called the LFS I bought it from, and they told me it was Lymphocystis. They told me I could do a dip with Prazipro (I think), but I googled it, and it looks like Lymphocystis is viral, and their are no medications for it. I'm pretty sure they are correct on their diagnosis of Lymphocystis, as it looks exactly like other pictures I have found on the internet.

I stopped by the LFS today, and it looks like all the clowns there have it. I asked the kid working there about it, and he confirmed their is no way to treat it.

He is very active and eating well, but is there anything else I can do for this fish?

ginger7286 · #2 09/28/2007, 05:24 PM

Any pictures? I am new to this I have three clowns two have spots on them and I think it is ICK but I have never ad it before. I am getting my quarantine tank ready but I am dealing with an ammonia spike after treating a Hippo Tang that ended up dying so I am not sure how long before I can get them into the tank. I have had to reseed a new filter so I am worried to death about how long it will take to get the QT back on line. I am hoping for tomorrow. I need to know if what I have is ICK. Thanks,

itsthesong · #3 09/28/2007, 05:49 PM

Make sure your water quality is excellent, feed foods soaked in garlic, and keep an eye on him. I've usually seen this after fish have been shipped. The water in bags quickly degernerates in quality and therefore becomes a health issue. Usually it clears up on its own. You, and the LFS, are correct. Don't waste money on treatments, potions, etc., it's viral and nature and therefore has no "magic bullet" cure. Hope this helps!

itsthesong · #4 09/28/2007, 05:50 PM

ginger7286, where are the sopts? Is they are on the fins and look like cauliflower...it is most likely lymp. Same advice would apply, however.

jvdb · #5 09/28/2007, 06:32 PM

Thanks for the help!

My water is perfect, and the clown is eating well. So I have my fingers crossed that he will recover.

ginger7286: I don't think I can get any good photos, but I would suggest doing a google images search for Lymphocystis and you can see exactly what it looks like.

jvdb · #6 10/14/2007, 01:24 PM

I thought I would post an update.

Two nights ago I was sure my clownfish was going to die. The lymphocystis had completely covered his gills, and he was clearly having a hard time breathing.

I first tried to scrape/pick of the nodules with tweezers, but wasn't having much luck. So I started thinking maybe I could treat him topically with some antiseptic. The most mild thing I could think of is hydrogen peroxide, so I did a few quick google searches to confirm that hydrogen peroxide was effective against viruses, and then if it was safe for treating fish (found some studies where it was used in the water column, but not topically. Figured I might as well chance it since he seems to be dying anyway). Well I think this did the trick! The clownfish looks much better, and doesn't seem to have any trouble breathing anymore. The nodules are severely reduced. I will continue to post on this thread to confirm if this treatment is successful or not.

Percula9 · #7 10/14/2007, 04:12 PM

If the H2O2 treatment works, you may have discovered a possible treatment for Lymphocystis. Peroxide is usually used in comercial aquaculture to treat external parasites. The strength of the solution though is much higher. Keep us updated.

Redfish · #8 10/14/2007, 09:25 PM

There have been very limited trials using peroxide as, primarily, an antiparasitic treatment on fish but anti-viral might be another use. Your experiment would indeed add data to that work.

I would be interested in what brand or type of peroxide you used, the amount added by time period, the amount of water treated, what was in the tank, what biological processes were being used and any other chemical treatments used recently.

I would appreciate any information you have. You might also want to send a pm to Steven Pro with the same data.

trinireefer1 · #9 10/14/2007, 11:49 PM

Did you put the peroxide in the water or was it applied topically, if it was applied to the fish topically did you apply directly to gills. from what ive heard you cant apply to gill because it will kill the fish. any feedback would be appreciated. thanks in advance

jvdb · #10 10/15/2007, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by trinireefer1
Did you put the peroxide in the water or was it applied topically, if it was applied to the fish topically did you apply directly to gills. from what ive heard you cant apply to gill because it will kill the fish. any feedback would be appreciated. thanks in advance

The fish was removed from the water. I applied the peroxide to the nodules with a q-tip (just brushed a damp peroxide q-tip across the nodules several times). His gills were closed, I doubt much if any peroxide got in his gills, apparently not enough to kill him anyway (if any at all). This was with regular drugstore hydrogen peroxide (3%).

Redfish · #11 10/15/2007, 09:07 AM

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I am sure it did not reach his gills. It would have been deadly if it had.

Used as you did, I am sure the peroxide had a postive impact on the fish's health.

Keep us updated on his recovery.

jvdb · #12 11/01/2007, 01:18 AM

Another update:
My clownfish is basically back to where he was 2 - 3 weeks ago. The lymphocystis is back to the point where I think it's affecting his gill function. The question is, should I try treating him again? He is eating well, and is very active. He just doesn't seem able to kick this virus.

Any opinions at this point are welcome, I'm still undecided about what I should do.