Help – lionfish is dying from bacteria infection

[Seafan]

I got this dwarf lionfish (about 3� long) last Tue. He had been in the LFS for more than 2 weeks before I bought him. For the first few days in my 20g Q-tank he looked fine by himself. But last Saturday when I tried to feed him, I found that he was not interested in food. He also shed a coating. Sunday morning I found that he lost tissue on his tail fine overnight, and there were holes in his left pectoral fine. He was losing balance, not able to swim, just sitting on the bottom. I treated the tank with MelaFix last night. This morning I found that he has lost most tissue of his left pectoral fin also. Is there anything I could/should do to save this lionfish?

My post about this fish is here (http://www.aqualink-too.com/ubb/board/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=11&t=000875)


[Edited by Seafan on 03-12-2001 at 02:05 PM]

[billsreef]

Hi Seafan,

I read over you postings on AL, unfortunately it sounds like things are at the point of a last ditch effort with the spead of this disease. The Maracyn 2 (SW version) that Frank mentioned is a good antibiotic. My other favorite antibiotic is Nitrofuran. I usually start out with Nitrofuran as it tends to hit the majority of bacterial infections and is also economical at the same time, a rare combination ;) However if you already have the Maracyn 2 go ahead and use it.

The biggest problem with ID'ing and treating fish diseases is the lack of lab work to determine just what the "bug" is and what it is sucseptable to. As a result we are generally left with using the shotgun approach. In choosing an antibiotic to treat a fish in a bath type situation (ie adding it to the tank water) you need to find a tissue soluable antibiotic that is active against a broad range of grahm negative bacteria. From off the LFS shelf that usually leaves us with the Furan's, kanacyn, neomycin, tetracycline, and tetracycline derivatives such as minicycline that used for Maracyn 2.

As the lab work to determine which antibiotic will do the most damage to the bacteria is usually not done, that leaves us with picking one of the above and watching closely for a couple of days. Usually within 2-3 days you will see an improvement if the antibiotic you are trying is having a positive effect. If no positive effect is noted it is time to assume that the bacteria infection is resistant and you need to switch to another antibiotic.

[Seafan]

Thanks bill. Is "Nitrofuran" a brand name or chemical/medicine name? I couldn't find it in the Pet warehouse catalog or LFS. (the only thing close to that name I found was "Nitrofura-G", but it's for goldfish only) If it's name of the medicine, could you please suggest a brand name that may be available in LFS or online stores?

[billsreef]

Sorry I forgot to mention that nitrofuran and related compounds are often sold under different names by some manufacturers. Here is list of commonly available antibiotics including furan based antibiotics. The nitrofura G is one btw.

From Aquatronics:
Furacyn
Nitrofura-G

From Aquarium Products:
Furanase

From Aquarium Pharmaceuticals:
Furan-2

Any of these should work well.

Good luck.

[Seafan]

thanks for your quick reply. Do they kill the biofilter?

I have moved the lion to a bare bottom tank for treatment. How do I disinfect the 20g tank he lived for 5 days? I'd like to get out whatever bacteria in there, so when/if he gets better he can safely return, and the tank could be safe for future residents. People usually keep a tank fishless after parasite outbreaks. Is there a similar waiting period after bacteria outbreaks? The tank has been up for nearly a year and there is a 4" crushed coral/sand bed with some rocks.

[billsreef]

All the manufacturers claim that the antibiotics do not affect your good bacteria, but that is want the consumer wants to hear, not the truth. The antibiotics will depress the activity of the good bacteria, that is why all antibiotic directions call for those increased water changes ;)

As for sterilizing the tank, if you have effecively cured the disease you will not need to. If you really feel the need to sterilize the surest way is simple bleach...guaranteed to kill all.

[Seafan]

Originally posted by billsreef
As for sterilizing the tank, if you have effecively cured the disease you will not need to. If you really feel the need to sterilize the surest way is simple bleach...guaranteed to kill all.

As you said it's a last ditch effort to save the lion, I don't have too much expectation of curing the disease. I have live rocks and a 4" live bed in that tank, so I really don't want to bleach it. Any other options?

I guess I shouldn't have used that tank for quarantine. (I was thinking to provide a mature and stable environment for new arrivals) I have never dealed with bacteria infections before. But what if the new fish REQUIREs sandy bottom, such as wrasses, gobies etc? And some fishes have a much better chance of acclimating to new tank when it has rocks and live sand bed, like angels or butterflies. What do people do in this situation?