Mycobacterial Infection     3/26/20 Over the last month this wrasse started to get a really big belly. I thought it was just to being overfed a pellet diet as I was trying to gotten up a skinny Kole tang. Its looks a little hump backed though right? Obviously with my past experience Fish TB is always on my mind. <Mmm; well... don't know re Myco- or other bacteria here... could be some sort of retention (fluids?), an internal growth (tumor?)... I would (myself) not move or "treat" this fish in any way; but continue to maintain it as you're doing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Mycobacterial Infection     3/26/20 Did you mean not remove the fish? <Ah yes. Correct. B> Re: Mycobacterial Infection      3/27/20 Thanks. I am going to try and fast the fish or limit the feeding of the tank for a few days. May also try feeding some peas and using some Epsom salt in case its bloated from eating. Otherwise it's still acting 100% normal and is the most aggressive eater in the tank. <Sounds good Eric. BobF>

Re: Mycobacterial Infection      6/27/19
Bob,
<Eric>
Sorry to open this inquiry back up. Not sure if you recall but I had also
sent you an email regarding polyp extension on my Acros. I was actually
going move all my soft corals and anemones out and setup a new tank for
them giving me more space to increase flow space out some of my sps
corals. This entire myco infection has got me concerned about contamination of the new tank even though I know mycobacterium marinum is omnipresent to a degree.
<Yes; but varying in "potency".... infectiousness if you will. As long as
your livestock is healthy, system optimized and stable; not much chance of
expression>
Would removing the coral not attached to rock and anemones likely result in contamination. I have read for hours and most of what I have been able to find pertain to zebrafish studies. I haven't seen any studies that apply to the casual aquarist in situations like mine.
<Not much science per hobby conditions, no. I would do your best to provide
good maintenance and try not to worry re Mycobacteria. Bob Fenner>

Thank you!     10/20/17
Needed info on bacterial infections and read article by Myron Roth. It was both detailed and helpful. Very much appreciated.
Best Regards,
Adrianna Laszlo
--
<Have sent on your kind words to Myron. Bob Fenner>

Queen angel fin rot; using WWM     2/4/15
My queen angel was doing well and I had a bit of an ich outbreak. So I put all my fish in a quarantine tank and treated with Cupramine. Now the Queen angels front fins are disappearing. Could it be fin rot and if it is how do I treat this?
<... see WWM re Finrot, AND Cupramine use, copper poisoning. Bob Fenner>

Watanabe Angelfish Emergency - Diagnosis Please!    4/1/13 Hello, <Nicole> First off, thanks as always for the great site and great knowledge! <Welcome> I was given this Watanabe angel by a LFS since she had black Turbellarian worms and Amyloodinium. <And a very bad apparent bacterial infection>  Needless to say, she was near death when I got her, but she's come around. Now...she has this horrific thing. What is it? I thought it was either Vibriosis <Could be>  or Uronema. More details below. First night...(Thursday) - Acclimated - Freshwater dip w/ Methylene blue @ 30 minutes (worms seemed gone) - Placed into QT tank w/ formalin - No appetite <... more weight to gastroenteritis from Vibrio> - Gasping at surface...breathing rate around 180 breaths/minute <Stress period... osmotic shock/imbalance, hemolysis due to FW immersion, handling> Second night...(Friday) - Freshwater dip w/ Methylene blue @ 10 minutes (velvet lessened) - Placed into new QT tank w/ formalin - No appetite - Breathing slowed to ~70 breaths per minute - Noticed lighter patch on her side - Very twitchy Third night...(Saturday) - Freshwater dip w/ Methylene blue @ 10 minutes (skin nearly clear) - Placed into new QT tank w/ Furan 2 - No appetite - Breathing is good - Patch worsening...grows noticeably larger w/in hours - Very twitchy Fourth night...(Sunday) - Added second dose of Furan 2 as per instructions - No appetite - Breathing is good - Patch is really bad...might've hit the blood stream? - Noticed second patch starting - Very twitchy So... at first I thought Uronema, but I would've thought the 3 freshwater/Methylene blue dips plus the formalin baths would've curbed it. <Yes; agreed> Then I thought Vibriosis, but the Furan 2 isn't helping either. Did I start the Furan 2 too late? Any other ideas on what it might be? <Too many to list... I would likely just hope and pray at this juncture... unless subcutaneous injection (intramuscular) of Furan, Sulfonamides is not beyond you> The scary thing is that I had three Anthias in the same quarantine tanks (they were brand new setups at the time.) They all developed the exact same thing and died. <Ahh, bad>  I thought they were fighting and that the wounds were inflicted by the others. I tried treating with erythromycin (all I had on hand at the time), but that did nothing. <... some affect of gram negative bacteria... but not useful w/ Vibriosis>  After they died, I bleached all the tanks, dried them, and let them sit for about a month before setting them up for this fish. What's going on and how do I deal with this??? <Have just quickly reviewed Noga 2d ed. pp. 193-196, and the few scholarly pc.s via Google on Vibrio in ornamental marine fishes... and the real  answer: "not much". The situation bodes poorly for this specimen>  I've attached a photo of her wound.  She's the only fish in the QT tank, and this issue started in the QT tank.  Temp is 78 degrees, salinity is 1.025, and ammonia is maintained at 0 with tank transfers or Amquel. <I would not move or manipulate this fish further> Thanks again for all the help! <I wish I could offer you a/the "miracle cure". Not yet. Bob Fenner>

Re: Watanabe Angelfish Emergency - Diagnosis Please!    4/2/13 Mr. Fenner, <Nicole> Thank you so much for your timely and expert advice.  Unfortunately, injections are currently beyond my hobbyist-level experience.  The Furan 2 has definitely slowed the progression, but it has still worsened.  I'll continue the Furan 2 treatment and just hope and pray. <Ah good> Thanks again - your help really means a lot. Nicole <Am glad to share with you. BobF>

Re: Itchy Fish. SW... disease diagnosis     8/21/12
Bob, I am writing not to argue but it seems we were both wrong here. I looked extensively on the internet in regards to disease symptoms none of which that I could find matches bacterial or fungal infections and I decided as my copper levels were very low and the symptoms did not resemble Ich or Oodinium I was at a loss, the only symptoms were large grey blotches over the body and loss of appetite.
<... Microscopic examination...>
Sadly the Regal Angel died. What I found strange is that descriptions for bacterial and fungal infections listed symptoms like stringy white matter, red fins etc. I decided to treat with Mardel Maracyn Plus which contained a part description matching and after 4 days the Emperor is eating and the blotches are gone.
<Ah good>
The reason I write is to hopefully help others where the symptoms are the same without the fast breathing of Ich and Oodinium.  Regards, Adam.

Marine Columnaris?   4/10/12
Mr. Fenner,
Thanks as always for the fast response!  However, it left me a bit confused... Please read my comments below in " {{.}}".
Thanks!
Lindsey
<<Hotay>>
Subject: Marine Columnaris? 
Mr. Fenner,
I just found out today that you will be speaking at our local SCRK meeting this Sunday!  I am so excited to get to meet you and hear you speak!  I wasn't able to make it to MAX and was so sad to have missed seeing you there!
<Ahh!>
{{Funny, is this b/c you're scared to meet me fearing more questions?
Lol}}
<<Heeee!>>
I'm in need of help once again and greatly appreciate your help in the past! I recently acquired 6 new fish from another reefer and had them all in QT together since they all came from the same tank originally.  The second day, the Blue Tang broke out in Ich and within the next 24 hrs, the Sailfin Tang and Flame Hawkfish also had white spots.  We moved the 3 with symptoms to a 30gal QT and began the tank transfer method of treatment with FW dips when transferring between the tanks every 2-3 days.  We have kept water params perfect, the only problem being stray voltage that we discovered the UV sterilizer was putting off about 3 days ago (got zapped when I put my hand in to get the algae clip! And the multimeter said 107 volts... 9 when UV was unplugged!)
<Yikes!>
Needless to say, we are no longer using the UV...  The Ich seems to have been kicked! YAY!!! But I noticed today that the Blue Tang has a cottony looking growth on his mouth.  I immediately got on the internet and started reading and it seems like Columnaris! But almost all information on this bacterial infection (WWM as well as other sites) seems to be about FW fish and nothing on Marine fish. 
{{Am I crazy or do you think this could be Marine Columnaris?}}
<<Not crazy; may well be bacteria-related... but likely secondary... some other primary cause/s... like trauma>>
This is my second war with Ich and thankfully, I have learned so much from the last experience which was HORRIBLE and we made many newbie mistakes. 
I feel like the copper had too many side effects and might have been worse for the fish than the Ich so I decided not to go that route again!  It was between the tank transfer method and hyposalinity but since I was going to be gone a lot during the next couple of weeks and worried that I wouldn't have the time to devote to doing hypo safely (keeping up with evap and maintaining the right and exact specific gravity) I decided to go with the transfer method, and it seems to have worked GREAT... The last time we had Ich and treated with copper, we had several fish that started having more problems and eventually died AFTER treatment.  One of them was a beautiful Koran Angel and I wrote to you for help about it... It died the next day and I was too depressed about it to write and update you on the status.  It had several symptoms and I believe that there was more than one thing going on at the same time with him since there didn't seem to be any one disease that the symptoms all matched.  One symptom, though, was a cottony like growth on his mouth.  He had lymph so I just thought it had started growing on his mouth until it started to "rot" and turn red where the cottony growth had been.  This was only a day or 2 before I wrote to you about him and then he died.  Now, I have what seems to be the same looking growth on a couple of these new fish.  To make it worse, (what I didn't yet state above) I just put the Mandarin and 2 Banggai Cardinals into the DT 2 days ago since they never did show any signs of Ich for weeks, and today I noticed that the small cardinal has a little bit of the cottony substance on his mouth, too!
If this is Marine Columnaris and it is in my DT now, it sounds really bad from everything I've read online.  What should I do!?  Please help!  I am about ready to give up on fish completely and just have corals and inverts!
Worst part about that is, my husband doesn't care at all for the corals and LOVES the fish.  He would never support my coral "addiction" if there were no longer fish involved!
Thank you again for being there for all of us hobbyist who'd be lost at times without you!!!
Lindsey in SoCal
<I would do my best to just maintain good water quality here...
{{Water quality is pristine and will continue to be!  Even PO4=0 & NO3=10!}}
<<Ah good>>
leave some outside light on so these fishes don't damage themselves further...
{{What do you mean damage themselves further?  From/without light?  Sorry, I'm confused...}}
<<Damage, physical, from... bumping/swimming into somethings hard... the light left of to allow vision, calm the livestock>>
and as soon as you are more assured that the Ich/Crypt is gone, dip/bath and move the fishes to their permanent system.
{{I'm pretty sure the Ich is gone now... Was actually planning on putting them in the DT yesterday but got busy with Easter festivities... so today was the plan until I noticed the cotton growing on the Hippo's mouth. 
Like I said above, I can't find anything except for scientific-like research documents online about Marine Columnaris and they are not written in lay men's terms and do not address treatment, etc... but in cases of FW it seems
like medicating with a gram-negative antibiotic is the thing to do.
<<Mmm, in actual practice, almost always of no to very little worth. More possibility of negative effect, e.g., interfering w/ nitrification>>
 Do you not think I should attempt this before putting them into the DT since they are already in QT? 
<<I would not>>
And do you think I should try catching the cardinal that I put in the DT yesterday and treat him in HT, too?
<<Ditto>>
  I feel like you may have missed the fact that I was not really writing to you with questions about Ich, but instead Columnaris (at least I think that's what it must be).
Sorry if I confused you with too much background.  Since it seems that Columnaris is so very contagious, and I apparently added it to my DT yesterday via the Banggai, is there nothing more I can do but just sit and wait till all my fish get infected and die, or try and catch, treat, and give all of them away to someone else since my DT is infected? 
<<Again... these microbes are typically present; the state of resistance of the hosts, issues of environment leading to their becoming pathogenic>>
If there is a ray of hope, please enlighten me as I am feeling really down about all of this right now.  Thanks! ~Lindsey}}
Bob Fenner>
<<Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisease.htm
Of all things, the topic of my talk on Sunday! BobF>>

SW, "Finrot"... aggression, natural, misplaced/crowded fishes...damage, fixing 12/7/10
Hi,
I have looked through your site and I could not find FAQ's on saltwater fin rot.
<Did you try the search tool with these three words? Put them in here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/Googlesearch.htm
and read the cached views. Otherwise, the sections on bacteria and marine disease: http://wetwebmedia.com/infectio.htm
and the linked files above>
I recently bought a Flame Angelfish a week and a half ago. My tomato clownfish was attacking him, and even arranging the aquascape and taking away the item he was hosting did not stop this aggression.
<Not atypical... likely exacerbated by being in too small a volume>
On the second day, I took the clownfish to the LFS. My Flame Angelfish had his back fins (The purple ones) a bit shredded by the clownfish and was scared, but soon after they grew back and he was swimming around normally.
Since he is the biggest fish in the tank, no one is aggressive to him and there have been no fights. He is eating like a pig.
However, a day or two after, the Angelfish's right eye swelled up and now it is huge. I have read on your site that if it is only on one eye, then it is probably mechanical. I suspect the clownfish damaged it while he was trying to attack him. I added 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt to my tank per 10 gallons (55 gallons)
<Too small...>
yesterday to reduce the swelling. I have also been adding garlic Xtreme to his food for the last 4 days.
<Tasty>
However, during the course of the last week, I noticed that a while film grew over the Angelfish's pectoral fins. They are now ragged/shredded, and I noticed that this white film has started growing on his tail fin too! Is this fin rot?
<Of a sort...>
Do you think that the Popeye and fin rot(?) have something to do with each other?
<Oh yes. Stress, physical damage...>
I have been changing the water very regularly and the parameters are good.
He is still eating a lot and acting normally.
Will this spread to the other fish? Should I separate him into a hospital tank and treat him with Maracyn 2? If not, what else should I treat him with?
<... No, no, no... and nothing. This fish should be moved/placed elsewhere...>
Thank you,
Dom
<Read on. Bob Fenner>
Re Flame Angel... Finrot... BobF needs to find where he placed the prev. corr. -- 12/08/10
Hi again,
Thanks for the response and for pointing me in the right direction! In your reply, you advised me that "This fish should be moved/placed elsewhere... or alternatively the antagonist/Clown." Maybe I forgot to mention it in the email, but I did give the Clownfish to the LFS on the day after I got the Flame Angel due to the aggression problems. Bye-bye, bully!
<Ah good>
The angelfish is in the tank along with a Melanurus wrasse (Very intelligent and beautiful fish) and a peaceful, small Sixline wrasse that minds his own business. The only inverts I have are 3 hermit crabs and a turbo snail. Nobody has been bothering him since the Clownfish was removed. The Angelfish is still eating voraciously
<A good sign>
(Normal food and nipping at LR) and coloration is bold, has had no fading.
Parameters are: ph 8.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 10, salinity 1.024 and water temperature is 78 degrees.
I'm fairly certain that his shredded fins and tail are rotting away on their own, not being nipped, since the shredded-ness came right after the white film appeared on his pectoral fins. Yesterday this same film started to appear on his tail fin, and today that looked shredded too.
I was told that this species could be housed in a 30 gallon tank,
<... not so... Please read the article, FAQs on this species posted on WWM>
so I thought that he would do well in the 55 gallon tank. You mentioned that this is too small, I will start to look for a larger tank. (Which I was thinking about getting anyway, bigger tanks are always nicer.) However, the time it takes to purchase/buy/set up/cycle a new tank will be long. I fear that if I do nothing, the Angelfish will pass away during this time.
The fin rot has been looking noticeably worse each day.. I imagine this, combined with the Popeye, is very uncomfortable to him.
I took today off to look through the FAQ's in the Google search. Most of them were on freshwater fin rot (I assume it's more common than in SW?), but this is what I learned:
"Finrot isn't a disease as such; it's what happens when a fish is sufficiently damaged and/or stressed that opportunistic, otherwise harmless, bacteria can breach the fish's normal defenses and cause
infection."
"Eventually the bacteria will infect the organs in the body cavity and treatment will most likely be unsuccessful."
So now I understand why you said it won't likely spread to the other fish.
<Not likely no>
The "Understanding Bacterial Disease in Aquarium Fish" article was very helpful, especially since I decided to take Physics in high school instead of Biology or Chemistry. Not a good choice! I now understand the difference between Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative bacteria, and that a Gram-Negative bacteria is most likely causing the fin rot. I think that the stressor that cause the Angelfish's immune system to lower its' defenses was the Clownfish, since the water quality has been fine and he seems to have enough space in the tank, for now. (He is about 3 inches)
<Good size for starting, and for this four foot tank>
I looked for Gram-Negative antibiotics, but there are many!
Which would you recommend? I now have plans to move the angelfish to larger quarters, but I'm afraid that this fin rot will progress and spread to his organs faster than the time it will take me to acquire and setup a larger tank. I think it would be best for me to treat him.
<Again, none... You might want to try boosting the fish's immune system by supplementing its foods... Selcon, MicroVit... HUFAs and Vitamins... this is all I would do. Adding antibiotics to the water is dangerous to all, not likely efficacious... injecting, feeding not likely helpful either>>
Sorry if I went on a rant and thank you for the help,
Dom
<No worries. As long as this fish is eating, it is highly likely "on the mend". Be patient. Bob Fenner>

Urgent - Raccoon Butterfly disease ID 11/24/10 Dear Crew: <... four megs for one pic?> I would like to ask your help identifying this disease (please see attached picture). <Very bad news... extremely poor prognosis...> I bought this Raccoon Butterfly 5 days ago. It started as a small spot on the scales towards the tail and I thought that he just scratched himself on the live rock but the spot is growing (it is about 3/4 of an inch by 1/4 of an inch as of now) and it appears that he is losing scales where it's pinkish so I guess it's not just a scratch. Last night I put him in the plastic container floating in the main tank and applied Bio-Bandage Powder by Aquarium Solutions (active ingredients: neomycin sulfate, cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), binders and adhesion agents). It did not seem to get better overnight so I applied Bio-Bandage again this morning. Can you please let me know how often should I apply this medication for this type of wound? <Have had very little success with these sort of bacterial breakdown syndromes... Culture work will likely find a number of gram-negatives... In the trade, extensive, high concentration "Furan" (cpd.) baths are at times efficacious... But almost all fishes at the shown stage perish> Is there anything else I can do to help him heal? <Not likely unfortunately> Thank you very much for your help!!! Sincerely, Peter <I do wish I could give better news. Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/infectio.htm the linked files above. Bob Fenner> Re: Urgent - Raccoon Butterfly disease ID 11/24/10 Dear Mr. Fenner: <Peter> Thank you for your prompt reply! I called a couple of LFS trying to find "Furan" but they do not carry it and seem to have no idea of what it is. <Ahh, Nitrofuranace is the more common/available of "Furan Compounds". Sorry for the lack of clarity> Is it sold under a different name or should I contact local pharmacies rather than LFS? I do have Metronidazole at hand. Do you think there is a point in trying to use it if I cannot get Furan ASAP? <There is not... this is an antiprotozoal...> If so, what concentration should I use and how often/how long a bath should I give the poor fish? Once again, I greatly appreciate your help! Peter <Please use the search tool here: http://wetwebmedia.com/Googlesearch.htm re Furanace, baths... BobF>

Re: Urgent - Raccoon Butterfly disease ID 11/24/10 Dear Mr. Fenner: <Just "Bob" will do Peter> I was able to find it but, unfortunately, it was too late. <Ahh... as usual> By the time I got home he was breathing but already laying on his side. I proceeded with the bath but it did not help - to my deepest regret he perished a few minutes ago. Should I be concerned with my other fish catching this disease? <Mmm, not so much... the etiology of this involvement is quite often "subject specific", or if a given species is crowded in poor conditions, already challenged health, species-specific> The tank is an established (1 year +) FOWLR and all water parameters are good. I never had any problems in this tank before but the perished fish was in the tank when I noticed the appearance of the spot and the plastic container that I put him in had tiny holes in it to allow for water flow between the container and the tank. Thank you very much for your advice. Peter <Welcome. BobF>

Dispar Infection 1/20/10 Hi Guys <Allan> I Have a question for you regarding bacterial infection on Anthias. I have been through the FAQ and I would like to show you the specific problem I have as its not talked about in depth. The Pictures are attached. <I see one> The tank is 3000L, and I have 4 x bicolour Anthias which have been unaffected, eat anything given. The 4 x Dispar have been in the system for 3 months, and also did eat according to what the bicolour Anthias have shown them. <Well-stated and related> All the sudden, without warning, they developed a bump/line down their right side, in the same spot on all fish, and then it went red within a day or so, and now they are dropping off 1 by 1. As I said the Bicolour are unaffected. <Yikes> I have a few tangs in there, but I dont suspect a wound first and then infection, as the damaged area is exactly the same spot on the dispars, and I doubt this coincidence. Is there some sort of bacteria that affects these fish, that seems to arise in the same area or maybe internal organ? <Mmm, I don't think so... given the time frame... having these 3 months as you state> I had a square block Anthias months ago which developed the same red line, on the same area as this as well. <Mmmm, me no likee> They contract this problem very quickly and die within days. Any thoughts? regards al <Am tempted to suggest some sort of "rapid onset" (bacterial) necrosis syndrome... borne of "stress"... the markings (though hard to make out) do remind me of Mycobacterium (marinum)... DO take extreme care if/when placing your hands/arms in the tank in any case... and DO see the Net, WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_2/mycobactera.htm re. As to "cure"... perhaps improvements in the environment (aspects like ORP are greatly useful as measures), boosting the immune systems et al. nutritionally (have you tried Spectrum pelleted foods?) may be of use here. Otherwise, I do encourage you to prepare, save, and share the deceased specimens with a fish pathologist... There are a few about... Have you access to a large library, college, with a life science dept.? A cursory read through Ed. Noga's "Fish Disease, Diagnosis & Treatment" is highly recommended. Bob Fenner>

Fin & Tail Rot 3-31-08 Hello, A few days ago my Firefish and white sleeper goby started showing signs of fin & tail rot. (They live together under one of the rocks.) I have not introduced anything new into the aquarium for a couple of months except for some macroalgae plants (maiden's hair & red grape kelp plants). I did not bother to quarantine the macroalgae. The nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, chlorine is zero and PH is 8.4. The tank is 90 gallons w/ a wet dry filter & prefilter, skimmer, UV, and activated carbon in the filter. <Sounds good> I have some corals, 70 lbs of live rock, a clownfish and a Lemonpeel dwarf angel. The Lemonpeel often chases after the Firefish looking to nip him but I have never seen the Lemonpeel come close as the Firefish is way too fast for him. Yesterday the Firefish seemed to be healing and today he looks almost 100% healed. His tail and dorsal fins (not the antenna-like fin) were tattered. The sleeper goby however looks worse as a third of his body (his tail, essentially) is now gone. Yet he moves about gobbling sand as if unbothered. I mixed in tetracycline which I am taking for myself currently, with some mysis shrimp and fed the tank with this yesterday. However later on I read that tetracycline is almost useless in marine aquariums. So I'm wondering what to do now and if it's worth treating. Is it too late for the goby? Will his tail grow back? What do you think caused this? The stress from the Lemonpeel? Also, do you recommend adding Chemi-Pure into my filter instead of the activated carbon? Thanks and all the best. <Something has likely tattered the fins, and/or is stressing your afflicted fish, and the only thing that's immediately obvious is the angel. I would keep an eye on them, and if their fins aren't healing, move them into a quarantine tank and treat them with one of the commercially available medications for this malady (Seachem makes excellent products, and Mardel makes good medications as well). I've never used Chemi-pure, but I've heard good things about it, so it's worth a try if you're so incline. M. Maddox>