Yellow Watchman Goby - Lip Damage?

[Mugg1977]

3" Yellow Watchman Goby
Drip acclimated for 1 hour
10 minute FW dip
Have had in 20g QT for 13 days (78, 1.025, 8.25, 0, 0, 0)
Treated w/ Metronidazole and praziquantel for parasite and worms (per manufacturer instructions)
Currently in hypo (2 days) - (78, 1.0085, 8.23, 0, 0, 0)
Food: Alternate 1) Spectrum pellet soaked in Zoe & Zoecon and 2) Mix of frozen mysis, spirulina brine, ON Formula II, Cyclops, all rinsed and soaked with Zoe and Zoecon.
Fish is acting and eating very nicely. No noticeable stress or difficulty.

On day 2 I noticed what appears to be damage to the front of the bottom lip. The condition has not changed since I 1st noticed it. Could this in fact be damage? Fungus?

Any recommendations?

 

[leebca]

At this particular point, I would say that this is physical damage -- injury. That is not to imply that opportunistic pathogens (like some bacteria and most fungi) would not move in on the opportunity.

Keep close watch and see if there isn't an improvement.

Glad the fish is in quarantine. Not sure why you're performing a hyposalinity treatment though. Is the fish infected with Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans)?

 

[Mugg1977]

Lee - As usual thanks for your input. The hypo is a precautionary treatment for 2 reasons: 1) I will be putting a convict tang in this tank at a later date and would hate for something to slip in in a dormant state. 2) The LFS just moved stores and i just felt this was a good idea. Am I going overboard?

 

[leebca]

I wouldn't say 'overboard' exactly. But maybe taking precautions in a limited way and for slightly the incorrect reason.

There is no dormant stage to the life cycle of Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans). This parasite can't hang around and wait for a host. If it doesn't find a host, it dies off. That is why 8 weeks without fish is a high probability of killing the parasites in a fishless marine system.

Although hyposalinity does treat some parasites, the list is very short. That is to say, you may be addressing one possible unwanted parasite, but there are dozens more that can live through a hypo treatment.

I like Convict Tangs. They are, however one of the Acanthurus sp. and for that group of Tangs I treat with Cupramine. The copper treatment will take care of many of the parasites that tend to infect these kinds of Tangs, whereas the hypo would have limits. It is one of only two types of fishes that I actually recommend a prophylactic treatment.

Bottom dwelling fishes, like your Goby, are generally very resistant (not immune) to many common parasites. My theory is that, being bottom dwellers, they have been exposed over the centuries to these parasites and consequently have evolved into more resistant strains of fishes. Anyway, my point is that for them, just observation for no less than 6 weeks in quarantine would suffice.

I didn't mention before, I would also not recommend drip acclimation for fishes. That is the method I would use for invertebrates, but not for marine fishes. In addition the one hour is a short time period. If your fish came from a LFS and you knew the water parameters the fish was in, then the time is a little short, but the method is undesirable. If the fish was in the bag for many hours, then the time was way too short and definitely the undesired method to acclimate a marine fish. Have you read through this post? -- Fish Acclimation Procedure

 

[Mugg1977]

Lee -

Thanks for the info. I will definitely adjust my acclimation method as the one you describe is far more thorough than what I was doing. I always have the LFS check salinity and ph before I leave the store and then I do any minor adjustments using a brine, RO, vinegar, or a solution of sodium carbonate that I keep made.

I guess the reason for my leaning towrds the hypo treatment would be because the YWG is failry resistant to ich. From what I understand from your posts and sticky's I believe that I need to re-think this. Tell me if I am wrong, but it reads to me that "typically" as long as any fish doesn't develop the visible cysts of the ich life cycle while in QT for 6 weeks, then that fish is "typically" clean of the parasite, correct?

Based on your advice, I am going to raise the salinity back over the next week (this is necessary anyway because I am supposed to pick up a tiger pistol next weekend that I need to pair with the YWG while in QT.

Regarding the cupramine for the tang, thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten that you recommend that treatment for acanthurus tangs.

Lee, thank you for your knowledge and insight. You, as always, are to the point and have some excellent advice.

 

[leebca]

"typically" as long as any fish doesn't develop the visible cysts of the ich life cycle while in QT for 6 weeks, then that fish is "typically" clean of the parasite, correct?

Almost. I would say it is more than 'typically.' I'd put it at more than 99.9% IF the QT size and procedure are correct for the fish. (See the QT process I recommend: A Quarantine Procedure).