Cincelichthys pearsei with 'duck lip' disease

[fishdat]

In February I bought a pearsei with a fairly sunken belly that looked otherwise healthy and quarantined it for 3 weeks, deworming it and running a Paraguard treatment. It seemed healthy enough, so into my tank it went.

I noticed a tiny bit of septicaemia, but monitored it and ensured good parameters and it cleared up. This past weekend I tore apart my sump and deep cleaned it. Everything is running great, water is clear, no ammonia spikes, fish loving the stronger return pump. But then suddenly a white lump, infection by the looks of it, developed over night on his forehead and now his lips are swollen within 30 hours.

Medication is banned in Canada, so I'm feeding a Kanaplex and Metroplex mix trying to treat it. Any recommendations? Stores are closed/closing due to the pandemic too, which doesn't help.

 

[kno4te]

Can try separating the fish. Don’t use a heater And let the temp drop low less than 75. Someone had theirs in the 60s and cont with kanaplex and metro. Best of luck.

 

[fishdat]

Can try separating the fish. Don’t use a heater And let the temp drop low less than 75. Someone had theirs in the 60s and cont with kanaplex and metro. Best of luck.

Unfortunately I don't have anywhere to seperate the fish to. I set the theater to 73 last night, I'll remove it when I get home from work. Thanks.

 

[fishdat]

Figured I would continue to update this for others who deal with this problem in the future.

I decided to leave the heater plugged in, but set for 69F. I'm feeding Kanaplex and Metroplex, mixed with Focus. One cap of Nourish and half cap of Garlic Guard, then mix the medication in a container till dissolved. Add pellets till they're fully saturated and feed tank once daily.

I noticed initially symptoms on Sunday night. I monitored till Tuesday, when I decided to begin feeding medicated food. The picture in my original post was from Tuesday night. By Friday the pearsei was bottom sitting and listless. The forehead growth was massive and nearly bursting, popeye had developed on one side, and the lips were beyond swollen.

As of Sunday, or one week later, things are still quite severe - though the forehead growth has begun to reduce somewhat. Personality has improved, with the pearsei showing dominance in the tank again and attacking fish that are posturing for better positions in the hierarchy. Still eating and showing interest in me when I approach. Here is a picture to document symptoms on the popeye side.

 

[duanes]

Sorry to see this.
To me, once the jaw has atrophied that far , I consider the fish a goner.
Because Columnaris is such a communicable, bacterial disease, the best medication is an antibiotic that works on gram - (negative) bacteria, but any time I even noticed it appear, I euthanized the fish, to minimize its spread.
I have found that unless you remove the fish, the tank becomes infected forever, and the disease may return on different fish when they are at all stressed, or compromised. (although it is sometimes species specific, or may only be family specific)
The last time it arrived in my tanks, I tore the tank down, bleached everything the water touched.
This bacteria can live (dormant) in a splotch of dried mud film on the glass, or old filter media, and reinfect when water is added.
To me, 3 weeks is not a sufficient quarantine period. I usually go no less than 3 months, because these type bacterial diseases are not always obviously apparent in a few weeks or even a month.
When it first came to my tanks, 1 of 3 Mayaheros beanii, showed symptoms in a Q-tank with 2 other asymptomatic beanii.
They eventually all died, at first color intensified, they became lethargic, and the jaw became locked and swollen.
I thought it had maybe come from jaw locking, but when I tried to close the mouth between thumb and forefinger, it wouldn't move.
Early sign of the disease below
.
after about a week

 

[fishdat]

I euthanized a nicaraguanse that developed this once before, but pearsei are rare in my area and I've only seen them once while working in the hobby for 7 years now, hence my attempt to save it.

I agree on the quarantine period should be longer, but I have 500sqft to work with so unfortunately I can only quarantine as long as my work will allow before I have to bring the fish home.

On that note, I have no way to tear this tank down and disinfect due to my limited space - and with social distancing (spending 3 hours on transit and 8 hours at work, so I'm not exactly able to claim no risk) I can't spend a few days at a friends house setting up a temporary tank. I have to either cure this fish or cull it, and hope the medication eradicates it from my system.

With Columnaris being able to enter dormancy, have you found it resistant to medication while in this state?

Appreciate the reply.

 

[duanes]

Firstly, if you previously had a nicaruguense with columnaris, and it was in the same tank, this might be a clue as to where the pearcei got it.
The pearsei looks quite large already, and large fish fish sometimes get really stressed out being relocated, opening them up to opportunistic infection.
With that in mind, even quarantine may not have helped in this instance. But I believe quaranttine is not only about keeping disease out from the new additions.
It's also about keeping anything latent in your main tank off the new fish When I quarantine, I add a little water daily into the q-tank from the main tank, to allow the new fish opportunity to build at least some resistance to what it will face. That's one reason why it take me so long . In your case, it may or may not have worked.

I have never had success with this disease, (I believe some others have) with any med, one reason I tend to be drastic and euthanize.
your other fish may have resistance, but if it were me, I'd never add any new fish to that tank.

 

[fishdat]

The nicaraguense developed it at work, not in my tank. Though, I'm sure it's entirely possible to have had it survive on me and then infect this system. This fish is definitely full grown and advanced in age, so I agree that it was much more prone to stress and the complications that come with it.

I really like your quarantine philosophy with regard to latent illness and am embarrassed to say I've never thought of that. Will definitely adopt it.

 

[Galantspeedz]

I put mine in a separate box, run a air stone... water change every 1-2 days initially, dose metro... cured same fish twice

The same flowerhorn got it twice... concidentally both time there was electricity leakage...

 

[fishdat]

The infection began to break loose today, as the swelling continues to reduce. I removed it. Promising, albeit slow, progress.