Hunchback Dormitator Maculatus with ulcers/"redness and bumps"

[knifegill]

Looking for guidelines specific to sleeper goby care, as in big no-no's or must-do's that I wouldn't think of on my own. Aiming to treat with tetracycline gel food and have added one spoonful per gallon aquarium (non-marine salt). He's in a 20g at about 79ºF. The filter is running with fresh sponges and will receive a dose of bb tomorrow unless the tetracycline will kill it off anyway.
The visible signs worth noting are firstly a general spinal curvature defect. This could indicate a genetic predisposition toward weakness, but the LFS has already thrown Metronidazole, Formalin, NoX, and copper sulfate at him. He is fully responsive and agile. The primary concerns are two lesions on his left side, toward the tail. One is a light red spot with no other visible changes, the other is a pronouncedly gray region about 1/5" in diameter, almost perfectly round and comprised of raised scales, swelling and the same redness as that of the first lesion. The fish is only about three inches long, so this ailment is of considerable impact. Any advice will be thoroughly considered, especially from someone with experience treating ulcers, even if only in koi.

 

[knifegill]

Now I'm not sure if this might be d. lebretonis instead. Google has failed to turn up much for pictures of said species. Any good resources on them?

 

[knifegill]

To avoid adding more threads about the same fish:
It is dormitator, and the ulcer is now growing a plastic-looking white bump from the center. It is emerging 45º from sagittal plane and is between the raised scales. It looks like somebody pushed a clothespin into him and the little plastic top is visible.

The tank is stable now. He eats heartily. I'm NOT letting this go until HE gives up, and he hasn't. Eats like a champ and is about to outgrow his little cave. Pathetic, really, the other gobies from that shipment are over seven inches long and he's still three inches because of that ulcer. It's obvious salt isn't working. No meds added to his water made a difference at the LFS. I'm either going to inject him with an IM (antibiotic?) or, if that's too expensive, try a more primitive method of eliminating that ulcer. Maybe super glue would suffocate it, or a light burn would sterilize it. ANYTHING helps right now. Don't hold back. I'll get a pic of the ulcer as soon as I find the camera.

 

[knifegill]

I take it back. I still have no fricking clue what king of goby this is.
So much FAIL. Goby hates camera and I suck at photography. Here's the mess. You can see the white dot on his left side near the tail in most of these shots. I tried sooo hard to get a good angle.

And one of his good side!

 

[Madding]

It's a maculatus. Mine occasionally gets spots like that but they always go away with water changes. Their scales seem very sensitive. I'm not sure why yours isn't healing - what are your water perimeters?

 

[knifegill]

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate - can't be very high, I feed lightly and keep up on water changes.
Water - SG 1.008 ish and pH ought to be pretty high, too, with the chunk of coral in there. I had him in marine but the tank wouldn't cycle so after a few days I switched it out for kosher salt instead. Now it's completely cycled and I think I'm going to bring him back to full fresh in the next few weeks so he can go into my chaotic 55g or the 30 gal if the raphaels pass quarantine by then. I like the fact that this species actually benefits from swings in salinity. Makes changing the water much easier. Add salt this time? Nah. Maybe next time...

Yeah. I figured a few weeks of TLC would resolve this thing. Most sick fish I've inherited do fine after eating proper food and having clean water for awhile.

 

[Madding]

Acclimating him to full freshwater soon rather than later might be best. The water salinity might actually be festering the wound. I always keep D. mac in freshwater, but I think it varies from specimen to specimen and where they were collected. I am 100% positive that they can live and grow very large in a freshwater setting. Brackish can benefit some Jade Goby's, but it isn't necessary in many cases.

 

[knifegill]

Sounds good. I'll start replacing with full fresh and then move him to the 30g. You could very well be right about the salt for all I know. The LFS keeps most of their sick bays pretty salty as far as I know. He may well benefit from a break.

 

[Madding]

Aquarium salt can and does help, but marine salt that affects salinity is an entirely different story.

 

[knifegill]

Well, they are known to randomly dart from their streams headlong into the ocean, so I figured I'd simulate that and see if that was the itch he needed scratched.