Lymphocystis...does it spread?

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VRWC

Fire Eel
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Jan 20, 2009
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I know this should probably go in the disease section, but when I posted pics of it 10 days ago, I got like 3 replies because I guess not many people go there. Please let it remain here so I can get the most input. Thanks.

I have a male grammode that showed signs of lymph about 10 days ago. I read 100 different treatments and things it can/cant do all over online and emailed Rapps (who I got the grammodes from). He told me to scrape it off and it would be fine. I did that, and now its grown back and im seeing it on the female grammode, 3 or 4 of the convicts and possibly my syno. Im concerned that it may infect the 400 or so festae fry I have that hatched about 4 days ago.

As far as I can tell, it has not spread to my Jags or adult Festaes.

The most credible info I found was this:

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Lymphocystis.html

and even its conflicting, stating:

I have worked with many thousands of fishes of various freshwater and salt water species and do not recall a single death being directly due to a lymphocystis infection.

After lymphocystis lesions are lost, the host tissue heals up. Adhesions and scarring can occur during healing.

then saying:

To decrease spreading this disease to other fishes, infected fish should be buried or burned, and not thrown back into the water.

So I guess Im here asking you guys to take a look at the link and tell me wtf it is saying, because it isnt completely clear to me.

Do I need to catch all the fish infected and euthanize them? Let it run its course?

Then, what to do as far as treatment? Its a 265 gallon and I dont have anything else but a 10 gallon so taking all the others out (and fry) and quarantining them isnt an option.

Sorry for the crappy pics, I had to use my phone. The clearest pic is the day I noticed it about 10 days ago.

Thanks!

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Nasty disease! I've had a couple of fish in the past that were infected with lymph. Never went completely away. The fish would break out with it every once in a while and then it would get a little better but never completly. Tried a bunch of meds but nothing seemd to work. I eventually just put them in the freezer. Good luck!
 
GMFISHNUT;3480599; said:
Nasty disease! I've had a couple of fish in the past that were infected with lymph. Never went completely away. The fish would break out with it every once in a while and then it would get a little better but never completly. Tried a bunch of meds but nothing seemd to work. I eventually just put them in the freezer. Good luck!
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Well, at this point, what are anyones thoughts on the lymph having come off and gotten in the substrate and possibly attaching to the fry that hatched 4 days ago? Do I need to euthanize them so it doesnt stay in the tank...and arent they more susceptible to the lymph with the weaker immune systems?
 
It's a virus. There is no cure. It can be spread by just using a net on two different tanks, or by cleaning one tank that has lymph and then adding the hose to the second. All the fish in the tank have been exposed, they could all very well be infected.

With good water quality and minimal stress it can go into remission, to the point that you cannot see visible signs, but it will always be present in that fish. It usually shows up after some external damage to the fish (nipped fins, scrapes, etc.)

It's rarely if ever fatal, just doesn't look too appealing. I've also had a couple fish that had lymph over the years, some seem to get it more than others.
 
Thanks for the info.

So at this point, what do I do? Remove the fish that it is extremely apparent on? Let it run its course? Euthanize the ones its attacking? It seems that if it started on one and i left it in there and now see it spreading, that the more i leave in there infected, the more there is in the tank and better chance it will spread.

I understand its a virus and is present, but wont a larger concentration of it in the tank promote it to spread to more fish and also affect the fry just born?

I do weekly 50-70% water chandes as it is and there is really no apparent stress going on, even with the festae having fry and even during feeding.

Modest Man, what did you do to deal with it in a community setting?

Thanks!
 
It is a virus, it's not cureable, it will spread, every once in a while I'll get in a batch of fish with that stuff, I euthanize them, sterilize the tank with potasium permaginate and never buy fish from that guy again. Ken
 
Ok, I read the article and it’s not good news. However I saw that it’s a virus with a DNA core, which got me to thinking. If you were to strip down the tank clean everything and start over with some established filter media ect. from another tank to reduce re-cycling time and added a strong UV system to the tank would the UV radiation over time damage the DNA in the virus enough to kill it or at least render it incapable of multiplying? Just a thought to throw out there, it might work, wouldn’t hurt. Thoughts?
 
Aquanero;3481641; said:
Ok, I read the article and it’s not good news. However I saw that it’s a virus with a DNA core, which got me to thinking. If you were to strip down the tank clean everything and start over with some established filter media ect. from another tank to reduce re-cycling time and added a strong UV system to the tank would the UV radiation over time damage the DNA in the virus enough to kill it or at least render it incapable of multiplying? Just a thought to throw out there, it might work, wouldn’t hurt. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Except that it lives in a host, the fish. Which doesn't pass through the UV radiation. And would kill them if they did.
 
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