Popeye Sea Goblin

[sawrip]

So having just come out of hyposalinity, I have been dealing with a couple of bacterial infections unfortunately.

Unfortunately the Sea Goblin looks to have a bacterial infection, would somebody be able to confirm, his fins seem in particularly bad shape, he's still eating well and is a relativity new addition.

I have access to Kanaplex, Furan 2 and Metro if required in a QT setup.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So having just come out of hyposalinity, I have been dealing with a couple of bacterial infections unfortunately.

Unfortunately the Sea Goblin looks to have a bacterial infection, would somebody be able to confirm, his fins seem in particularly bad shape, he's still eating well and is a relativity new addition.

I have access to Kanaplex, Furan 2 and Metro if required in a QT setup.

Fins look a little raggedy and best would be seachem Kanaplex. Assure to provided added oxygen via air stone

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So having just come out of hyposalinity, I have been dealing with a couple of bacterial infections unfortunately.

Unfortunately the Sea Goblin looks to have a bacterial infection, would somebody be able to confirm, his fins seem in particularly bad shape, he's still eating well and is a relativity new addition.

I have access to Kanaplex, Furan 2 and Metro if required in a QT setup.

My problem with these guys is just being able to see evidence of disease versus their normal ratty “look”(grin).
Were they in hypo in this tank, or moved here after?
I see some evidence of possible algae overgrowth on this fish and the Rhino?
Usually, they’ll slough their skin and remove that as fast as it grows, but I always worry that if it grows, it can develop a bacterial plaque. I typically keep these fish under lower light to reduce that algae growth.
That said, we have a huge stonefish (with antivenin!) that has been covered in Cyanobacteria for years with no apparent issue.
Jay

 

[sawrip]

My problem with these guys is just being able to see evidence of disease versus their normal ratty “look”(grin).
Were they in hypo in this tank, or moved here after?
I see some evidence of possible algae overgrowth on this fish and the Rhino?
Usually, they’ll slough their skin and remove that as fast as it grows, but I always worry that if it grows, it can develop a bacterial plaque. I typically keep these fish under lower light to reduce that algae growth.
That said, we have a huge stonefish (with antivenin!) that has been covered in Cyanobacteria for years with no apparent issue.
Jay

Yes it's really tricky, his tail appears frayed and so do the side ones.

They were in hyposalinity in this tank. The Rhino is totally clear of algea, I scraped the glass before this and it sticks to him. He is recovering nicely from his chin graze and it's almost gone, I'm just maintaining excellent water quality and a live diet and it seems to have worked.

As for the Goblin there does appear to be some small amounts of algea on him, I only light the tank at 30 percent blue 10 percent white as have other scorps which see to appreciate the low lights.

Last thing I want is to pull him out and treat unless needed, I've imported a fair amount of different treatments from the states as a last resort if needed.

I will try and get a few more pictures of him. The thing that worried me was the white coloured spindles at the tip of his fins almost like the flesh has come away. On the other hand he is an incredibly camouflaged fish and difficult to know what is considered 'normal' appearance wise.

 

[Cell]

Let's see if @lion king is familiar with this species.

 

[sawrip]

Yes it's really tricky, his tail appears frayed and so do the side ones.

They were in hyposalinity in this tank. The Rhino is totally clear of algea, I scraped the glass before this and it sticks to him. He is recovering nicely from his chin graze and it's almost gone, I'm just maintaining excellent water quality and a live diet and it seems to have worked.

As for the Goblin there does appear to be some small amounts of algea on him, I only light the tank at 30 percent blue 10 percent white as have other scorps which see to appreciate the low lights.

Last thing I want is to pull him out and treat unless needed, I've imported a fair amount of different treatments from the states as a last resort if needed.

I will try and get a few more pictures of him. The thing that worried me was the white coloured spindles at the tip of his fins almost like the flesh has come away. On the other hand he is an incredibly camouflaged fish and difficult to know what is considered 'normal' appearance wise.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I can see the exposed dorsal spines now. Looks like what happens when they are caught in a net or getting picked at by a fish - neither of those likely in this case, right?
Jay

 

[sawrip]

I can see the exposed dorsal spines now. Looks like what happens when they are caught in a net or getting picked at by a fish - neither of those likely in this case, right?
Jay

Having spent the last hour observing this has now been answered. It also explains why he has been hiding in the caves far more the past few weeks. I have just observed the Blue Spotted puffer repeatly try and nibble his spines.

I knew this stocking decision when I first setup the tank would be rather risky, a puffer and a scorp tank just doesn't work, lesson learnt. The puffer will be rehomed shortly, I just hope the goblin recovers.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Having spent the last hour observing this has now been answered. It also explains why he has been hiding in the caves far more the past few weeks. I have just observed the Blue Spotted puffer repeatly try and nibble his spines.

I knew this stocking decision when I first setup the tank would be rather risky, a puffer and a scorp tank just doesn't work, lesson learnt. The puffer will be rehomed shortly, I just hope the goblin recovers.

Yep yep, puffers will do that!
Jay

 

[lion king]

I had one for a year or so, he's was thriving, eating well, both live and dead food, then one day out of the blue ended up dead. They usually come in in bad shape and don't make it long, they are susceptible to bacterial infections, but in your case I don't see any inflammation. The tissue on the pectoral fins and spines are delicate and the hypo may have contributed to deterioration as well as some net damage, and yes that puffer really has to go. The sooner the better because he can cause real damage that will result in bacterial infections, I see 3 fish in your pics that can be easily damaged by that puffer. Personally I wouldn't treat at this point, but if you do it will be best in a hospital tank with no porous material other than biological filtration. Your water quality needs to be perfect as water quality plays a major role in bacterial infections.

A little algae will not be an issue as this is natural; mine was more active than I expected, and they do this flicking thing with their spines, likely to keep to the algae down. I had good flow, low light, and a refugium in my goblin's tank, and had no algae. They do like to bury themselves and keep still for the ambush, so you may need to keep his spines clear by blowing off with a baster. I've never seen any algae issues with the rhino.

 

[lion king]

If you do treat, feed him really well beforehand, as the treatment may send him off feeding. I recommend feeding live fish after treatment to restore the gut biome.

 

[sawrip]

I had one for a year or so, he's was thriving, eating well, both live and dead food, then one day out of the blue ended up dead. They usually come in in bad shape and don't make it long, they are susceptible to bacterial infections, but in your case I don't see any inflammation. The tissue on the pectoral fins and spines are delicate and the hypo may have contributed to deterioration as well as some net damage, and yes that puffer really has to go. The sooner the better because he can cause real damage that will result in bacterial infections, I see 3 fish in your pics that can be easily damaged by that puffer. Personally I wouldn't treat at this point, but if you do it will be best in a hospital tank with no porous material other than biological filtration. Your water quality needs to be perfect as water quality plays a major role in bacterial infections.

A little algae will not be an issue as this is natural; mine was more active than I expected, and they do this flicking thing with their spines, likely to keep to the algae down. I had good flow, low light, and a refugium in my goblin's tank, and had no algae. They do like to bury themselves and keep still for the ambush, so you may need to keep his spines clear by blowing off with a baster. I've never seen any algae issues with the rhino.

Many thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed reply.

Ok so at present I'm going to go with your suggestion and hold of Kanaplex treatment, just monitor very closely and have the QT setup if needed. It seems to be a similar story to my scorps in that once their overall health / immunity is compromised it's pretty much game over even if they survive the treatment.

The puffer was my partners favourite fish and so a new tank was ordered for him last night (she refuses to return him to the LFS). Will probably attempt a fish in cycle with seeded biomedia, fritz and live rock so he can be moved across this weekend. The puffer also gets close to the Weedy Rhinopias and having seeing what I have this risk has to stop ASAP.

This has highlighted to me the key importance of having a set vision of what you want to achieve and stocking list to support that. The puffer and clown were the first purchases and I was still a little fuzzy on the overall tank setup I wanted. I discovered my love of Scorpaenidae fishes and there was no going back, hence the need to slightly refine this tanks stocking list to make it pure and an environment they can all thrive.

 

[sawrip]

Latest update, puffer removed and he's made a full recovery, spines and fins have all grown back and is no longer hiding in the caves anymore.