Question for Beth

[al mc]

Beth...I just had a juvenile Majastic Angel die. Had it for 4 days and had it in isolation tank just finished getting SG down to 1.009 over that 4 day period. All water paramets good NH3 (0); Trite (0); Trates (5); ph 8.3. I could see nothing wrong with it macroscopically, but I scraped its gills and found what I think was one of the stages of ICH. The organisims I observed were almost perfectly round with 4 'spikes' on their 'tail end' and what I suspect were flagella on the opposite end that they used for propulsion. Is that ICH or another parasite? Thanks

 

[beth]

That doesn't really sound like ich. Do you have a microscope? I'm assuming so with the comments you made. Was the fish acting abnormal at all? Heavy gilling, flashing, scratching, darting?

 

[al mc]

Beth...Sorry I was not clear on how I observed the organisms. They were at
50x and 100x on my microscope at work. I did not see any visible lesions macroscopically and observed No flashing and no labored breathing, just lethargy and inappetance followed within a day by the inability to maintain his equilibrium. Swam sideways and upside down. Sorry I can not be more specific. The fish sharing the isolation tank at the time, an Achilles Tang, appears fine and is eating 'greens'.
Do you have a suggestion for a good reference that has diagrams and/or
pictures of different marine parasites/diseases? Thanks
PS I am a small animal veterinarian. So I have access to many pharmaceuticals but have only 1 year with salt water aquariums and value the opinion of many on these boards as I know I have a step learning curve.

 

[beth]

Noga's, "Fish Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment" has some microscopic pictures. Unfortunately there are few publications on fish diseases.
What animals does a small vet cover: birds, rodents? Small herps?

 

[al mc]

Small Animal Vet: Dogs/Cats
Large Animal Vet: Horse/Cow
'Exotic Animal' Vet (or 'Pocket Pet' Vet): Reptiles/Birds/Rodents
Aquatic Vet...You know better than I
It is very tough to stay up to date on all the species of animals so most vets concentrate on only one segment.
Since I will gladly take any advice from all of you about marine fish I will also
gladly give any advice about dog/cat problems to anyone on SWF message board (although the SWF people may not want this forum to be used for that purpose)
Thanks for the book advice. Any educated guess what I may have seen on the scrape based on my poor desription?

 

[fishjem]

Hey Al Mc, if you don't mind i have a pet question for you. my brother is alergic to cats and wanted to get his daughter a guinea pig. do you think he would be alergic to that also. he has dwarf goats right now and we had guinea pigs when we were young and didn't notice a prob. but he is just not sure.. any help would be apreciated... p.s. was sure if that was even an animal or more of a human prob. ??

 

[beth]

Fish, that would be a question for niece's pediatrician, however, "cat allergies" usually means cats, and necessary a condition that is transferable to other animals. There are petting areas usually at the pet shop, tell your pro to take her to "hang out" at the pet shop for a bit handling the guinea pigs to see if she will be ok. This after, of course, a consultation with the child's doctor.
Al, I could not hazard a guess on that one. Perhaps it was amyloodinium?

 

[al mc]

Beth...Good advice on the furry animal question. Highest concentration of the proteins that cause human allergies are in the pet's saliva in most situations. Since cats love to bathe themselves and spread these proteins all over their coats they tend to cause the most allergies in people (especially since they then like to sleep on us or our beds/couches) G.P. would probably cause fewer probelms, but your advice about testing at local pet store is great suggestion.
Back to fish....if your guess is right about the pathogen that took out my
majestic angel AND it was sharing an isolation tank with an Achilles Tang what would you treat the Achilles with.....He looks good and is eating. Have had him for 7 days and have dropped the SG to 1.009 over the last 3 days. Thanks Al

 

[fishjem]

thanks beth, and al