Sick Lion (and that's no lien)

[prithviraj]

I am in a deep trouble. I have a small aquarium and I keep a small lion and 1 carpet anemone. This is a new fish . It was apparently healthy but within 2 days my lion is having some fungus type of thing on his left side while the right side is clear. Can you tell me what the disease is and how to treat it.Please see the picture for correct understanding of the problem. Please do something he is not eating and staying in one place and breathing.

I have posted more pictures here please see it and then respond and help me.

Do we know enough about our pets?: please help SOS

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

Sorry you're having trouble with your Lion. As you suspected, the new fish brought with it something that the Lion cannot deal with. This is either because what came in is just a new pathogen to the Lion or the Lion is not being fed or cared for properly (otherwise it might have resisted this) and couldn't defend itself from an opportunistic pathogen. You'll want to review all the care conditions to do the best you can to improve these conditions.

The Lion should be immediately moved to a hospital tank. That is much like a quarantine tank, in case you don't know. If you need help with what to do for this, check this post out: http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine...e-process.html

What I think I am seeing is a fungal-like growth, eating the fish. Without further information, that is about the 'best guess.' It can be a true fungal pathogen or one of the many pathogens that 'appear' to be fungus. If it's a true fungal infection, the fish will likely die. Sorry. I don't make the natural laws. Even if it is this, the fish must be moved to protect your other fish.

If it is one of the other pathogens, it should be very hard to kill it, and cure the fish. The best procedure is to swab the area with betadiene when you transfer the fish to the hospital tank. Then add to the hospital tank water a high dose of antibiotic. I would prefer to use in this case the antibiotic Nifurpirinol [a.k.a. Furanace]. At the same time I would also dose with Neomycin. You might find these meds on the LFS shelf as being components in other meds. They will contain dosing and treatment information.

In the above case of treatment, you don't have to worry about having a living biological filter going in your hospital tank. These antibiotics will kill the biological filter (another reason to move the fish). Still, set up the hospital tank and put in a sponge filter because the recovery will likely take a long time and the filter will eventually establish itself as a biological filter.

If you have any questions or need additional information, don't hesitate to ask.