What's going on with my hippo?

[Jessica]

For the past month my hippo has been looking terrible. I'm not sure if this is HLLE as the white spots are practically everywhere and I'm doubtful that its ich. I haven't seen him scratch on rocks. There were only a few white spots and now there are too many to count. Its eating fine and seems happy otherwise. I'm feeing twice daily, mixture of: Spectrum Thera A pellets, Prime Reef, Formula One, Nori sheets, Red Algae. I'm not sure these are self inflicting wounds, he likes to get into crevices between the rocks. He is not getting bullied.

 

All your input would be very much appreciated. I have garlic extreme but have not tried it yet.

 

[Brian Ward]

I don't think it's HLLE. All hippos like to lay in the crevices in the rocks, so I don't think it's that either. With the fins looking so tattered, I'm not sure he's not being abused at some point - maybe when you can't see it? Perhaps a different type of parasite, I think there's one that rots the fins? Your food is high-quality, and if he's eating well and still active, then there's probably nothing you can really do. The garlic will usually entice them to eat when they won't otherwise. Some say it helps the immune system, others disagree.

 

I'm sure there are some other experts out there that might be able to give you a better answer.

[reefmontalvo]

That looks like an extreme case of fin rot. Your best bet is to quarantine the fish before it spreads to the other tank mates.

[flowerseller]

My guess would be HLLE and ick.

Do you have a grounding probe?

[Integral9]

Whoa. That's one sick fishy. wow.

 

OK. HLLE is much more obvious than that looks. And ich is usually white specs, that look like little mini rice grains stuck on the the fish. Sometimes they can be black, but I've only read about that. I've lost a hippo to ich before and it didn't look anything like that. I also don't think you have fin rot as the fins I think would look more loose and there would be pieces (rotting pieces) of them hanging off / floating in the water column.

 

IMO. I think you've got a serious case of flat worms there. It looks like their bite marks at least. If you have a UV light (like a black light) you might be better able to see them. I think a stronger than normal iodine solution like "Pro-Coral Cure" from Tropic Marin might help. I'd do a dip at twice the recommended concentration. If he doesn't look better after a day, then up the concentration one squirt. I wouldn't go higher than 4 squirts (depending on size of dipping container). There's also the flatworm exit product that seems to work. I'd do a dip or put the fish in a QT before applying as the dead flat worms are better left outside the DT. A natural soluton (but might be too late for that) is a coral banded shrimp. But at the stage your hippo looks, I doubt he'd /she'd let anyone /anything else near it.

 

Good luck. Let us know what you do and if it's helping or not.

[Jessica]

My guess would be HLLE and ick.

Do you have a grounding probe?

 

I've seen ich before and this looks different. Can it appear like this? I do not have a grounding probe. Whether it's ich, parasites, fungal, can it affect only one fish?

[Integral9]

I've seen ich before and this looks different. Can it appear like this? I do not have a grounding probe. Whether it's ich, parasites, fungal, can it affect only one fish?

That's how it starts. The other fish are probably more healthy so they're immune systems are helping to fight it off. Once this guy goes, the parasite's host is lost and they will seek out another. Almost always, with concentrations high enough to kill one figh, no fish's immune system will be able to handle the outbreak.

[Jessica]

Whoa. That's one sick fishy. wow.

 

OK. HLLE is much more obvious than that looks. And ich is usually white specs, that look like little mini rice grains stuck on the the fish. Sometimes they can be black, but I've only read about that. I've lost a hippo to ich before and it didn't look anything like that. I also don't think you have fin rot as the fins I think would look more loose and there would be pieces (rotting pieces) of them hanging off / floating in the water column.

 

IMO. I think you've got a serious case of flat worms there. It looks like their bite marks at least. If you have a UV light (like a black light) you might be better able to see them. I think a stronger than normal iodine solution like "Pro-Coral Cure" from Tropic Marin might help. I'd do a dip at twice the recommended concentration. If he doesn't look better after a day, then up the concentration one squirt. I wouldn't go higher than 4 squirts (depending on size of dipping container). There's also the flatworm exit product that seems to work. I'd do a dip or put the fish in a QT before applying as the dead flat worms are better left outside the DT. A natural soluton (but might be too late for that) is a coral banded shrimp. But at the stage your hippo looks, I doubt he'd /she'd let anyone /anything else near it.

 

Good luck. Let us know what you do and if it's helping or not.

 

Funny you mentioned about flatworms. I've had a problem with that and still do. I manually sucked up many as I could everyday for 5 days and than used flatworm exit and than repeated after one week. There's significant improvement but I still see some. Should I do the flatworm exit again? The only quarantine tank is a 10 gallon. Boo. What should I do?

[Integral9]

Funny you mentioned about flatworms. I've had a problem with that and still do. I manually sucked up many as I could everyday for 5 days and than used flatworm exit and than repeated after one week. There's significant improvement but I still see some. Should I do the flatworm exit again? The only quarantine tank is a 10 gallon. Boo. What should I do?

You can use a 20-30g rubbermaid-TM storage bin for a QT if you don't think he'll fit in the 10g. Rubbermaid plastics are food safe, so they are safe for salt water. He's not going to be in the tank forever and will be fine when you put him back in the DT after he gets better. Don't forget about doing the water changes to keep the nitrates and amonia down. If you can, I would dip the hippo in the flatworm exit before putting him into QT. It'll reduce the number of parasites that travel with him into QT.

 

You also need to remove the source of the problem in the DT before the hippo goes back in. Fortunately you can do that while the hippo is in QT. Sounds like you've got quite a source of food for a hungry flatworm predator. Otherwise I would keep doing the flatworm exit treatment until absolutely every last one is dead or until you don't see any for a week or so. Also check out this link: http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html Looks like he's got a pretty good method for dealing with the parasites in a DT. Your hippo just needs a little more to recover.

 

Let us know how it goes.

[Sharkey18]

At the very least get that fish in a QT!

 

This will give you a chance to figure out what is going on while giving the fish a chance to recover. If it is something in your DT then at least the hippo will not get worse and has a chance of recovery.

If he does start getting better then it will also tell you if it's something in your DT that is causing it.

 

Do you see any evidence of flatworms?

What other fish are in your tank?

 

Good luck, that little guy must be strong if he's still swimming with all that damage!

 

Laura

[Integral9]

Any luck bringing the hippo back?

[Jessica]

Any luck bringing the hippo back?

 

 

Thanks for asking! Unfortunately, I have not been able to catch him. I've tried to catch him while he's feeding, tried the clear plastic bottles and while the lights are off. I will be re-aquascaping in a few days, I will catch him when he has no place to hide between the rocks. Meanwhile, I'm feeding him more often, some soaked in selcon. Nori always available during the day.

 

I do think it's HLLE and my water params are not good. I usually do 10-15gal water change every other week.

 

15gal water change on 4/11/09

Water param 4/12/09

Nitrate 20

Nitrite 0.1-0.25

Ammonia 0.25

 

I will con't to do water changes every few days until my water params are acceptable. I use RO/DI water. Do you think 15 gallons is enough every 2-3 days?

[Jon Lazar]

The best way to tell whether you're making progress with the water changes is to measure your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate before and after each water change. Remember that the fish are continuing to add ammonia just by breathing, which also increases the nitrite and nitrate levels until your bacterial population catches up.

 

Jon

 

I will con't to do water changes every few days until my water params are acceptable. I use RO/DI water. Do you think 15 gallons is enough every 2-3 days?

[Mountaineer]

I had a hippo in a 90 gallon that didn't look that bad, but maybe earlier stages of that. It looked like it was driving itself into the crevices of rocks and really getting scraped up. I fed it well, soaked foods in Vita-chem, zoe, and zoe-con as well as garlic. Tried everything.

 

I recently set up a 265 gallon tank and moving it over there improved the condition dramatically, although I feel there are areas that are scarred.

 

Curious to know how much swimming room is available in your tank and how big the fish is. I feel that mine outgrew the tank and I left very little room with the additions of live rock taking up a great deal of the space.

 

I hope your fish improves.

 

A great resource is Kelly Jedlicki and you can find her at the Marine Depot forums in a section titled "Disease, Health, and Wellness" http://forum.marinedepot.com/Forum10-1.aspx