LNH with mass rupturing

[Kristy]

Ok, anyone have an ID or familiar with this....

For a few weeks now Mike's Long-Nosed Hawk has had a mass in his lower abdomen, dark and bulging and about the size of a small pea. In the past day or two, the mass became more pronounced and appears to be rupturing and bursting through the skin.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff316/mekdean/tank%20upgrade/aquarium/photo-1.jpg

Almost seems like some sort of cyst or boil or even like an infected zit! Behavior, appetite, etc. have all been completely unaffected.

Other info that may (or may not) be related and/or pertinent: in the same tank we have a pink-tailed trigger that has three small tumorlike bumps on its tail, completely external where this one has always been internal, and the bumps have a cauliflower-like appearance similar to a wart. I don't have a picture of the trigger's tail but will try to get one later.

Thoughts, suggestions, guesses, sympathy are all appreciated. Haven't been able to find much of help when searching online and we've never encountered anything like either one of these problems!

[Europhyllia]

It sounds like a cyst.
I did a quick search on aquarium fish and cysts and the most common answer was parasite. If he eats really well maybe just try some medicated food?

[justahobby]

Could be bacterial:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1972178&highlight=ulcer

Uronema Marinum (crossing fingers it isn't that)
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/uronema-132814.html
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1337408

It appears Uronema is fast acting. Everything mentions days, not weeks.


I'm not sure if Red Pest Disease affects marine fish or not. But is sounds very similar since it notes the streaking blood vessels
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Red%20Pest


Red Pest
Symptoms: Bloody streaks on fins or body. Red Pest is called such because of bloody streaks that appear on the body, fins and/or tail. These streaks could proceed to ulcerations and possibly lead to fin and tail rot with, in severe cases, the tail and/or fins falling off. As the disease is internal, external treatments are usually not effective, except in very slight cases. In slight cases, treat the aquarium with a disinfectant and clean the aquarium as best as possible. Do not feed a lot while the aquarium is being treated. To disinfect, use acriflavine (trypaflavine) or monacrin (monoaminoacridine) using a 0.2% solution at the rate of 1 ml per liter. Both disinfectants will color the water, but the color disappears as the disinfectants dissipates. If the fish do not appear to respond favorably, discontinue disinfections.
Then add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. If you keep the fish hungry they should eagerly eat the mixture before the antibiotic dissipates. Antibiotics usually come in 250 mg capsules. If added to 25 grams of flake food, one capsule should be enough to treat dozens of fish. A good antibiotic is chloromycetin (chloramphenicol). Or use tetracycline. If you feed your fish frozen foods or chopped foods, try to use the same ratio with mixing. As a last resort add at most 10 mg per liter of water.

[Kristy]

Thanks for the (somewhat depressing) links, Justin. :D

Well as I read more and more, I am faced with MANY possible culprits and none that seems exactly right. Yesterday the hawk looked much better, with the open lesion being all healed up and just a smaller bulge beneath the skin there again (more like what we first started with).

Can we talk about general medicinal approaches...
What product do you guys used for antibacterial medication for fish? Pimafix? Melafix? Any others? Karin, do you have a preferred medicated food?

[justahobby]

Since its internal, external treatments won't do much good for what's growing inside. Unless it make it through the skin... Since he is eating you should be able to feed medicated foods. Might have to add some garlic though. Are you going to quarantine him?

And also... why Isnt Mike the one asking? : p

[Europhyllia]

I just got some antiparastite food for my shore shrimp ( made by Jungle and recommended by the seahorse people to feed feeder animals).
My plan was to feed them in their own container though since it's meant to kill worms so might also harm tube worms etc. in the main tank.

Other than that I really like Seachem products: StressGuard as a preventative and ParaGuard if they actually have something.

[Mike]

Thanks for the help guys. Justin, in answer to your ?, I am sick and honestly do not know how to link a photo, plus I am terrible with a camera. Kristy handles the photo upload side of the marriage... I think it was in the vows.

[Kristy]

And also... why Isnt Mike the one asking? : p


Kristy handles the photo upload side of the marriage... I think it was in the vows.

Ha ha Justin! Also, Mike likes to live in his very comfortable state of denial when things start going wrong! :D

[justahobby]

OH great. Play the sick card and make me feel bad for teasing ya LOL.