Marking on Harlequin Rasbora

[chris601]

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I'd be really grateful if someone out there could let me know what you think of this marking on my Harlequin Rasbora. It has been around for at least a month and the fish behaves normally, eats normally, and does not seem to be bothered. I thought it could be a fungal or bacterial infection. It doesn't seem to ever go away - at one point it got a bit larger and then I added Waterline Myxazin to the tank, which is designed to treat fin rot and ulcers and uses malachite green. It then got a bit smaller again.

The tank parameters are NH3 o, N02 0, N03 10, pH 7.2, gH 8, kH 3.

Does anyone have any idea what I am dealing with here? The tail is a bit droopy as well, at times.

 

[zozo]

Looks like a skin (external) parasite... Send an e-mail with a picture to this address.

Specialists Fish Treatments & Medicines | Fish Treatment Ltd

The specialist fish treatments company set up by veterinarian Dr Fiona Macdonald to develop and supply fish medicines. Fluke-Solve™ and Lice-Solve™.

www.fish-treatment.co.uk

In my case a few years ago, the fish doctor (founder of this company) responded within a day, asked several questions and provided me with a solution...
They are much more experienced in determining a diagnosis from general information. With much less experience it's a best guess and you at least need a skin sample and a microscope and the knowledge to know what you see and what to look for. Taking a skin sample from such a tiny fish most likely will cause too much damage and be fatal anyway. Could be the price to pay to save the rest, but if this can be prevented then it's one more life saved. All tho don't get you're hopes up too high, this one still might die because it has too much damage already. Looks like the parasite damaged the eye which is an entry for bacteria infecting the brainstem.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Welcome to UKAPS It's hard to determine but could be a result of injury leaving suspectable to infection parasitic maybe, l would isolate quarantine if possible and treat with Waterlife the med your using following the instructions to the letter

 

[chris601]

Thanks for the info - much appreciated!

 

[sparkyweasel]

It looks like an injury to me too. Are there any sharp items (eg rocks) or aggressive tankmates?

 

[Tim Harrison]

Welcome 🙂
Looks ulcerated. Either way treat with eSHa 2000. Should see it off without further infection.

 

[chris601]

It looks like an injury to me too. Are there any sharp items (eg rocks) or aggressive tankmates?

Thanks. For quite a while there was a lot of bickering between the Rasboras and I can imagine that it got a nip.

 

[zozo]

That spot on its eye, is that from the camera flash or damage?

 

[chris601]

That spot on its eye, is that from the camera flash or damage?

The eye looks strange in this image. It’s looking pretty normal (same as all the others) just peering into the tank now.

 

[zozo]

The eye looks strange in this image.

It indeed does and looks like a partially cloudy and damaged retina. Which actually was the trigger for me to jump to the conclusion it might be an external skin parasite nesting in the eye. Several parasites are able to do this. Or it could be an ulcer caused by physical damage or a form of cancer.

Eye flukes (Diplostomum spp) damage retinal tissue and may cause a regenerative response in wild threespine stickleback fish - PubMed

Fish rely upon vision as a dominant sensory system for foraging, predator avoidance, and mate selection. Damage to the visual system, in particular to the neural retina of the eye, has been demonstrated to result in a regenerative response in captive fish that serve as model organisms (e.g...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Fish Cloudy Eyes: Common Causes and Treatment - Fish Vet

Fish cloudy eyes are most commonly caused by trauma. Learn how to treat cloudy eyes and set your fish up for ocular success!

cafishvet.com

Pictures can sometimes be deceiving...