CorissWrasse with Severely Swollen Gill

just an update - he spent the day yesterday hiding after the move to the hospital tank and didn't eat. Today, he's out swimming around bit. I'll be feeding the fish in a few minutes so I'll see if he continues to eat.

His condition does not seem to have worsened, so that's good. I have not settled in on a treatment yet since I've still not sure what I'm dealing with.

So for now, I'm just going to observe.

 

I'm a bit late to the party; sorry.

But tumor, parasite, or something fungal are my thoughts.

Which LFS?
I'm not too fond of FW dips, but once might be worth a try.

Yeah, I'd put in a container of sand. I understand your thinking, but if you stress the fish by not having sand, you'll end up being counter-productive in this effort. If you fear the sandbed might be harboring the parasite (possible), just replace the sand in the container every day or two.

Yes, PraziPro is something I'd definitely recommend. More on that in a moment.

Sounds like things aren't degrading quickly, which is good. However, since you've already caught him and have in him a hospital tank, I'd do more than just observe now.

Two things I'd treat with right now: PraziPro (will kill flukes) and some anit-fungal. Melafix might be suitable. I'd honestly have to put in some research to recommend a quality anti-fungal; it's not something I've had to treat before.

At worst, it's some sort of a tumor, and unfortunately there won't be much you can do of course. But if it's anything else, now is the time to knock it out in a hospital tank.

Best of luck.

 

no problem - the more options the better as it will help form a consensus of sorts.

I stopped in at Aquatouch.

I was there again on Sunday, and was lucky enough to catch Michael in the shop - so I showed him the pictures. He looked at them and was of the same opinion - that it was most likely a tumor, or some sort of fungal infection. He felt that FW bath would probably do little good in this case.

I had not realized this, but they offer various services, including the surgery that would be required to remove the growth at a reasonable cost. So I scheduled an appointment. Kora (the coris wrasse) is scheduled for an examination, then possible surgery depending on what they find, on Thursday.

Basically, they said it's a one day procedure. I'll bring him in at 11am. Assuming it goes as planned, I can pick him up later that day. Of course they didn't make any guarantees, and even warned there's always a chance for poor outcome. But given the size of this growth, I don't think his chances are any worse trying this over not trying it.

Looking at it today, the growth has slightly increased in size but the fish's behavior has not worsened.

I decided to just place a chunk of live rock from the refugium in there with him. He spent the day swimming around it and seems to have helped and he is less skittish. He has also taken to sleeping wedged between the sponge filter and the bottom of the aquarium. It's a nice snug fit, so he seems to feel comfortable there and stayed there until is usual time of getting up (about an hour after lights on).

Given that I have him scheduled to have the growth removed - do you think I should still try these treatments, or just wait to see what they find on Thursday?

Thanks for the feedback

 

He knows his stuff; I'd feel comfortable with that opinion.

Yeah, they do some things like this; was unaware of the extent of which however.

If that's the route you have chosen to go, I would wait for their findings.

 

just an update. The lump in the wrasses gill has continued to increase a little bit. It has also began to change color just a bit with small darker patches.

I tried getting a photo of it, but can't get a good one. He continues to act normal and eats and sleeps as normal. doesn't seems to bother him too much.

Also - a few days ago, I sent a message to the Bob Fenner at WebWebMeida on the suggestions of a fellow forum member. I receive a message back today.

Here's the message with his in-line comments

Not a whole lot of info, but it does at least provide another confirmation that it's some sort to growth, as opposed to a swollen gill. Also his prognosis doesn't sound particularly positive. So I'm feel more comfortable with continuing to wait until Thursday to see what happens with the examination and possible removal of the mass.

 

He's all packed and ready go - traveling in a luxury 5 gal bucket.

 

Good luck guys.

 

I'm sad to say, it didn't go so well - Kora the Coris wrasse did not survive the procedure. The internal damage was too much.

After they got in there and where able to get a better look, it turned out the issue was even more extensive. It was in fact some sort of tumor, but in addition most if not all of the gill structure was gone, and there was a pit running from the base of the tumor into the head, almost up to the eye.

Given the extent of it, I don't believe Kora would have lasted much longer any away since the tumor was clearly still growing. So, even though this is really sad, this may have been the better outcome as opposed to a slow death. It was far worse than the fish had let on to.

They did take a few photos of the process for documentation purpose since this was something that they had never really seen before in the aquarium trade. I asked that they send me the photos, along with a more detailed explanation of their findings. I should have that in a few days and will post them here for anyone who is interested.

In honor of Kora the Corris Wrasse, I'll share his Winning Entry in the last 3reef.com contest. :-(

 

I forgot about the Beer Label Contest. a great reminder of Kora.

Those that have followed this thread all learned something. While the outcome was disappointing you still provided valued documentation.

 

My condolences.

I've lost some favorites along this journey; it's never easy.