I sent this one out to the experts, but I’m withholding my own thoughts.  This is the PNG Saddleback I mentioned earlier when I talked about Formalin dipping “replaceable” fish before going with the Maroons.  This Saddleback has been in hyposalinity (1.010) and has had a formalin dip daily for the last 3 days.  The tank was dosed at 1 drop Formalin per gallon on Friday, and again Sunday.  I also added in Maracyn SW (Erythromycin + B Vitamins) because I suspect secondary bacterial infections are kicking in.
I have my own theories and thoughts, but I’m going to WITHHOLD THEM because I don’t want to influence the opinions posted.  So please, comment with your opinion on what disease is actually killing this PNG Saddleback, and more importantly, state WHY you’ve reached your diagnosis if you want to have any credibility. Here’s some pictures and a video.

Video on Youtube:

– update – this fish was dead within 8 hours of these images and videos being taken.
And finally for this evening.  That incident where I almost killed this fish and the 4 Allardi with a Formalin dip that was likely way too strong?  Well, I’m still trying to make heads and tails of it, and I’ve been talking with Christine Williams about it (Christine is the Resident Expert for the forum on Marine Fish Health / Diseases at MASNA ).  If this well-known manufacturer’s documentation on their Formalin product has even Christine a bit confused, well, I think I might have to take back at least some responsibility for my error.
It turns out that potentially there may be straight up conflicting treatment instructions in their documentation that would result in a 10-fold difference in medication levels depending on which instruction you followed.  To me, that’s a HUGE problem.  Of course, I was unlucky in that I followed the higher of the two dosages!  In reading through their documentation carefully again, trying to weed out the actual product specifications, it could be that their product is only 10% of the strength of the standard Formalin I’ve been using (as I suggested earlier).  But this new found discrepancy in treatment instructions, and the continuing vagery about their actual product, could mean that I miss-dosed anywhere from 10 times to 100 times more Formalin than I was supposed to in the first dip.  I’m withholding the company and product name because I do not know yet if I’m right or not, and I’d like to get this whole mess cleared up before I go lambasting anyone.  But yeah, starting to think that this might not have really been “my fault”, except I’m still the one that actually did it!