air in fish

[dviper150]

I ordered an Australian HT and when I got it, it seemed fine but during acclimation, it kept squirting water out so I am assuming it sucked it some air then. Now it is having some trouble swimming and can't seem to balance itself. I just fed it thinking that might help but no luck yet. Will the air come out on its own or do I need to do something to help it out?

 

[jimmy frag]

lol. funny. same thing happened to my fire goby. he will fart soon enough. might have been the garlic

 

[dviper150]

any food that might encourage it to pass the air? I haven't added garlic to the food I gave him yet.

 

[jimmy frag]

i cant help you there, what kind of fish. tangs need algea to digest

 

[Reefir]

I had a fish do that . It was swim bladder , look it up . I had put it in a qt and it got to the point where it was upside down floating yet still alive for days . it had a huge air pocket in its belly . i got a hollow needle and stuck it in the air pocket and pushed the air out with my hands , no suction . the next day it was fine , still alive today , it happened two years ago . im no surgeon but after reserch i felt like it had to be done or i would lose the fish . it may not be your problem but I figured I would share that .

 

[PCFisher66]

+1 When I go fishing offshore when catching Red Snapper in anything over 100' I have to vent them or they just float on top of the water. It's now FL law that you have to carry a venting tool on the boat. For these fish we use what look like a large needle fot injecting marinade into meat. When you put it in you can hear the air coming out.

 

[Snausy]

I understand that it's a tusk and this won't help you but when my puffer sucked up some air I had to grab him and hold him face-up and squeeze very gently to force the air out of his mouth.

Worked like a charm and he seemed pretty happy about it right afterwards.

Maybe before sticking a needle into your fish you could anesthetize him with clove-oil and then hold him upright? Maybe the bubbles will just rise to the top and out of his mouth? My puffer let me grab him with my hand and hold him, my HT would never let me do that so I figure drugging him first would be the key.

gl with whatever you do.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Just curious; where did you get the fish? Most Aussie tusks are caught on hook & line by divers and handled extremely well. Some I.O. tusks are still captured with cyanide, or otherwise handled poorly, unfortunately.

 

[dviper150]

Just curious; where did you get the fish? Most Aussie tusks are caught on hook & line by divers and handled extremely well. Some I.O. tusks are still captured with cyanide, or otherwise handled poorly, unfortunately.

I ordered it from liveaquaria.

 

[dviper150]

He does seem to be swimming a little better so I am going to wait it out and hopefully he will pass the rest of it.

 

[MrTuskfish]

He does seem to be swimming a little better so I am going to wait it out and hopefully he will pass the rest of it.

Tusks behave very strangely during acclimation. Some are very shy, some bold and I've seen 2 that love to spit water out of the tank. I had 3 prior to moving 6 years ago and have 3 now (different tanks). All from La and all in great shape. BTW, like most wrasse, these fish are jumpers, although they don't look like it. I hope he does all right, you'll love this fish.

 

[dviper150]

I do like it a lot. It has very good coloration and is a nice size too. It does spit water out but more at night after the lights are turned off. It was spitting a lot of it out while I was acclimating him in the bucket. This guy doesn't hide and is always out swimming around or at least trying too. It just drifts sometimes with the current with the head higher than the rest of the body. At night, it lays on the sand bed so I am not sure why it swims so weird sometimes during the day. It was worse before because it would constantly be swimming at the surface with part of the face sticking out of the water.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Tusks will spend time lying on the bottom, like most fish. It takes a whole for them to get bold, but He'll come around in time. Sticking their noses out, even proposing, isn't unusual either. How's he eating? That's really a key to his health while acclimating. These are big, robust fish and need meaty stuff; they love pieces of shrimp, scallop, sw fish flesh, fresh clam, even an occasional silverside; in addition to the staple frozen & pellet foods.

 

[dviper150]

It isn't eating any pellets yet. The only thing that I can get it to eat right now is silversides and I have to actually stick it close to his face. Its not an aggressive eater yet like the rest of my fish so I have to bring the food to it. Hopefully it will start chasing food and eating other things soon. Being on a strict silverside diet can't be too healthy for it. I do have squid and jumbo mysis which it hasn't eaten yet.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Tusks seem to take longer to do just about anything. They are true carnivores, so the silversides are fine for a while. Funny, I started feeding with a stick, the same as I use for Lions too. Small pieces of shrimp are usually a favorite. As long as he's eating, he'll learn to eat other foods and become more of an active eater. When you think he's healthy and getting settled in, you may have to let him go hungry for a few days and he'll find out the silverside delivery is over and start eating other foods. They sure aren't as aggressive, in any manner, as they look. I sure wouldn't worry, sounds like you're doing well with him.