anyone recognize these symptoms?

[ispurlo]

I have a triggerfish who has been locked into the rocks all day which is unusual for him. he usually swims laps all day. He seems to be breathing heavier than normal. His gut also seems bigger than normal. I can't say for sure but i started noticing how fat he looked about 3 days ago and just shrugged it off as him growing until today when he seemed lethargic and thought it might be something else. he doesnt have any irregular marks of any kind on his body. Any ideas? thanks in advance

oh yeah I have had him for about 8 or 9 months so he is not new to the tank. I am going to go check my params right now but did a small water change yesterday and all was good.

 

[Jerry W]

Absolutely check your parameters to make sure they are within normal limits. What are you feeding and how often? The "fat" appearance might be cause for concern. If the fish is impacted the abdomen could appear distended. Possibly an internal bacterial infection. Rapid breathing is never a good sign. Is the fish being bothered by another tank mate?

 

[the2ofus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14151632#post14151632 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jerry W
Absolutely check your parameters to make sure they are within normal limits. What are you feeding and how often? The "fat" appearance might be cause for concern. If the fish is impacted the abdomen could appear distended. Possibly an internal bacterial infection. Rapid breathing is never a good sign. Is the fish being bothered by another tank mate?

I agree here..

Have you introduced anything new to your tank ?

 

[ispurlo]

all parameters look normal

ph 8.4
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrates 15-20 (high I know but normal for my tank and never had any problems)
salinity 1.026

I had just introduced a copperband butterfly a week ago that died. I did not notice a swollen stomach or rapid breath in the CBB before he died. I attributed its death to not eating since it didnt eat anything in the week I had it. The triggerfish is the dominant fish in my tank so nothing is harassing him. I feed freeze dried shrimp or frozen clam once daily and a piece of seaweed for my foxface that the trigger has been eating a lot of lately.

He did swim around some last night and ate a little bit but not as aggresively as usual. I haven't seen him move out of his rock hiding place at all today. can't really see his gills to see if he is still breathing hard or not. With out any clear diagnosis how should I go about trying to treat/help him?