anything I can do to save my bluethroat trigger?

[CTaylor]

Hi,

My blue throat has some syndrome going on. He doesnt appear to be sick. But he triggers himself into place for long periods of time or he paces i top corner back corner or end, top of the tank. He has not eaten for 2, maybe 3 weeks. The first I noticed this, he was not to be seen for 2 days. I thought he was dead. I took out some rocks and found him wedged into place. From then on he's been super weird.

I'm told this is a common occurence which can happen to any trigger, any species. I was told even if I found a giant tank to put him in (he's in a 'short' 125 now) that this would not help. Once it starts, he is on a path to die. He has no outward sigs of illness. I guess he can be sick inside, but only thing sickly about him is not eating and being neurotic all the time unless he's triggered into place.

I thought perhaps he doesnt like some of my tank mates (esp a blue hippo tang). They have fought perhaps 2 times max that i have seen. They seem to have been well together. All my other fish appear fine, execept I have mysteriously lost a small angel and orange spot blenny. Also a bartlett anthias has stopped eating --- but I think that was b/c I wasnt feeding them often enough until now -- the other two are fine.
Params are fine. I did have a spike in nitrate to 40 ppm about 6 weeks ago, that has been slowly going down. I have had the trigger for over a year now.

Thanks!

 

[wrott]

It sounds like stress.
May be try some live oysters or clams after cracking them open for him, place them on the sand bed.
Good luck, i hope he makes it.

 

[moondoggy4]

Have you tried a fresh water dip?

 

[CTaylor]

I've gotten him to eat.. after 3+ weeks of no eating. He's still acting very odd, often triggering himself into place. He will eat if I literally put the food on his mouth and leave it there, pushing it on this mouth. And he'll often bite it and swallow. So I'm trying to do that 3x a day. He's gotten skinny, so I'm hoping to at least get him not looking pinched in at all. It's only 3 days of feeding so far. So I don't know if he will start acting normal again sometime. He has less skin lesions or bumps (they are not typical flukes or parasites), but I'd have to say he's getting 'cured' of that. I don't want to do a FWD as I think that might just stress him at this point, esp since he seems better on the outside.

I'm thinking it's the blue tang stressing him but I still have not really witnessed it, other than the very very very occasional very light scuffle.

My nitrates are down to 5-10 it looks like. It was spiking coindidentally when this all started. But it maxed at maybe 40-50. Which I dont think is detrimental to a trigger, but maybe the spike itself (change from low to high) was.

My next goal with him is if I can get him to come after food... I'd take out the blue tang if I knew more than 50% chance it's him somehow causing this behavior.