Crosshatch Triggerfish sick, please help!

[Clownfish29]

HI,
On thursday i added a beautiful Crosshatch Triggerfish. He's about 8 inches long and has been swimming and been active. But today, i have noticed hes just staying on the top corner of the tank, swimming in place, and not eating. What do i do! He also has a sort of filmy substance on his eye a little, whats wrong, and how do i treat it. This fish i have been looking for for a long time, i must keep him healthy! Thanks

 

[myerst2]

There are many things that could be wrong with your trigger. Where did you get him from and how long has been in captivity? De-compression could be an issue. Usually a cloudy eye has to due with poor water quality. Does the trigger have proper places to seek refuge? Are there any fish that bullying him around? What are the temp and parameters of your water? How bright are the lights? Is there a lot of activity outside of the tank? Do you have pictures? So basically I and all of us need much more information before we can even come close to diagnosing the problem. I would leave your lights off 24/7, limit activity in front of the display, and make sure water quality is pristine. Then work from there. Tim

 

[Clownfish29]

The water temp is 80 degrees. He has been in captivity for about two weeks. Nitrite- 0. Nitrate- 20. Salinity- 1.074. KH- 300. Phosophate-.01. Calcium- 450. I got him from my aquarium service provider. The tank is 300 gallons and there is over 400 pounds of Live Rock, plenty of places for him to hide. I have not seen anyone bully him, i just added 8 blue chromis and there are some damsels in there, a purple tang, hippo tang, yellow tang, 3 anthias, gobys, and 2 clarkii clownfish. We are running, as i believe, 3 400 watt metal halide lights on the tank, with 4 actinic lights. There has been no activity outside the tank today. I have no pictures yet, as the lights are off for tonight and i will try to get one tomorrow. He does not have any visible problems really, just a little thing covering his eye. He's just swimming at the top right corner of the tank, which has been setup for almost a year now. Nothing else in the tank is suffering at all, everyone else is extremely healthy. Please, what can i do besides keeping off the lights, a water change of 65 gallons was made last thursday, so the water is pristine. I would have to guess the decompression. Thanks

 

[ChrisKirkland]

Wow!! your salinity is 1.074. It should be about 1.025. I hope this is a typo.

 

[Clownfish29]

Im sorry i read the water tests wrong the salinity was marked at 1.024 and the 2 looked like a 7 that was my mistake your right

 

[LargeAngels]

Cloudy eye can also be from flukes or ich/velvet. Take him out, try to do a FW dip to see if flukes or velvet falls off. Be prepared to treat for flukes, ich/velvet and have antibiotics on hand.

 

[myerst2]

x2 from large angels. Either way you will have to remove him it is any parasite. Let us know how it works out after the FW dip. Make sure the FW is the proper PH, temp., etc. Tim

 

[dones20]

QT tank should be set up as soon as possible so that he can go str8 from the fresh water bath to a qt all for himself and this way you can eliminate any forms of stress caused by tank mates and focus more on the trigger

 

[Clownfish29]

Well, a little update. Last night, he went to his same spot he's been sleeping and then this morning he was all happy and swimming around, like nothing had ever changed. He was acting, well, like a happy trigger. But then later tonight, he returned to holding his pace on the top of the tank. Now his eye has a filmy substance over it. So tomorrow he will be removed and dipped and qt'd and fix so he can go back into my tank. He is truly a beautiful fish, making my red sea purple tang look like a goldfish. Thanks for all your help!