Experts Please Help w/Lineatus

prop-frags

prop-frags

SPS Slave
As no one answered the first thread, we are trying again.

We have a male Lineatus wrasse who is swimming erratically. He lists to the right or left, swims upside down and in circles, as well as in a vertical position w/his head up and tail down.

We see no signs of bloating or anything wrong with his scales. He has spells where he almost swims normally, just a bit of listing to one side or the other. He is still eating although it takes him a few tries to actually get his aim right and get the food in his mouth.

We did many searches on several forums and really could not find a definitive answer as to what is going on with the fish or how to treat. Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated.

All of our fish have been treated with Prazipro as a preventative measure for flukes/worms so I can't imagine a parasite is involved. None of our other fish are displaying any of these symptoms.

We moved him to a 20g hospital tank on Saturday and treated with Maracyn Plus. He was really stressed out by the move and would not eat afterwards. He was more relaxed on Sunday and did eat some Hikari Mysis and Bloodworms. He has no interest in pellets or flakes.

We added the second Maracyn Plus treatment today. I was able to hand feed him quite a bit of Hikari mysis and bloodworms this morning as he is having trouble eating food in the water column and can't get into a position to eat off the bottom glass. He is very alert and his respiration appears normal. He takes spells of swimming around the tank after he eats, but otherwise tends to rest in or behind one of the pieces of PVC pipe.

The last treatment of Maracyn Plus will be Wednesday. If there is no change, we plan to switch to erythromycin.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?
 
Thanks for the reply PJtree23.

I just got off the phone with Live Aquaria tech support. Their consensus is that this is a swim bladder issue. I was told to stop treatment with Maracyn Plus, to hold off feeding for 3 days and that he should recover on his own.

I sure hope so.
 
good to know! i was thinking after my post that it could be a swim bladder issue. hope he gets better, they're beautiful fish!
 
prop-frags said:
I just got off the phone with Live Aquaria tech support. Their consensus is that this is a swim bladder issue. I was told to stop treatment with Maracyn Plus, to hold off feeding for 3 days and that he should recover on his own.
Click to expand...
Did you buy the fish from LA? how long have you had it?
 
Thank you. We have 2 males and they are definitely my favorite of the fairy's we have.

Here is a pic of the one that is having the swim bladder issue:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5796301488/" title="nt 1104 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/5796301488_4f05a42892_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1104"></a>

This is a pic of our other male:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5796301694/" title="nt 1111 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5189/5796301694_9f10cc28e9_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1111"></a>

x'ing fingers that he recovers...
 
I have heard that some collectors will bypass decompression by pinning deep water fish, but I thought you'd see symptoms in the fish right away. Is this not so?

We acquired him thru LA several months ago and until the past week or so he had been swimming normally.
 
It does sound like a swim bladder problem but can i ask does he swim any better in the morning before he is fed , could food be pressing on the swimbladder due to an obstruction in the gut caused by something? that is if it isnt bacterial infection of the bladder.

Stunning fish by the way and id love it to recover! Could you take a small video clip of the way it swims might make diagnosis easier.

Some fish also have congenital deformities so that their swim bladders are not shaped normally and if they overeat they can swim in a strange manner, but i am not sure if this is the case here if it is not much one can do about that.Also you said he was swimming normally for months before this so it seems unlikely , does the other male pick on this one at all?
 
Last edited:
Kinlayan,
Thank you for responding. I will try to get some video.

The two males get along amazingly well and truly do peacefully co-exist. No obvious sign of pecking order with those two, unlike our two male Flame wrasses.

He is not swimming better in the morning before being fed. I was wondering about obstruction as well, but food he ingests seems to be passing thru normally.

Should I continue with antibiotics in case the swim bladder problem was caused by a bacterial infection? Tomorrow would be the last treatment of Maracyn Plus. I also have erythromycin.

He ate well yesterday and this morning, but I did have to hand feed him and he is still only interested in mysis and bloodworms (and prefers the latter).

Our fish are normally fed several times a day, but I have not tried to feed him again since LA told me earlier today to withhold food.
 
prop-frags said:
Should I continue with antibiotics in case the swim bladder problem was caused by a bacterial infection? Tomorrow would be the last treatment of Maracyn Plus. I also have erythromycin.
Click to expand...
If you feel that you fully explained the problem to LA...then take their advise!
Attempting multiple 'cures' could backfire!
 
Here's a clip of the Lineatus in the 20g hospital tank:

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NOVrn6Kb1vg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yesterday was his second treatment with Maracyn Plus. He is actually swimming better this evening. Not as much rolling upside down. He has been bouncing off the glass so much that he has bruised his mouth again.
 
Cautiously optimistic...

Our little man's swimming has improved significantly this morning. It was nice to see him get excited when he saw me this morning and beg for food.
 
Thanks for the video, yes i would agree with your treatment protocol, there is definitely something wrong internally but as mentioned might even be neurological and not even swimbladder. I would continue with a broad spectrum antibiotic perhaps you can actually get it into the food , it will be more effective. If maracyn 2 hasnt helped wait a few days(3-4) and try another type of antibiotic.
there isnt much more you can do for this if antibiotics dont cure it besides keeping optimum and stress free conditions for it.

Hope it recovers!
 
Thank you Kinlayan for taking the time to watch the video and give us advice. We really appreciate it.

Our little man continues to improve. Here is a short clip from this morning. Please pardon the poor lighting and video quality. I did not have the nice camcorder with me.

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/y2ImtC6rr3s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

He was quite hungry this morning and was able to eat bloodworms, Hikari mysis and Hikari Spirulina/Brine Shrimp in the water column and off of the bottom of the tank on his own. He is behaving more like his normal self, showing curiosity with his surroundings and begging for food.

He is also able to stay upright while swimming slow or hovering which he was incapable of doing when we moved him to the hospital tank. It is obvious to us that he is still having to work extra hard to stay upright and still has spells of rolling upside down, but he is able to right himself quickly. We have not seen any of the counter-clockwise spinning in a circle so far today.

Hopefully, he will continue to improve.
 
definitely looks better in this video which means the antibiotic or something is probably helping but i would not stop medication then until it is 100% better, just make sure that water quality is kept good with frequent water changes as im sure the Q tank has little biofiltration with antibiotic use.

I am hoping for its full recovery and applaud your efforts!
 
Thank you again Kinlayan! We will repeat the Maracyn Plus treatment protocol as it will also help to prevent infection where the Lineatus bruised his mouth. I am paranoid about ammonia so have been siphoning the bottom of the tank and doing a 25% water change daily. We have an inside tank ammonia monitor and I also test for ammonia with a kit once per day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ClownBubbaJoe
Can I trust My Favorite Fish, A Clown Trigger In A Reef Tank ?
Replies
12
Views
395
lebowski
lebowski
L
Sick Hippo Tang
Replies
3
Views
825
Uncle99
Uncle99
D
Coral beauty Sick - how do i treat
Replies
3
Views
1K
leebca
L
M
help with new dracula goby
Replies
5
Views
575
leebca
L
J
Pouch emphysema advice
Replies
2
Views
661
vlangel
vlangel
Back
Top