Fish in Hypo not Eating

[Fermat]

I recently moved my 3 fish into QT and started hypo. My flame hawk ate fine for a couple of days, but once I had lowered the salinity to 1.009 he stopped eating. He has not eaten for 5 days now. Is this a cause for concern and should I take action to do something different?

QT is 10g. My ammonia is around 0.5 (well, 0.5 with one test kit and 0.1 with another) and I've been doing 20% water changes daily. I've been adding buffer to maintain alk/ph, and temp is 80. I do have a sponge filter but apparently dropping 3 fish in together is a bit much for it. The other fish (o. clown and yellowtail damsel) are eating fine.

The hawk's behavior is not unusual and I don't see any other signs of stress. He even seems interested when I come by to feed... He just ends up watching the food drift on by.

 

[sunfish11]

I am assuming you are doing hypo because the fish have Ich or some issue, or is this a preventative hypo situation? I would in fact be concerned that the hawk is not eating. They would never pass up a meal unless they aren't feeling well. Could be the amonia. The clown and the damsel are simply more tolerant of poor/toxic water conditions than the hawk. Three fish in a 10 gal with measureable amonia is not a good situation. I think your quarantine is doing more harm than good the way it is set up. If the fish don't have any visible signs of illness (ich or velvet) I would get that salinity back up to a reasonable level over the course of the next few days. Also, I would do more waterchanges. I had a sick fish (velvet) in an uncycled hospital tank and I had to change 50% water each day to make sure his illness wasn't further compounded with amonia. He pulled through fine. I want to say that I had the salinity around .011.

That being said I wish you the best. I love hawkfish.

Don't add buffer unless you are testing the PH and there is an issue.

 

[Fermat]

Thanks. I am doing hypo because of ich, yes. The hawk himself has had ich a couple of times over the last 2 months, and I am doing hypo to remove any trace of it from my tank. The hawk had appeared to be recovered before moving to QT.

I'll do more (larger) water changes as you suggest, and if he isn't eating by tomorrow I'll start to bring the salinity back up.

 

[Fermat]

Ok, had enough water for another 20% for today.

If I raise salinity back up, I assume that I'll need to restart the timetable for ensuring the fish/tank are ich-free? I had planned to keep the fish 4 weeks in hypo, then slowly raise the salinity back over a week and then keep them in QT another week for a total of 6 weeks.

 

[sunfish11]

Since you called it a QT tank I assumed you just bought the fish. I guess I would have called it a hospital tank...You know what they say about assumptions.LOL.

Anyway, maybe you shouldn't bring the salinity back up at this point then. Let's think about this. The amonia may be the first and formost issue. You must get rid of it to see if it helps first. Also, another factor to consider is what are you using to set your salinity. Many hydrometer are off and need adjustment for temp. I have a hydrometer that is off by .04 and if I had never tested it against a calibrated refractometer I would never have known how badly off it is. It is very important that you know your test equipment is good, and you are actually at a decent hypo level. PH is also an issue and you never answered when I asked if you were testing before buffering.

 

[Fermat]

I use a refractometer, and have calibrated with the calibration solution.

pH seemed to drift down with the lower salt, but it is hard for me to test properly (even with salifert) as I could never tell the colors well. Ok, it's a lighter green... In any case, alk was around 2 meq/L so I added buffer with the water changes to try to keep it up.

I'll do another 50% tomorrow morning and see if he's eating by the afternoon.

 

[sunfish11]

Sounds like a plan and you have your bases covered except for amonia. If getting rid of the amonia doesn't stimulate his appetite I would up the salinity a little and see if it helps. Maybe try .011. Ich still will not like it and it may be easier on the hawk.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[Fermat]

Yeah, I was thinking that .011 is probably just as effective at controlling ich and may make him happier.

I suppose if he's s till refusing to eat after that, I could start to bring the salinity back up and once its back and he looks normal I could use copper instead of hypo. From what I've read though, I'd prefer to stick with hypo.

And sorry about terminology... I should have said "hospital tank".

 

[arizona tech]

i have had the same problem with some fishes eating fine then at 1.009 they stop eating, i raise the level and they start eating, from now on i use cuparmine copper instead of hypo

 

[Icefire]

Copper is harsher than hypo, particulary on stomach.
You also need a good copper test kit.

Keep the hypo @ 1.009 for 6 weeks, if you cut corners, it will be a waste, ich will still be there.

Try live food? Get that ammonia @ 0, use tap water if you can't keep up the RO.

buffer @ 8-10dhk, use a powerhead for added aeration, try to get some Amquel if you can't keep ammonia down.

 

[Fermat]

This morning I tested ammonia before the water change and it was quite low. Nitrite at 0 also. So maybe the sponge is doing its job. I went ahead with another 50% water change anyway since I had prepared the water overnight for it. If he doesn't eat this afternoon, I'm going to start to bring up the salinity.

 

[Icefire]

what did you try as food exactly? tryed garlic?

 

[mikeandjenn99]

As far as the salinity goes, if you raise it above .009, the ich may not like it, but it won't kill it. Ich is very stubborn, and 1.009 is the magic number. I think you should try soaking his food in garlic to see if he will eat. If not, raise the salinity up a bit to see if he starts acting better. If so, slowly drop it back down. Yes, it will restart the clock, but that's better than either killing a fish or getting ich in your main tank.

 

[Fermat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9468422#post9468422 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
what did you try as food exactly? tryed garlic?

Mainly flakes (formula one or two) which he ordinarily goes nuts for. I've also tried some frozen brine and mysis. I have not tried garlic.

Been raising the salinity slowly after he refused to eat this afternoon. I think ammonia is not an issue. I think I'm at 1.012 now and that's as far as I should go for today. His behavior is still ok, just not eating.

Yeah, I had thought that if he started eating again at some point, I could then try to *very slowly* lower the salinity again and try to sneak it back down there. If not, it isn't the end of the world to have to do copper. I just don't want the little guy to die.

 

[Fermat]

Ok, two days later and now at 1.018 and rising, and the hawk is now in his 8th day without eating. Ammonia and nitrite are at 0, and I've been doing plenty of water changes since that is how I am raising the salinity.

Behavior is not horrible. He hides a little, but he always would. He swims around, perches, and otherwise appears fine... No ich is visible. Just lets the food bump him in the nose without paying it any attention to it. When he had ich a month ago he acted similarly, not eating while the white dots were there, but then started eating again after 5 days. Could his gills have been damaged by the ich or something? He ate fine the first day I put him in the hospital tank.

I sure appreciate the support group through all this. Thanks.

 

[Fermat]

Good news if anyone is following along... Yesterday after 9 days without having a bite of food, and sg at 1.020, my hawk finally decided that those formula one flakes are just about the best things in the world.

I can't be 100% sure the salinity had anything to do with it, but I'm going to keep the salinity up and after a few days I'll begin copper.

 

[chris.hampton]

I would try keeping the SG as it is for a couple of days, get him fat and happy and then try lowering the SG again and see what happens. If he stops eating soon after you lower it you an start rising the SG and then think about copper.

 

[Fermat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9499716#post9499716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chris.hampton
I would try keeping the SG as it is for a couple of days, get him fat and happy and then try lowering the SG again and see what happens. If he stops eating soon after you lower it you an start rising the SG and then think about copper.

Just to update... I did exactly that. I kept the sg at 1.022 for a week and my hawk ate ravenously... I mean, he practically took my finger off every time, even if I fed him 6 times per day. I guess he was making up for lost time.

I then slowly lowered the salinity over a period of about a week back down to where it is now at 1.0095. Just fed him, and he's eating like a mad-fish as usual. He may have been bothered by the ammonia that first time around, but I think it is more likely he had an ich outbreak and stopped eating just like he's done a couple of time the month before.

Everything is now proceeding well... Except for that incident a few days ago where the hawk (apparently, as i doubt my clown would do it) completely chewed off the tailfin of my yellowtail damsel. The damsel not only survived, but has already grown back about 30% of the fin. Those guys sure are hardy.

 

[WaterKeeper]

Not eating is also a symptom of the ich itself. Fish often refuse food during an outbreak and the added stress of low salinity can make a fish start a fast. That is why I don't recommend using hypo as prophylaxis for new fish unless it shows signs of disease. It adds more stress to an already scared fish.

Glad things took a turn for the better and the ich is gone.

 

[chris.hampton]

Glad to hear he's on the road to recovery!!