Is there something wrong with my trigger?

anarchyx914

New member
When I got him and put him in my qt tank he got ich. He had small white dots all over him. Since then I treated him with cupramine. He was only in it for two days because my father saw the water was yellowish and decided to put rox carbon in my filter box. This removed most of the cupramine but I no longer saw any spots on the trigger or puffer in qt so I never re dosed the cupramine. The puffer is now fine but the trigger has what I would describe as blotches of color on him. He still eats like a tank and I soak all of his food in selcon

Any idea what's wrong with him if anything??

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I just realized the pictures I took with my iPhone suck and are probably not helpful. I need to take some pictures later with my DSLR to get a good shot of the spots.

They aren't small white dots, more of blotches of lighter pigment. Its a pink tail trigger and he is usually a full emerald green color but the spots are just a few shades lighter and are wide and faded..
 
Here is a more accurate picture of what my fish has. Mine has similar blotches like this, only they are not so bright...

I found a thread to get this picture, unfortunately it did not have any responses...

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Not sure what the blotches are, but if this fish had a confirmed ich infection, two days of copper is insufficient to cure him. You need to treat for a minimum of 4 weeks to kill the parasite. It's possible that the blotches could be areas where the parasite was attached, and the fish is rubbing or scratching to rid itself of it.
 
The blotches are most likely just variation in coloring from mood, and in this case a bit of stress. I've seen it many times with triggers and it will take care of itself maybe in a couple of days or maybe as long as a month. Nothing to worry about. I wouldn't treat him anymore unless you see an acute symptom again. He looks like a good fish from where I'm standing.
 
The blotches are most likely just variation in coloring from mood, and in this case a bit of stress. I've seen it many times with triggers and it will take care of itself maybe in a couple of days or maybe as long as a month. Nothing to worry about. I wouldn't treat him anymore unless you see an acute symptom again. He looks like a good fish from where I'm standing.

1+
Leave him alone and let him destress.
 
Thanks for the advice. Id rather not use Cupramine again, because I have a smaller Porcupine puffer in with him and they are very sensitive to copper.

I just wish my father would have let my tank alone and let my copper in it.

I don't see any white dots on any of the fish, and I think because I plucked them out of my display tank and transferred them to QT it helped a bit.

I will try and get better pics later still.
 
I did about a 75% water change today for good measure, its been at least two weeks since I did one. Keep in mind this QT tank has been running for months so it has been fully cycled for a while. My Seachem ammonia alert wasn't detecting any ammonia but I wanted peace of mind for him.

I am very anxious to move him to the display tank, would you all suggest doing that if I do not see any spots or issues within the next two weeks? He has been in quarantine for 3 weeks now. I don't see any specks or anything on either him or the puffer. I just worry a bit because my QT tank is only 26 gallons, and he's a big fish. I know the confined space is probably stressing him and he will be more at peace in my 8ft tank :)

I also have noticed they turn colors when stressed. When I got him home from the LFS originally he was a dark dark emerald green when I bought him. I put him in tank and then he turned a really pale-white green. It took him a few days to get back to full happy color, but it happened. These blotches just worried me is all.
 
In my opinion he's ok to move to the display tank now. It's mostly a judgment.

I disagree. If the fish had a confirmed ich infection and was not properly treated, it is still carrying the parasite even if it's not showing spots. Both the trigger and the puffer need to be treated to eliminate the parasite. Otherwise, the display tank will be infected.

If copper is not an option, tank transfer or chloroquine phosphate are suitable alternatives.
 
That's normal, nothing wrong there.


I also have noticed they turn colors when stressed. When I got him home from the LFS originally he was a dark dark emerald green when I bought him. I put him in tank and then he turned a really pale-white green. It took him a few days to get back to full happy color, but it happened. These blotches just worried me is all.
 
I disagree. If the fish had a confirmed ich infection and was not properly treated, it is still carrying the parasite even if it's not showing spots. Both the trigger and the puffer need to be treated to eliminate the parasite. Otherwise, the display tank will be infected.

If copper is not an option, tank transfer or chloroquine phosphate are suitable alternatives.

+1 I would NOT move them to the DT yet. Have you read the stickies or any scientific information on the life cycle of cryptocaryon? It's not the scourge of aquarists for nothin:uhoh2:
 
He states that the two were in the display tank when the symptom arose. So the DT had already been exposed from them hitting the restroom in there - and in fact exposed only if that's in fact what they had. IMO keep a happy and clean tank and their immune systems should keep ahead of anything like that. But I should state that I don't use Quarantine unless there are acute symptoms - I come from a different school of thought. So I have a different point of view than the other members above. They seem to have a good handle via they're preferred methods.
 
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I suppose I could do another tank transfer.. These guys were in DT when I spotted ICH And I immediately put them in my QT tank and started copper.

They havent shown any spots or specks or anything since the copper treatment.

Anyone know where to get chloroquine phosphate? lol
 
In that case, you will need to leave your DT fallow (fishless) for a minimum of 9 weeks so the parasite can die off without a host. Do you have any other fish in your DT? If so, they have been exposed.

You can get chloroquine phosphate from this site: http://kmaintl.com/product-category/misc

MY DT is fully stocked. None of the other fish every exhibited spots so Im going to have to take my chances there. I dose Vitamin C in the display tank and soak all foods in Selcon. I also make my own fish food.. So I hope and pray there is no breakout, and so far, so good. Display has 5 tangs and I dont think they'd handle QT well.
 
I wouldn't put that in my main. I had the exact same spots on my trigger. Treated with CP,ich went away white blotches showed up. Treated with prazi, trigger died. I think its either a bac infection from the ich leaving, or flukes taking over after ich.
 
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