Newbie with a sick fish and can't diagnois why....NEED HELP BEFORE HE DIES!

[Marie.P]

Hi EVERYONE, Sorry I found the forum on these basis but formal introductions can be saved for later. I have an issue and need help.

I have a 125g tall with a 30g overflow wet/dry, and a protein skimmer for a 250g tank. My water parameters are in check. I can only think the fish came sick.

I have had several "reputable" aquarium stores to come to the house and all of them have told me a different sickness. I have had my water taken to two different stores and tested the water. Everything is fine. Also, the tank is barley stocked. It's FOWLR.

I bought an adult batfish (my husbands preference, not mine) off a customer I met at a store. The fish was good for a couple of weeks. He even eats from my hands. Since then I've only added the sailfin tang and did two water changes.

THE BATFISH IS NOW SICK. HE IS STILL EATING BUT IS LOSING WEIGHT, COLOR LOOKS GROSS AND SICKLY, AND HIS EYES ARE WHITE. THE EYE LIDS APPEAR TO BE BALLOONING. AT FIRST THEY STARTED LOOKING CLOUDY WITH WHITE SPECKS. I THOUGHT IT WAS ICK BUT THERE ARE NO WHITE SPOTS ON HIM AND NONE OF THE OTHER FISH ARE SHOWING ANY TYPE OF SICKNESS OR SIMILAR SYMPTOMS.

I'm prepping the tank to eventually go reef and don't want to treat it unnecessarily.

I also posted this in the fish illness section hoping I can get some help before my fish dies. In the other thread the guy says to post here.

Per that discussion.... the day lights are only on for 8 hours, night lights for about 8 hours, and when we sleep they get turned off. Not sure of the exact brand but they are efficient for FOWLR, but not for a reef. They will need to be upgraded when I venture that way.

His diet: the former owner fed him squid, clams, & shrimp. I feed him squid, clams, seaweed (he eats a lot of it), and spectrum sinking pellets, He eats the meaty stuff and seaweed from my hands.

Also, I don't have a quarantine tank. Depending on what I can figure out and get my hands on possibly tonight I will treat the display tank. If needed I can a quarantine tank if whatever he has is not contagious.

Another also, I'm planning on having a service company come out and do a 75 gallon water change tomorrow. Debating this based on feedback.

I was just reading about "pop eye". Is this possible?

picking up the kids from school and will be back online in 30.

 

[madeyemary]

You need to set up a quarantine tank. Whatever medications are needed, they will affect your beneficial bacteria and linger in your sand/rocks. I would put into a 10-gallon (maybe 20-gallon, that thing looks huge!) with airline and treat with Furan-II. It's a broad-spectrum antibiotic and I've used it with my seahorses with good success for bacterial infections. I don't have the box in front of me, but it gets into more specifics. I used it for a seahorse with a developing cloudy eye, but it was not to the same severity as your batfish. You need to do a 50% water change daily and in that water change, replenish with another dose of medication. There's enough in one box for 14 doses. Hopefully, that will clear it up. It's helped me in the past. And then monitor for a few weeks while continuing to do water changes. You could do a HOB filter too.

If anyone else has better diagnoses, please share! I haven't done many treatments on my fish, so I'm only sharing what I know.

Also, consider the fact that the fish may not be happy in your aquarium for the long-term. I know you said 135, but it just looks so inordinately big in that size of tank. It doesn't look like it would have enough swimming room to be happy. Liveaquaria lists tank requirements at 180-300, depending on the type. I don't know enough about batfishes to diagnose the type, but it would help us figure out if it will work out in your tank. The amount of swimming space and suitability for the fish has a lot to do with the long-term health of the fish, and the stress of living in a smaller tank than it needs could definitely contribute to the disease.

 

[Marie.P]

Never mind....I checked online pictures of pop eye and that definitely doesn't look like that. Still can't figure out what it is and water parameters are still okay. He will be going to the store.

I've been between three forums trying to figure it out.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[ReeferBill]

Those 2 fish are way to big for that tank , I would take them both to LFS and trade for smaller more practical fish for your tank and then you will not have this probem!

 

[Marie.P]

The larger one will be going to the LFS after treated. I put him in a 60 gallon trash can with medication in the water. He was bumping into rocks and the glass so I figured something round with more swimming room was better than the 30g I was considering.

However, I don't think that is the problem. He has been in my tank for roughly four weeks now with no problem. It's just the last few days I've noticed the changes. The smaller one has been in the tank for about 5 months. He is staying.

 

[clownishgambino]

Is there anything wrong with any of the other fish that you have noticed, especially the sailfin? You say its eyes started to get cloudy with white specks, how big were the specks, ich speck size, pen dot size, sesame seed size? Have you looked up flukes? I dont have much experience with it but I thought my fish had it for awhile and looked into it. Have you seen any of the fish "twitch," as if they are trying to shake something off their head? If you cant figure out something within the next few days I would try to do a fresh water dip and see if anything falls off, try to do it before he stops eating to minimize stress. Of course taking him out and putting him in a QT would be best, but i realize that may not be an option for some.

 

[Marie.P]

The only fish that has shown any problems is the larger batfish. Because of his size, I decided to quarantine him in a 60 gallon Rubbermaid trashcan. I'm not using direct light just the room lights, used 50% water from the aquarium and 50% new water from the LFS with medication.

The what spots in his eyes looked like mini rice grains. They were long and like a narrow oval. I guess like tiny rice grains. They showed up two days ago with cloudy eyes but no visual puffiness. This morning both eyes were solid white and what I think are the eyelids look like balloons.

I don't know what flukes are and fresh water dips but I will be reading on those too.

The other fish are all fine. No scratching, twitching, cloudiness of the eyes, spots or specks anywhere, all eating good, no fast breathing. It's just this one. The sail fin tang was introduced two weeks ago and he is also non-symptomatic.

I haven't had a tank in 11 years but I don't remember it being this much physical work! Guess that's why I feel like a lost newbie again with a sick fish.

 

[clownishgambino]

i know the feeling of helplessness when a fish is sick and you can figure out what it is, not fun lol check this page out it hads alot of info on flukes, hope this helps.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1260067

The spots you describe on the eyes do sound like flukes, but i would think the other fish would be affected also due to the timing of everything so I can't be sure. Theres a picture in the 6th post with what the eye may look like

 

[Lsufiregal]

Sounds like flukes to me. Sorry for your troubles.