picasso trigger help!!!

johno4

johno4

New member
I have had this guy for almost 3 years now in my 120. Around 2 months ago he just stopped eating. I had one of my heaters break and the tank was running low, around 74 degrees for maybe 4 weeks. I thought maybe that had something to do with it but I have since purchased an additional heater and the tank is running at 77. No change in his behavior. He is hiding alot and not swimming around. I really see no aggression from tank mates. The only other aggressive one in there with him is a yellow tang. When I feed the tank he comes out and shows interested in food but he swims right by it. I am wondering at this point if he suddenly went blind. Watching him get thinner and thinner is really killing me. Any ideas? I have had him for 3 years, this sucks to watch.

John
 
the temp, at 74 should not bother him...any changes made to the tank? new lights, food, substrate, tank mates, any new water conditioners, was the tank moved??
how big is he and how big is the yellow tang?
what other fish are in there?
do his eyes seem cloudy or convex? you mentioned blindness...
might want to try some live food to see if that spurs something...
might want to toss in some live hermits, live black worms, fresh shrimp, clam on the half shell...
do you qt your fish? (really important and a huge must) if not, have you added any fish recently and lost them?
 
no new fish. His eyes seem a little cloudy and he has lost all his color. he is around 3" and the yellow is 4". I have notice very minial tail slapping but very very rarely. All fish were qt 3 years ago and nothing new has been added since. I am really baffled. I feed a mix of seafood, so he is seeing shrimp, salmon, squid, scallops regularly. Well not sure if is "seeing" it. Water has been stable for years, is there something spacific I should test for?
 
Actually, now that I look at him his eyes look ok. Just fed the tank, he swims around looking but never bits at anything. I just dont get it.
 
Had the same experience a few years ago. 3" huma suddenly stopped eating and died a few weeks later. No disease in the tank, no problems with other fish since. Huma had no visible problems but didnt seem to be grow much for the year or so that I had him.
 
humas are very slow growers...I would try live food...get some hermits and pull one out of the shell...live blood worms, live feeder shrimp, clam on the half shell...may get a response...if it is not too stressful for him-try to place him in an acclimation box and try and hand feed him that hermit or anything else, put it right next to his mouth...
can you post a picture?
 
I will try when I get home today to get a pic. He looks fine except for color lose. I put him in my hand last night and put some frozen mix right in his mouth. He took a tiny bite but that was it. This is so weird he has been fine for years, and all the other fish are acting fine.
 
do you add garlic to the food? if not, try it...
really need to try live food...
start with a fresh clam...open it but leave on the shell...let him pick at it...
does he eat nori?
 
I will try something live, he will have to compete with a large dogface but its worth a try. I will update this tonight.
 
I went and bought a couple clams, cracked them open and put them in the tank. He came out of hiding and swam around a bit, like he was looking for it but it took a while. He even swam right through the two open halfs at one point. He did end up eating some, actually quite a bit, but then stop. All the triggers i have had in the past including this one would have pecked at the shell until it was all gone. This guy just ate some and swam around it not eating any more. So weird!!!!!!!!!!! I added a few picks, maybe someone can spot something.

photo2-1.jpg


photo1-1.jpg
 
yep the spot was on the glass. I just cleaned the glass, I guess i should have done that before the pic. Anyways, I just checked my water parameters, and my nitrates are unbelievably high. The pump to my skimmer broke around a year ago and I never replaced it. Shame on me, I thought my large fuge could keep up, i was wrong. I have been a little lazy with water changes aswell. I just got a new pump on the skimmer and it is working as we speak. I plan on a large water change in the am. I cant imagine this is the triggers problem, however its worth a try to get my nitrates down, it cant hurt. With the skimmer back on and water changes I should be able to get them down to a reasonable range soon.
 
So I thought I would update this. On Saturday I did a 20% water change. Since then the trigger has seemed to got his color back and is hiding a lot less, almost never at this point. My nitrates are still off the charts however I would imaging the water change brought them down a bunch. Each day after the water change he has slowly began to eating more and more each day. Really weird, he still doesnt eat as much as I want but it is getting better. This is leading me to believe the high nitrates had something to do with it. Most of my experience and most of what I have read would indicate that nitrates dont really have such negative effects on fish only systems. However this is leading me to believe if they get high enough the fish will be negatively effected. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?

By the way, I have began the initial phase of dosing vodka in an attempt to help lower and keep nitrates in check. Any thoughts on dosing vodka? I have not read any negatives as of yet.

Thanks again for your help.

John
 
glad things are working out....but, wow, you should always be checking water parameters...especially when you notice a problem...
 
FO systems are more tolerant of nitrates but will still affect the fish if it gets too high. I'd do weekly water changes til you get the nitrates a bit more in check (ie. not off the charts) before starting to dose vodka IMO. Vodka dosing takes time to get going.
 
Thanks guys. I should have checked water parameters earlier. For some reason I over looked it. After this, I will definately get back to a more regular maintanence schedule.

He seems to be back to his old self at this point. Always out and eating when I feed the tank, thank goodness.
 
Wonderful! I'm very glad to see that you have found and are starting the process of eliminating the problem! Wow, three years and only 3", quite a small lil guy eh? Anywho, wonderful news for you and us here in the community... Do keep us posted on the progression! Wish you and lil huma all the best! :)
 
Thanks Humaguy, I appreciate your comments and help throughout this.

G4546, He really hasnt grown much. I had one around 8 years ago that didnt seem to grow much either. Really slow growers. Anyways, thanks for the kind words. He seems to be doing much better, which makes me feel great.
 
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