Pinktail trigger hasn't eaten in almost 2 months!!

55 gallon with 15 lbs LR....

I'd be careful with the clownfish in QT though, may not want to dose it with the meds.
And don't add the meds to your main tank, could destroy your bacterial filters.

My advice... by a 100 gallon, get it cycling, and add 150 lbs lr to it.
short term, add 50-100 lbs LR to your tank, after you cycle the rock in a big tub.
why? has nothing to do with the fish?-it does. It may be stressed out from 1)big yellow fish (tang) 2)not having places to hide while stressed... therefore, stressing it farther. creating a not-eating form, since it is really stressed out in the first place. It wants to hide, but it can't
THEN it gets swooped into another empty tank (QT) where it can't hide to de-stress...

just IMO
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6364748#post6364748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cutiewitbooty
this thread is about a month old, I wonder if the fish pulled through....?
Click to expand...

The fish is still hanging in there, but is certainly not much improved.
 
Swanwillow,

I would very much like to add more LR to the tank and upgrade the tank for that matter, but that's unfortunately not an option at the moment (mostly due to financial constraints) but also because my immediate goal is to improve the health of this fish in question.

Buying a new tank, creating a new setup, cycling LR and then adding it to the tank are all things that would take time that this fish may not have. . . But I'd have to agree that a larger tank with more LR would be an improvement to things.


Jeffie,

I am tube feeding (or have been from time to time) the fish using very thin tubing and a small syringe. In the near future I'm going to be posting some pics / descriptions of my methods which I think have worked rather well considering the situation. The forcefeeding seems to be just buying the fish time, but not really solving the problem.

As far as the weight of the fish for the dosing calculation, I'd actually rather prefer not to weigh the fish. I don't have any accurate methods to weigh such a small animal, and I feel like the whole process would be pretty stressful for the fish (although I realize that there are slick ways of weighing the fish without actually setting it on a scale.)

Could you just give me an approximation based on the size you see from the pics and or the formula that you might use? I'm getting ready to formulate a new plan of attack, but at any rate I think it would be very helpful info to have on the thread for others who might someday be in a similar situation.

Thanks to all.
 
:idea:
I don't have LR in my tank either, don't worry...
I'm just thinking it may feel better and get less stressed if it had hiding places.
sooo, in light of that:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12124&N=2004+113149

I found mine at a LFS for 16.99
and my seahorses love to hide in it. befoer that, I used it in an oscar tank, and the goldfish could hide in it for a few days before the oscars (8and10 inches, respectively) devoured them... and looks good in a 55, cause thats what my oscars were in. and, it kinda looks life-like... but I'm more worried that your fish is stressed out by not having any hiding spaces. This plant is plastic, so fully sterilizable if need be.
 
Swanwillow,

No worries. I appreciate the suggestions. I have only 15 lbs of LR in my tank, but I have at least another 15 lbs of rock, and a huge piece of coral in the tank as well to provide some hiding spaces. I could still benefit from more without a doubt.
 
Bill,

No need for antibiotics.

I agree you need to get the praziquantel in the fish. To weigh the fish, buy a cheap food scale (the kind dieter's use to weigh their portions of food) - most have a white bowl that you place your food in to weigh. Simply get some tank water in the bowl (half full), mark the water level and zero the scale. Then add the fish to the bowl of water. While you have him out, I would tube feed him a mixture of B 12 (can't overdose so don't get hung up with the precise dose - I would suggest about 100 - 500 mcg), beta glucan, cyclopeeze and praziquantel. As for the dose of praziquantel, I use Ed Noga's recommendation: 50 mg of praziquantel per kg of body weight ( 23 mg per pound of body weight). Usuaully this one dose is all that is needed. If you need a repeat dose, I would wait at least a week.

I have used the food scale as well as a human baby scale (bought at Toys R Us) for my Larger puffers and sharks and have found it very easy/helpful when treating fish. I weigh almost all of my fish upon arrival before heading to QT. This has helped me estimate accurately the weights of my other fish.

I wish I could estimate the weight of your trigger for you, but I have never kept a trigger.

Best of luck,

Kelly
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. This morning I'm going to be heading out to various pet stores and health food places to assemble my tube feeding med-mix.

Later I plan on also posting a few pics and tips regarding my tube feeding strategy in case others are curious as to how I'm doing this. (I have done searches on the topic and have found very little on the exact procedures people use).
 
Hey Puffer Queen,

Thanks for the continued interest. I'm sorry that it has been a while since my last progress update but I've been working in our Burn ICU lately as part of my 4th year requirements and the hours I'm putting in are less than desirable.

That being said. . . the fish is still hanging in there and seeming to be maintaining his weight although I do not believe that he has turned the corner just yet. I'm continuing with the tube feedings and still have yet to see the fish eat on his own. In addition to doing all of the tricks mentioned by everyone, I'm currently looking into buying a RO/DI filter for my water in an attempt to further improve my water quality. I'm sure there is some element of water quality involved in my problems because I've had trouble keeping my yellow tangs healthy in the past as well.

Thanks for checking in.
 
Just wanted to give everyone a [final] update. . .

The trigger didn't make it and expired yesterday. Despite performing almost all of the above-mentioned ideas, the trigger never really resumed normal behavior or eating.

A very informal autopsy revealed a digestive tract that was almost completely filled with crushed coral (which lines the bottom of the tank). I would imagine a fish such as this does consume the occasional rock or coral piece -- and that it would pass harmlessly through the digestive system without consequence. In addition, for a fish that was not eating properly for so long, I would not be surprised to find a piece or two that never migrated fully through the tract. Taking all of this into consideration, I did find a significant amount of CC in the bowel, enough that it may have led to a complete bowel obstruction. There was no CC in the stomach and the rest of the organs seemed within normal limits.

Exactly what all of this means, I'm not totally sure. Why the fish would ever have consumed so much of the CC is beyond me.

Thanks again to all for the help and support.
 
Bill,

Sorry for your loss - you certainly went above and beyond for your trigger.

I have done and assisted with necropsies on many predatory fish and have found bowel obstructions caused by crushed coral, urchin spines and plastic pieces from powerheads. I have also heard/seen reports of sea turtle necropsies where they too have had bowel obstructions from ingested "garbage".

Again, sorry for your loss.
Kelly
 
i just found this thread and it doesnt give me much hope. my bluechin trigger is doing the exact same thing. it stopped eating for some reason and went into hiding. i found him today finally but he was sucked up against the intake of my closed loop so naturally i thought him dead. i reach in with some tongs and grab him only to dicover he is still alive. i put him in my upstream fuge hoping he will pull through but i doubt it.
 
Jakano,

Sorry to hear you are having a similar experience. Can you elaborate a little more about what happened and how long you've had the fish for?

Maybe someone watching would be able to offer some assistance.
 
well i am sad to report that he quickly died after i placed him in the fuge. he didnt seem to act this way until i switched from 20k xm bulbs to 10k ushio bulbs. he was always shy but i think the bright light was to much for him.
 
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