Sargassum Trigger not eating...please help.

[jenzabear]

Hey,

We purchased a Sargassum trigger about a week and a half ago and we have still not been able to get it to eat. We have tried several types of food (mysis, krill, brine, clams, cyclopeeze and flake) and nothing even seems to be interesting to it. It's starting to look pretty sickly...does anyone have any suggestions on what else we could possibly try?

 

[Capt_Cully]

Is he in QT? Mine didn't eat much at all in QT. It took about a week for him to eat in the display. Ultimately he died after about 4 months despite being fat and eating like a hog. He just up and died. I have a firm belief he had some sort of virus or parasite.

I guess my only tip would be to throw him into the display and see how it goes....

 

[Chibils]

If parasites are a concern, you could always entice him with prazi-loaded live brine. Fish can't resist it, and it'll kill any kind of flukes he may have.

 

[jenzabear]

We actually didn't QT it, it was is our display tank the whole time. I know that people may bash us for that but we've never QT'd and never had any problems...until now. Anyways, we ended up pulling it out of that display tank last night as it was just laying under a rock and hadn't moved all day. We were checking to see if it was still alive.
It has turned a really dark colour and the top of his nose is a lighter colour. I'm not sure if he's darker b/c it's malnourished or what it could be. We thought that by pulling it out of the display and into a quiet tank by itself might help it heal up.
If I could find live brine around here I would defiantely try it, but it's really hard to come by.
Any other suggestions? I will try to take and post a pic later today when I get home.

 

[Chibils]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12772614#post12772614 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jenzabear
We actually didn't QT it, it was is our display tank the whole time. I know that people may bash us for that but we've never QT'd and never had any problems...until now. Anyways, we ended up pulling it out of that display tank last night as it was just laying under a rock and hadn't moved all day. We were checking to see if it was still alive.
It has turned a really dark colour and the top of his nose is a lighter colour. I'm not sure if he's darker b/c it's malnourished or what it could be. We thought that by pulling it out of the display and into a quiet tank by itself might help it heal up.
If I could find live brine around here I would defiantely try it, but it's really hard to come by.
Any other suggestions? I will try to take and post a pic later today when I get home.

I couldn't tell you how, but I've read that hatching brine is very easy.

 

[kirkaz]

Do you have any aggressors in the tank? I was told when I got mine the key is introducing them early, I only had one fish in my tank when I added mine (I did not QT either). I am not sure what you have for lights, but if you can restrict the lighting for him that might help, or perhaps just use the light from the room the tank is in and leave the lights off in the tank, feed him that way. Have you added garlic? it can be a good appetite stimulant. A few fresh clams on the half shell can also entice a fish to eat. Good luck, they are wonderful fish once they get going.

 

[jda]

Keep trying. The few X triggers that I have had don't usually eat for a while, but I have never had one go past a week. They can also be VERY shy at first and rarely come out in the open.

Eventually, all of mine ate anything and swam in the open after a while.

Pics would be good. Also inspect him for external physical damage. Check to see if his eyes are clear or cloudy, and if his stomach is pinched.

 

[jenzabear]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

It looks like it might be worse than I first thougt. It appears that there is something else going on with it...some sort of skin disease as well. I have never seen anything like it.
Here's some pics...can anyone ID what this is?

Kirkaz- our tank is a reef tank, so we don't really have aggressors, and the only other fish that could possibly be bothering it would be our regal tang, but other than the when we first put the trigger in there, the regal really hasn't bothered it to our knowledge. Also, we have been adding garlic to our food and have tried clams on a half shell...but still nothing is working.

jda- see above pics... It's eyes are slightly cloudy.

 

[Capt_Cully]

:eek1:

wow, sorry to see that! I'm at a loss!!!

try posting on fish disease forum. That's ugly!

 

[jenzabear]

I did that now...man...