Sick Foxface??

S

smwilliams

New member
Hi all. I have a 2 yr old 55 gal SW tank with 110 gal Aquaclear filter and 2 powerheads on either side. The tank inhabitants include a small foxface, coral beauty, pearl skin butterfly, scissortail, 2 percula clowns, 3 peppermint shrimps, a skunk cleaner shrimp, a few hermits, and a few lrg snails. The butterfly was a new addition done 1 wk ago, exhibiting no signs of disease. It was not quarantined as i do not have another tank. All other inhabitants have been there since I started the tank.

Water parameters all measure fine. My LSF tested for nitrites and ammonia, all came back normal. The pH is good and the salt content is where we have always kept it.

Tonight we noticed the foxface very stressed out. He is camoflauged, his spikes are up, he is sitting at the bottom of the tank with very fast breathing. He has no visible spots or signs of disease. He did not eat anything when we fed them the frozen cubed food that they always eat. He did swim once the cleaner shrimp tried to clean him (he hates the shrimp) and ended up getting caught in the powerhead. We immediately freed him and he swam around for a while then went down to the bottom again.

We turned out the lights on the tank to help calm him down and added the appropriate amount of Stresscoat to the tank as well.

Any clue what is up? He did exhibit similar symptoms when our pH crashed after an ich treatment last yr but, all our water quality tests have come out fine.

Any suggestions?
 
It does not sound good. It must be very weak and disorientated if it got caught on the powerhead.

If you list your results of the tests it might help.

"When in doubt , do a water change" I have often found that a water change or two will help health issues in fish and corals. Especially when you can not identify the problem.
I would try that first.

Possible stray voltage or a parasite.
 
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The LSF did not give exact results for the nitrite or ammonia. They said it was completely normal. The pH was a nice blue color 8.3, and the salt is at 1.024 which is where we have always kept it. We did a 25 percent water change just incase the LSF didn't read our results right.
 
Has the foxface been harassed by any fish? I know it is not likely since they have some pretty effective weapons but I thought I should ask.
 
Not that I noticed, though I don't think he is a huge fan of the new butterfly but, he does not have any cuts or scrapes on him. We went ahead and took out our hermits, they were trying to eat him I'm sure. Our hermits are rather mean. I'm just at a loss for what is causing his behavior.
 
Hate to sound negative but if the fish is not swimming away when a crab is trying to chomp on it, it is probably not going to make it.
 
That's what I suspected but, I'm giving him a fighting chance! :). We are hoping he will take a turn for the better since he had the same exact symptoms before and pulled through. Guess ill find out in the morning.
 
Foxfaces are usually tough as nails so ya never know.

That camoflauge mode is a definite sign of stress unless it was sleeping.
 
Definitely wasn't sleeping, just really stressed over something. He's resting upright at the bottom corner, still breathing rapidly. He will either make it or he won't. Just wish I knew what the devil caused this.
 
I lost one that i had for 5 years a few months ago. It was fat and healthy one day and the next day , dead in a corner.

Never figured that one out.
 
Thats really aweful. Atleast it was localized to just the one fish. Appears to be the same in my case. I'm thankful for that atleast.
 
Well he made it through the night. He is still camoflauged at the bottom of the tank but hes still upright. We will see what happens as the day goes on. Poor guy, its almost like his rear tail doesn't work. Last night when he wanted to swim away, his body shook and his other fins would go but he wouldn't move the back fin. Weird.
 
I really hope he pulls through. I have a soft spot for all tangs and I feel really bad when any of them are sick ;;...i will keep your fishy in my prayers -.^
 
Nitrates are not a problem for fish (at , say 60 ppm or less.; if your inverts are OK, nitrate must be OK. Healthy fish dont get stuck to PHs. I have no idea whats going on with the fish; but a PH can do real damage to a fish's insides. the same suction that grabs the fish is exerting force on his innards. I've seen a few fish die from fights with PHs.
 
Thanks guys. Well we watched him get worse today. He lost his equilibrium and was floating around upside down, got caught on the pump intake, I freed him again and he fell down to the bottom. At one point he was upside down, dark, and breathing very heavily and labored. Couldn't bear to see him suffer such an apparent slow death so, we went ahead and put him down. We used clove oil to sedate him, then used the lethal dose. I knew he wasn't coming out of this so, seemed humane to end his suffering. Poor little guy. Thanks for your help/input.
 
I am sorry for your loss. I know how devastating it can be to lose a fish. I resonantly lost my pair of bamboo sharks. After our male died from jumping out of the tank (we kept a grate on top of the tank, but it was not put back on properly ; ; ) the female died a month later from an unknown cause (my mom thinks it is from losing her mate). It is so odd that you can become attached to a fish.
 
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