Sick Fuzzy - need advice

[Mental1]

So for some reason my fuzzy, in an established tank with no new tank mates is breathing hard. I have been watching him for a few days and he looks worse today. Is it 14 days of prozipro? I only have a 10 gallon QT .... so not really excited about putting him in that. Any other options? Fresh water dip?

 

[Mental1]

Well found a 20g that someone gave me that had been used as part of a sump set up. Little bit if sawing and gluing and the hole is blocked. He did not eat this morning ... not a good sign. Really bothers me that he has somehow gotten sick. No one going to pitch in with advice? I am headed down the prozipro line unless someone says something different. Got to fill the tank and catch him still so will check back to see if anyone has said anything.

 

[Mental1]

Still more time for someone to give their opinion. Had to send my son off to get a top for the tank.... probably another hour before I catch him and put him in. Tank is all set up -- but no meds used yet. Still thinking prozipro.

 

[Snausy]

To get some help you should try to be much more specific. Breathing hard is the only symptom I see and that doesn't help people understand the situation much.

Can you see anything else wrong with him, what are your water parameters including Ph, nitrate, ammonia, etc. When was the last water-change. Did anything happen that might've caused a problem(power went out, dropped some paint in the tank while painting the ceiling, etc etc..

I'm sure people want to help but you need to be much more comprehensive with your information to get any real help from someone. Only you can tell us what's going on.

Do a complete set of tests if you haven't already and make sure your parameters are good. Last time I had a problem I lost my dogface and a Harlequin tusk only to find out that my fiancee had been adding this calcium additive without telling me and my Ph was off the charts.

Never had a fuzzy myself but I think they are cool so I hope he's ok.

 

[Mental1]

Thanks... water quality is not an issue. This tank is part of about a 400g 3 year old established system housing about 25 other fish in total. His symptoms are lethargy, not eating and gilling.

 

[Snausy]

How long have you had him in there? Is he new or are these just new symptoms?

Unfortunately sometimes fish just get sick and die and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

Like you I'd just QT and ask for help. I wouldn't know exactly what to do either and would not know what medicine to try with those symptoms. Lethargic and breathing heavy sounds like lack of O2 or maybe something got in your water somehow. Is your temp good? If it's really high that could be an issue. It is summer and all.

Did you ask your son if anything happened? If my 15yo son somehow screwed up and did something bad I could see him saying "I have no idea, nothing happened." because he doesn't want to take the blame. I don't know how old your son is but mine is at the age still where he doesn't understand that it's not about the blame but finding out what happened so I can fix it.

Dont mean to offend you with obvious stuff, just throwing out anything I can think of.

Just looked at your pic for the first time(it's early)...great looking fish, hope he makes it.

 

[Mental1]

Thanks -- no -- I thought it might be heat but the hottest it has been is about 80 and 81 degrees. I have been watching him for about a week now. When he would not eat today I decided it was time to act. I did take some video of him -- maybe I can get my husband to post it. No one has done anything to the system -- if it was system wide there would be more sick fish. I have had him for about 18 months. The fish in my avatar is a fu manchu -- not the fuzzy.

 

[Mental1]

Well -- he did not come quietly and was definitely stressed by the capture. He is breathing really hard now but is in the QT with prozipro. Now to wait and watch. Thank goodness for my friend Wes and the Acclimate -- makes capturing a venomous fish safer...

 

[Mental1]

BTW Snauzy -- thanks for helping!

 

[Snausy]

ack, sorry I see the fu-manchu....I haven't slept because the baby was sick last night and I'm being stupid at this point.

Good luck Sherri, hope things work out. Sorry I couldn't help I just felt compelled to post because nobody else was.

Did you post this in the Fish Disease and treatment section? Probably get more help there.

-Jim

 

[namxas]

Gee, Sherri...you just posted today and that was at 6:51 AM local time. It's not that nobody wants to help, but someone has to see the post.

I can tell you that if your tank has spiked in temp, your fish will be gilling as the dissolved O2 content drops with temp increase, so the high temp isn't helping at all. How long has the temp been up?

Also, what do you feed the fish? Sometimes our fish "tell" us what they're tired of, so we drop that food from the rotation (we generally feed two foods per feeding such as shrimp/fish, scallop/fish, etc), but every so often they still refuse certain foods, and it's often fish specific too, just like people.

If the fish isn't presenting with anything else, you could try the Praziquantel, but i'd slowly drop the temp to at least 74*F in case you have a bacterial infection brewing. You could also try getting the fish some B6 and C. B6 (Thiamine) really helps bump their apetite.

Let us know how the fish is doing.

 

[bucky1168]

Not saying this is the cause but Flukes can cause the symptoms you are describing. Usually there are other symptoms along with these though. If a fish is acting this way and Flukes are the problem, you should have seen other things like torn or tattered fins, white specks(bigger than ich) on the fins, or cloudy looking stuff on the outside of the eyes before the labored breathing and loss of appetite.

Neither here nor there, PraziPro is a safe med to use and clears up a lot of different problems without hurting the fish. I have heard of people treating with PraziPro then the fish dies. IMO, it wasn't the PraziPro. It was something else or the condition was way worse and nothing would have helped. If it was me, I would treat with PraziPro and wait a couple of days. If the fish gets better and starts eating, you are going to be dealing with some type of fluke or other parasite. If not, you are not going to hurt anything at this point. From what I said above, I am assuming water parameters are all in good shape. Please keep us posted.

Jim

 

[namxas]

It depends on the type of flukes the fish has...gill flukes don't affect the body. We've had flukey lions come in that presented with gilling and loss of apetite, and nothing else. The Prazi works for the flukes, but the vitamins boosted their appetite while in treatment.

 

[Mental1]

Greg -- I know it was early your time -- I just felt I had to act quickly and see what others thought who might be online. I was just posting as I went along -- I saw that you and Renee and others weren't online. No biggie -- just thought someone might have an idea. Plus I have to leave now and will be gone for the rest of the day and he was really worrying me today. Felt like if I did not do something now he would be dead by the time I got home tonight.

My tanks stay around 79 or 80 so there really was no temp spike. Besides -- the tank water goes to the basement and is part of 400g -- so I don't think it is a water problem per se. I did a thorough cleaning of the tank on Tuesday as the overflow was a bit clogged up with algae -- water kept flowing though.

He's been acting weird for a week or so -- not active, not as aggressively eating, breathing hard. I think of the fus as more sensitive fish so am surprised if the fuzzy would react and they would not. The wrasse and filefish in the same tank are fine too.

At any rate, he's in the QT, he's got prozipro, we'll see if it makes a difference. I will also see if I can get some B6 and C in him too...if he will eat. Time to go to the grocery store and get some fresh food. Don't really know what else to do for him -- he was looking very unhappy.

 

[namxas]

Renee adds the vits to the water column if the fish aren't eating.

 

[bucky1168]

It depends on the type of flukes the fish has...gill flukes don't affect the body. We've had flukey lions come in that presented with gilling and loss of apetite, and nothing else. The Prazi works for the flukes, but the vitamins boosted their appetite while in treatment.

That makes sense and I would agree.

 

[Sitarangi]

Have any fish recently been added to the tank? Is the fuzzy accepting live foods.

Now that you have a qt tank id add some nitrofuracin to prevent a secondary bacterial infection. Labored breathing and flared gills is most likely some kind of parasite. Metronidzole is my drug of choice for parasite control. The fish has probably lived with the parasite for months if not years, its the infections from that that'll kill the fish.

 

[Mental1]

No fish have been added to the tank. I already have him on prozipro and you can't mix it with any other medications. I just got home and he is not looking good at all. It started about a week ago when I saw him on the bottom corner of the tank, just sitting on the sand breathing hard. He didn't stay there long but it was not normal behavior. I just kept watching him, did some work on the tank and cleaned it up a bit. He has just not been his normal self with the begging and being a pig. Then when he would not eat at all today I just had to do something. He's breathing really hard and in the little fake rock just looking very miserable. I checked the params and they look okay so I will turn his light off and wait to see if he is still alive in the morning. Fingers crossed.

 

[Mental1]

Yea! Still alive this morning. Hey Greg -- how do you add vitamins to the water column? What's the dosage?

 

[Mental1]

Still alive, still breathing hard, did not eat yesterday. Greg -- can you tell me the dosage for adding vitamins to the water column?