Six line just took a MAJOR downturn

[mikelaubach]

The six Line I picked up this weekend has just taken a major downturn. It is in a QT 10 gallon tank, and started to shed some skin on the right side over the night last night. I also notice the fin tips are not clean. Almost like he was nipped at. I had not noticed that when I first brought him home, and he is in there alone.

This morning he was active and seemed ok besides that. The QT sits on my desk, and the wife just came in and asked what was wrong with him.

He was on his side in the PVC "T" I have in there and just laying there. I had not noticed even though I look in there every few minutes. His breathing is very rapid.

He suddenly started swimming around normally again for about 30 seconds and is back to laying on his side. He seems to alternate between these two states. He's even gone over to the point of being nearly upside down.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 8.2 - 8.4 (I HATE these color gradients on the API test kits)
Temp - 76
Salinity - 1.0235 (32 ppt)

He refused food on Sat when he came home, but ate mysis yesterday, and I just fed him during an active moment, and he's pretty much ignoring the stuff. I also have two very small pieces of rock with xenia sine there were some flatworms on the rock, so maybe he's full. I doubt it highly, but it is another layer to my puzzle.

So why the sloughing of the skin, fin "erosion" and the laying on the side? This guy was not cheap, and to lose him after 2 days is rather upsetting.

Thoughts?

 

[TealCobra]

Sloughing of the skin sounds a lot like Brooklynella. If he indeed has Brook, you would need to treat with Formalin baths outside of your QT.

Here is info on Brook: http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/brooklynella.html

 

[mikelaubach]

He's gone

He's gone

He was dead by the time I got home from class tonight. When I talked to my wife at about 8 on break, he was almost dead. He was barely breathing then.

Dammit.

I lost a nice $30 fish, but saved a $100 pair of clowns, and a few hundred in corals in the main display by using a quarantine tank. A cheap $10 tank, an old Skilter 250, a heater, and a power head (Hydor K1) is all it took.

I just cannot believe the time from when there was a problem until death. Just a few hours. And that's got to be a tough way to die.

Thanks for listening. Good luck out there.

 

[TealCobra]

I am sure that the Six Line was in poor health when you received him and he only worsened after taking him home. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with symptoms of fish parasites/disease/etc. so that you can more easily spot potential issues in the store. Doing research within this forum alone will help a lot if you are not terribly familiar with common fish ailments.