Stange fish behavior in quarantine

[kelp47]

I posted this earlier on another part of the forum, thinking it was just one fish's odd behavior, but it has persisted and seems to be worse. The ammonia badge shows no alert, and I checked pH this morning, which showed just under 8.0--normal for morning, I would think. SG has been steady at 1.024. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it!

At 8:45
"I have a firefish in quarantine with a pajama cardinal, for three weeks now. Recently, I saw my firefish in a piece of PVC pipe, lying on its side. I immediately thought something was wrong, but when I made a noise he perked up and started swimming around. I then fed them frozen mysis and he ate well. Just to be sure, I checked a few parameters and all checked out fine.

I saw him do this again today. He was swimming around eating, and then suddenly swam into the PVC pipe and layed on his side. The only thing I noticed while I was watching them eat is that the firefish nearly got caught by the filter intake. It's covered, so it won't hurt him, but I wonder if maybe it scared him and what I'm witnessing is his frightened behavior. And of course, he's swimming around fine now."

Then just now:
Well, now I think maybe I was just being optimistic... he's doing this more now, and seems a bit weak trying to swim in the current (which makes more sense that he almost got caught by the intake). It also looked like he had something kind of hanging off his mouth. I was trying to see if I could tell what it was, but it eventually went in his mouth. It kind of looked like a stringy piece of mysis... so maybe that's not a big deal.

I still think something is not right, so I just did about a 20% water change. I didn't have any fresh saltwater on hand, so I used water from my display, which I figure is better than nothing. I hope this will help, but I'm not feeling too good about it

 

[Nina51]

how long have you had him? was he shipped or bought locally? how did you acclimate him?

 

[kelp47]

I have had him three weeks today. I purchased him from my LFS, who I trust. I drip acclimated him for 30-45 min, but of course that was three weeks ago.

 

[kelp47]

Thinking it might be some kind of parasite, I did a freshwater dip earlier today, but I think that just stressed him out. After being gone to work half the day, I just checked on him again. He is hanging on, but it still is not promising. When I first spotted him, he had wedged himself between two PVC pipes, and his tail was sticking out, kind of waving in the current. I dropped some pellets in for the other fish, and the firefish suddenly starting swimming, though greatly affected by the current.

Now I'm not really sure what it is I'm seeing. Once he came out, I put some frozen mysis in, and it's like he tried to go after some pieces, but could never get it. Most of the time, it's like he just missed grabbing it in the water column. I did see him get one piece that had floated into the PVC pipe, but he just held it in his mouth. It's like he wants to eat but his mouth isn't working??? Does this sound familiar to anyone???

 

[Deinonych]

I drip acclimated him for 30-45 min, but of course that was three weeks ago.

What was the difference in salinity between the transport (LFS) water and the aquarium water?

 

[kelp47]

I want to say it was .002, but I'm not sure. Do you think this would still affect him three weeks later, even if he was doing fine at first?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Do you know if the LFS runs low levels of copper?

 

[kelp47]

I have no idea.

 

[Deinonych]

I want to say it was .002, but I'm not sure. Do you think this would still affect him three weeks later, even if he was doing fine at first?

Not if the difference was only .002 - fish can tolerate a shift of that amount without major incident.

 

[johno4]

I posted this on your other thread, not sure if you saw it.

I would treat for internal parasites with Prazipro, it is relatively mild on fish and pretty effective.

 

[kelp47]

My firefish is no longer with us. Do you think I should treat his tankmate to be sure he doesn't end up with the same problem?

 

[johno4]

Sorry to hear about your lose, its always hard to lose a fish.

If you already have the fish in qt like you do I would. It wont hurt him to treat him. Its pretty easy on the fish any will take care of various illnesses.

That's my opinion at least...

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I have no idea.

Call the LFS and see if they run copper. If the fish has been eating, breathing and swimming fine since you got him and within a day or two he's dead you could be dealing with velvet.

 

[kelp47]

Maybe I should know this, but I'm still learning lot... what will it tell me if my LFS runs copper?

 

[kelp47]

Wouldn't I have seen some physical sign of velvet at this point?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Low levels of copper will mask symptoms of velvet. I had a tang in a QT for 3 weeks and it was eating and acting fine. Couple days later it was dead. You may or may not have seen spots. Most telling is the golden sheen to the fish as you look at it head on but you don't always see that either. IME the fish experienced lethargy and loss of appetite followed by very heavy breathing at the end.