Absolutely gutted - Male BTT dead in QT

Japtastic

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My other thread on here documents my QT and losing a FoxFace. The BTT had been hiding a lot of the last couple of days but had eaten since being in QT. Woke up this morning and he is dead :(

Any ideas from these pics of what killed him?

Fresh water dip hasn’t pulled out any flukes.

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Japtastic

Japtastic

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Left him in the freshwater for another 45 mins and it did look some white bits floating around but certainly didn't look like Flukes from comparing other pictures and videos. Will wait for the experts to let me know.

 
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divetoday

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It’s hard to tell, and I’m no expert, but I lost a CBB in QT last month to a bacterial infection, which was my first encounter with that.
 

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I'm sorry for your loss ... I didn't see any obvious flukes in the video, but not certain that you would with a triggerfish. The openings into their gill chambers are pretty small, so a fluke inside the gills would have to work to get out before dying in freshwater. There's been some decay, so I can't see any obvious cause of death. Did you happen to note the trigger's poop? White & stringy at any time? I know you said he was hiding some before he passed - was he hiding from light, or only from you? Swimming into the flow of a powerhead? Any of those behaviors could be symptoms of disease.

~Bruce
 
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Japtastic

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Thanks for the reply’s chaps. He looked normal beforehand apart from being extra shy. Haven’t had the lights on at all. Just relying on non direct natural light. Wasn’t swimming in to the flow of power heads etc.

No white stringy poop that I have noticed from him or others in QT..

Do you see the two yellowish circles on his mouth/gill area? What is that?

Sorry hear of your trouble @wangspeed

Got him in the UK from the biggest fish importer, TMC, via a lfs.

Really would be great to know if I’m dealing with a bacteria infection or this is another one died from stress.
 

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Thanks for the reply’s chaps. He looked normal beforehand apart from being extra shy. Haven’t had the lights on at all. Just relying on non direct natural light. Wasn’t swimming in to the flow of power heads etc.

No white stringy poop that I have noticed from him or others in QT..

Do you see the two yellowish circles on his mouth/gill area? What is that?

Sorry hear of your trouble @wangspeed

Got him in the UK from the biggest fish importer, TMC, via a lfs.

Really would be great to know if I’m dealing with a bacteria infection or this is another one died from stress.
Don't have a clear idea based on the pics, but I will just add a personal anecdote about Bluethroat triggers from my experience quarantining them. I do a lot of batch quarantines for customers where I'll bring in 10 or 15 fish they desire to have stocked in their tanks and perform a full qt on them before adding them as a group. This has worked very well for me in terms of creating stable, low aggression tank mixes. I have a fairly high success rate with all fish through my standard qt, but bluethroats seem to be more prone to death spirals and symptoms that I would attribute to cyanide catch than any other fish species I frequently QT. I mean I'll have one in a tank with a set of fish for 2 weeks in medication and he'll be eating like a champ, showing no stress after freshwater dips. And then one day I'll walk in and see it trying to swim with no avail and flailing about the tank before laying on the bottom and dying - usually less than a day later. All other fish in these cases show now symptoms and coast through the QT just fine and have no disease in the customer tank. So I end up frequently having to tell ppl, they'll need to wait till I get a bluethroat that lasts. It's hit or miss for me and I have access to the main U.S. fish importers in person and often select my fish by hand. I wouldn't beat yourself up about the trigger too much so long as you're follwing good QT protocols and having success with other fishes.
 
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Japtastic

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Don't have a clear idea based on the pics, but I will just add a personal anecdote about Bluethroat triggers from my experience quarantining them. I do a lot of batch quarantines for customers where I'll bring in 10 or 15 fish they desire to have stocked in their tanks and perform a full qt on them before adding them as a group. This has worked very well for me in terms of creating stable, low aggression tank mixes. I have a fairly high success rate with all fish through my standard qt, but bluethroats seem to be more prone to death spirals and symptoms that I would attribute to cyanide catch than any other fish species I frequently QT. I mean I'll have one in a tank with a set of fish for 2 weeks in medication and he'll be eating like a champ, showing no stress after freshwater dips. And then one day I'll walk in and see it trying to swim with no avail and flailing about the tank before laying on the bottom and dying - usually less than a day later. All other fish in these cases show now symptoms and coast through the QT just fine and have no disease in the customer tank. So I end up frequently having to tell ppl, they'll need to wait till I get a bluethroat that lasts. It's hit or miss for me and I have access to the main U.S. fish importers in person and often select my fish by hand. I wouldn't beat yourself up about the trigger too much so long as you're follwing good QT protocols and having success with other fishes.

Wow, that’s an interesting insight. Thanks for your input. Yes, I had heard about the cyanide issue so maybe that’s another thing to consider. Luckily the Female does still seem ok. I’m setting up a second sterile tank and moving them out of the current QT when I can.
 

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