Aiptasia Eating Filefish - Help!

[JustTheGirlfriend]

Hey all, I got my boyfriend a saltwater tank for his birthday last month as he's been missing his old one for years now. He's experienced with saltwater tanks and loves to nerd out on anything saltwater aquarium related. The tank I bought was used and came with 2 aiptasia eating filefish. We don't have any aiptasia in the tank currently, so we keep them well fed and they've been great since we've had them (despite breaking my heart and finding a small snail to snack on every now and then).

But now, all of the sudden, staring yesterday, the bigger filefish started going dormant. She (I think it's a she) hunkers down to where she holds place either in the sand or against a rock with her nose/mouth and just stays there. Breathing appears normal. Only to move every once in a while to a new spot, always low in the tank. This one was the most active when we first got the tank and seemed to be the dominant fish over the other one (though never outrageously aggressive to the smaller filefish, would just give it a poke to get out of its way once in a while and that's it). We checked the water parameters several times yesterday and everything appears within the normal range. We did a 10g water change to be safe though yesterday anyway. No progress with the filefish's activity today though.

My boyfriend thinks it may be pregnant (though the smaller filefish looks female too..) or just taking a break as we can't figure out anything that could be causing her stress or illness since everyone else in the tank are healthy. None of the other livestock is picking on this now dormant filefish, she still holds her ground if the smaller filefish is in "her space" for too long, and when she does swim to a new location it seems like a normal straight swim to her next resting spot.

Has anyone ever experienced this with their filefish?? Any ideas what could be wrong with her, or is this normal?? I've taken a few crummy pics for comparison as I noticed her butt seemingly bubbly compared to the smaller one's this morning. The second pic is our smaller/healthy filefish, and as you can see even the goby isn't picking on her while she's resting in his sand, so that's a good sign, right?

 

[Auquanut]

Does it come out to eat? How long have you had the tank/fish?

Welcome to R2R by the way!

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

We only saw it swim out once for one attempt of frozen food last night, that was the only time out of the last 2 feedings. The still active filefish is looking nice and plump now eating for the both of them, lol.

We've had the tank and fish (combo deal) for about a month now - no other apparent issues since we've had the tank. The tank came "live" as well with live rock, sand, a turbo snail, healthy kenya tree coral, and all that jazz. We had the water tested by a LFS before adding more livestock and they said it was perfect, so we've added a goby, bunch of snails, fighting conch, green emerald crab, and a halloween urchin since. All of which are doing well.

Thanks!

 

[fishguy242]

is hard to tell from pics is resting nose down or laying on side? goby pic cannot tell?

 

[fishguy242]

hi welcome to the reef going to love it here!
lots of fun/info/fun/help/fun!!!
pics!!...we all love pics!!!!
THIS TOO!!

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

is hard to tell from pics is resting nose down or laying on side? goby pic cannot tell?

Uhmmm, usually kind of nose down. But I've seen her kind of on her side as well, really depends where her resting spot is. I've seen her kind of sideways resting on a covered rock anchored by her bottom fin (I know there's a proper term for that fin, but I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment). Usually she anchors herself by her nose though, so then she ends up kind of tilted nose down in that sense. She's not acting/moving like she's eating something though while she sits there though...

I'll try and get more pics if/when she moves to another spot. She's hunkered down in the back of the tank this morning in the previously posted pics.

 

[fishguy242]

It is normal for them to hold nose down,even awkward ,but not on her side unless in a wedge spot ,they are not really a very active swimming fish

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

It is normal for them to hold nose down,even awkward ,but not on her side unless in a wedge spot ,they are not really a very active swimming fish

yeah, really only sideways if the spot calls for it. These two have always been pretty dang active ever since we've gotten them (perhaps because they're the only fish in the tank currently besides our so-far-shy goby). I'm worried because this filefish isn't swimming around at all unless just going straight for a new rest spot. How long do you normally see these fish inactive for?

 

[fishguy242]

normally rest hour two ,forage hour two,back to resting ,when i say on side ,i mean laying flat on bottom,in rock work can be in any position except nose up! bad sign,never that i've seen resting nose up

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

normally rest hour two ,forage hour two,back to resting ,when i say on side ,i mean laying flat on bottom,in rock work can be in any position except nose up! bad sign,never that i've seen resting nose up

Ok, so yeah, normal resting position then.
But she's not foraging at all... Right now she's hiding even further underneath the rocks, but only like 2 inches from where she was in the pictures. She's not picking at anything either like she would be when I've seen her try and eat something off the rock or sand.
Meanwhile the other filefish is actively swimming around foraging for more food and coming up to the glass to say hi to me; all the activities this now dormant filefish used to do...

 

[jerrod]

My filefish does this as well any time I come up to the tank but I've noticed if I stand back a ways it will be swimming around. You could try enticing it with different foods mine will eat nori shrimp etc.

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

My filefish does this as well any time I come up to the tank but I've noticed if I stand back a ways it will be swimming around. You could try enticing it with different foods mine will eat nori shrimp etc.

That's just what's weird and concerning with this filefish now though... She used to Always swim around and up to me at the tank glass, neither of the filefish were scared of us within a week of being in our home. Actually, this one wasn't even timid from the get-go. They're both food motivated, but this one doesn't seem interested in food for the past 2 feedings. We're feeding them Hikari Bio-Pure frozen "Spirulina Brine Shrimp"

 

[Auquanut]

Honestly it doesn't look/sound good to me. Is there any external signs? Gasping, coloration? You might want to get it into quarantine.

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

Honestly it doesn't look/sound good to me. Is there any external signs? Gasping, coloration? You might want to get it into quarantine.

Hard to tell for coloring since she's staying so hidden, but not that I can tell. My boyfriend says her breathing looks normal per her gills movement.

My boyfriend was also thinking parasites and giving her a fresh water bath - does that sound plausible? Just none of our other livestock seems affected...

 

[Auquanut]

My boyfriend was also thinking parasites and giving her a fresh water bath - does that sound plausible? Just none of our other livestock seems affected...

Very plausible. May consider internal parasites as well.

 

[fishguy242]

I would be up in the air here on both qt and fw dip,1st was established tank added nothing,2 fw dip ,can stress even more ,can you get pics of both asap ,that may help where and how she sits over course of the day,don't poke or try scare out though

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

I would be up in the air here on both qt and fw dip,1st was established tank added nothing,2 fw dip ,can stress even more ,can you get pics of both asap ,that may help where and how she sits over course of the day,don't poke or try scare out though

The second pic on my original post is of the healthy fish swimming around. The one in question is still hidden in a lil' cave, underneath the rocks against the sand. She's sitting there properly - not sideways or anything. But impossible to see on the camera. She leaves her horn up as she sits there.

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

I would be up in the air here on both qt and fw dip,1st was established tank added nothing,2 fw dip ,can stress even more ,can you get pics of both asap ,that may help where and how she sits over course of the day,don't poke or try scare out though

Yesterday over the course of the day she stayed only in 2-3 spots the entire day. Today, since 6am so far she's been in one of 2 spots, the spots only 2 inches away from another. This second spot she's been in for a couple of hours now is just more hidden than her first spot from this morning. Again, normally she's out and about swimming around only staying in one spot overnight to sleep like our other filefish.

 

[fishguy242]

following

 

[JustTheGirlfriend]

Here's some more pics. The first two are of this morning's hiding spot. In the first pic I've circled the body of the fish in question and you can squint and see the spiny top fin. The second photo is from the side of the tank where she entered her hiding spot from the back of the tank. This is the same spot from my first photos where you used to be able to see her tail fin poke out and little bubble butt. The last two are pics of the healthy fish swimming around per usual. Sorry for the cloudy water on top of the poor quality pics, the goby is out doing his thang.