Black Cap Basslet not eating, big gash/scar on side

josh515025

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Need advice on how to treat my Basslet. I upgraded tanks about a week ago and moved everything into holding containers then into new tank, all in same day.

The Basslet hasn’t been eating since. He was a aggressive eater and basically the boss/bully of the tank. I thought it was the stress of the move but it’s been over a week and food just floats past his face and he doesn’t eat it. He does come out during feeding time but just looks at the food.

he is a very big specimen and had alot of weight, and despite not having any food he is still very filled out. I did notice a strange large gash on his side, almost like a long white line on his abdomen. Doesn’t show any other symptoms. I quarantined all fish for ich and velvet as per Humblefish method so I doubt it’s either of those. Although I don’t quarantine inverts/coral just buy from online vendors I trust.

Im stuck as to what to do. I don’t want to tear down the rock work to get this fish out as he is very evasive. I can’t even get a picture. I can’t medicate for internal parasites because he won’t eat. Any ideas?
 

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It’s hard to say what to do without a picture. It could be lateral line disease. Does it look like this?
 

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josh515025

josh515025

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I know it’s just literally impossible. He only comes out if you’re a good distance away from the tank.

kind of, I would say thicker than that line however and runs vertical. Would that cause sudden suppression of diet?
 

Jay Hemdal

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Need advice on how to treat my Basslet. I upgraded tanks about a week ago and moved everything into holding containers then into new tank, all in same day.

The Basslet hasn’t been eating since. He was a aggressive eater and basically the boss/bully of the tank. I thought it was the stress of the move but it’s been over a week and food just floats past his face and he doesn’t eat it. He does come out during feeding time but just looks at the food.

he is a very big specimen and had alot of weight, and despite not having any food he is still very filled out. I did notice a strange large gash on his side, almost like a long white line on his abdomen. Doesn’t show any other symptoms. I quarantined all fish for ich and velvet as per Humblefish method so I doubt it’s either of those. Although I don’t quarantine inverts/coral just buy from online vendors I trust.

Im stuck as to what to do. I don’t want to tear down the rock work to get this fish out as he is very evasive. I can’t even get a picture. I can’t medicate for internal parasites because he won’t eat. Any ideas?

HLLE rarely affects black caps (I've actually never seen one get it, but the related royal gramma sometimes do). However, HLLE doesn't have a rapid onset like that, so you can rule that out.

Was this a long term captive prior to the move? If so, then have you considered it is mechanical damage from the move itself? If it isn't a long term captive, the description of the lesion is very reminiscent of Uronema, but you almost never see that in long term captive fish. Is the lesion vertical at a slight angle? Uronema lesions look like that.

Jay
 
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josh515025

josh515025

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Thanks for the reply, I don't think it's HLLE either. I've had this fish for almost a year, has grown huge in that amount of time. It is possible he maybe suffered an injury during the move but not one that I'm aware of... since he hid during the first few days I can't really tell if he had the injury due to the move or something else. He seems healthy other than not eating and the strange lesion, actually just before lights out tonight he took a quick swim around the tank and chased a few of the smaller fish away.

I noticed the lesion is only visible at a certain angle of lighting... meaning its not visible if you look at him right in front of you but if you look at the right angle with the light it looks like a big white gash. But in terms of direction of the lesion on his body, yes it is vertical maybe slightly angled.
 
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josh515025

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I also have a clownfish pair and a starcki damselfish who are perfectly fine. The damselfish was a new addition to this tank added the same day I set it up. It also went through two rounds of praziquantel and 15 days of copper then TTM.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Even with a photo I might not be able to ID this. I think it is a bruise/injury. If it were Uronema, it wouldn't have chased any other fish like that. Not really any treatment for this sort of thing, other than time and crossed fingers!

Jay
 
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josh515025

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Luckily he came through! It appears it was some sort of large cut probably from the move. He has a large healing scar. For sure him being overweight helped survive a week+ with no food. He’s back to being a boss in the tank.
 
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