Blue jaw trigger swimming upside down

sky414 · May 24, 2024

Day 18 in the quarantine take. Prior to today she always hid and just came out when I was far away from the tank to eat. Now she’s upside down and barely swimming. I put prazipro in there. If she’s still alive when I get home, what should I do?

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - .2
Nitrate 7

MnFish1 · May 24, 2024

Would you mind posting the video on YouTube and linking here? Is it day 18 of a medicated QT or day 18 of observation. I'm assuming you put the prazipro in because of the symptoms - not that the symptoms started after prazipro? It is always a bad sign for a fish to be in that position (ie. upside down). There may not be much more to do - unless you can give some more information about the age, any other fish with it, did it receive medication etc

vetteguy53081 · May 24, 2024

sky414 said:
Day 18 in the quarantine take. Prior to today she always hid and just came out when I was far away from the tank to eat. Now she’s upside down and barely swimming. I put prazipro in there. If she’s still alive when I get home, what should I do?

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - .2
Nitrate 7

I’ve seen this more than once and at this stage, fish is moribund and will not eat, swim or function normal and will slowly decline, hate to say

sky414 · May 24, 2024

MnFish1 said:
Would you mind posting the video on YouTube and linking here? Is it day 18 of a medicated QT or day 18 of observation. I'm assuming you put the prazipro in because of the symptoms - not that the symptoms started after prazipro? It is always a bad sign for a fish to be in that position (ie. upside down). There may not be much more to do - unless you can give some more information about the age, any other fish with it, did it receive medication etc

Day 18 of observation

Prazipro because of what I saw this morning.

She was quarantining with a one spot foxface and royal gramma - both fine.

I have no way of knowing her age.

She did stay in the pvc pipe, sideways at the top, I thought that was just what she liked.

Jay Hemdal · May 24, 2024

sky414 said:
Day 18 of observation

Prazipro because of what I saw this morning.

She was quarantining with a one spot foxface and royal gramma - both fine.

I have no way of knowing her age.

She did stay in the pvc pipe, sideways at the top, I thought that was just what she liked.

My first thought was that the trigger is moribund (actively dying) and there is no way to bring a fish back from that point. However, I saw the fish sculling its pectoral fin to hold its position, moribund fish don't do that, they typically breath fast and lose control over their fins and body.

Can you post a video of this fish's tankmates?

As a side note - observational quarantine is almost always a mistake. The subtle signs of impending disease are often missed until it is too late. Here is our current quarantine protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

sky414 · May 24, 2024

When

Jay Hemdal said:
My first thought was that the trigger is moribund (actively dying) and there is no way to bring a fish back from that point. However, I saw the fish sculling its pectoral fin to hold its position, moribund fish don't do that, they typically breath fast and lose control over their fins and body.

Can you post a video of this fish's tankmates?

As a side note - observational quarantine is almost always a mistake. The subtle signs of impending disease are often missed until it is too late. Here is our current quarantine protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Jay Hemdal said:

My first thought was that the trigger is moribund (actively dying) and there is no way to bring a fish back from that point. However, I saw the fish sculling its pectoral fin to hold its position, moribund fish don't do that, they typically breath fast and lose control over their fins and body.

Can you post a video of this fish's tankmates?

As a side note - observational quarantine is almost always a mistake. The subtle signs of impending disease are often missed until it is too late. Here is our current quarantine protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Click to expand...

When I went home, the fish was dead.

Now that I think about it, the fish was sideways, at the top of pvc pipe, the whole time. Perhaps she was dying from the beginning.

Can you clarify what you meant by "fish sculling its pectoral fin to hold its position"? Do you think it could have been something else? It doesn't matter anymore for this fish, but what could/should I have done? Thanks.

Jay Hemdal · May 24, 2024

sky414 said:
When

Now that I think about it, the fish was sideways, at the top of pvc pipe, the whole time. Perhaps she was dying from the beginning.

Can you clarify what you meant by "fish sculling its pectoral fin to hold its position"? Do you think it could have been something else? It doesn't matter anymore for this fish, but what could/should I have done? Thanks.

What I meant was that although the fish is upside down, it was moving its fins like it was controlling its position in the water - and that is odd to me. A dying fish would not have a coordinated action like that.