Blue Throat Trigger Hiding and not Eating

[pnchowdary]

I have a 5 inch blue throat trigger in a 6 ft 200 gallon tank from 6 months ago. The dominant tang in my tank is a 6 inch convict tang. It usually chases all the fish in the tank. However, a few weeks back the blue throat trigger started fighting back the dominant convict tang. Suddenly a couple of days back, blue throat trigger started hiding in a rock and stopped coming out of hiding and stopped eating. It refuses to eat even though I put food in front of it. It’s been like this for two days now. I try to touch it with a net and it retracts further into the rock. I am not sure what to do now. I don’t want it to die. Please let me know what I can do. The good thing is that the convict tang is not bothering the trigger anymore. Please advise what to do. Really appreciate any advice in this matter.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 5 inch blue throat trigger in a 6 ft 200 gallon tank from 6 months ago. The dominant tang in my tank is a 6 inch convict tang. It usually chases all the fish in the tank. However, a few weeks back the blue throat trigger started fighting back the dominant convict tang. Suddenly a couple of days back, blue throat trigger started hiding in a rock and stopped coming out of hiding and stopped eating. It refuses to eat even though I put food in front of it. It’s been like this for two days now. I try to touch it with a net and it retracts further into the rock. I am not sure what to do now. I don’t want it to die. Please let me know what I can do. The good thing is that the convict tang is not bothering the trigger anymore. Please advise what to do. Really appreciate any advice in this matter.

The fish may be scared or intimidated from previous trauma. Is fish breathing normal or labored. My concern are some bumps around the jaw which may be from tang/injury or previous ich. Try removing the tang for several hours in a bucket and see if trigger changes its behavior which will confirm if tang is the issue

 

[pnchowdary]

The fish may be scared or intimidated from previous trauma. Is fish breathing normal or labored. My concern are some bumps around the jaw which may be from tang/injury or previous ich. Try removing the tang for several hours in a bucket and see if trigger changes its behavior which will confirm if tang is the issue

Thank you very much for your reply. The fish was really healthy and eating like a pig before. I can’t observe his breathing. It’s not going to be possible for me to catch the convict tang without tearing out my entire tank. If I could catch him, I would rehome him. I need to see if I can borrow a fish trap to catch him.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you very much for your reply. The fish was really healthy and eating like a pig before. I can’t observe his breathing. It’s not going to be possible for me to catch the convict tang without tearing out my entire tank. If I could catch him, I would rehome him. I need to see if I can borrow a fish trap to catch him.

Fish trap works well otherwise sneak attack at night

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have a 5 inch blue throat trigger in a 6 ft 200 gallon tank from 6 months ago. The dominant tang in my tank is a 6 inch convict tang. It usually chases all the fish in the tank. However, a few weeks back the blue throat trigger started fighting back the dominant convict tang. Suddenly a couple of days back, blue throat trigger started hiding in a rock and stopped coming out of hiding and stopped eating. It refuses to eat even though I put food in front of it. It’s been like this for two days now. I try to touch it with a net and it retracts further into the rock. I am not sure what to do now. I don’t want it to die. Please let me know what I can do. The good thing is that the convict tang is not bothering the trigger anymore. Please advise what to do. Really appreciate any advice in this matter.

Can you get a clearer photo of its face? I can't really see the degree of damage there....

 

[pnchowdary]

Can you get a clearer photo of its face? I can't really see the degree of damage there....

I was able to remove the aggressive convict tang and gave it a few days ti see if it would recover and it still hasn’t been eating. I noticed the eyes cloudy and it is not able to swim and keeps laying in a corner. Please let me know what I need to treat it with.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I was able to remove the aggressive convict tang and gave it a few days ti see if it would recover and it still hasn’t been eating. I noticed the eyes cloudy and it is not able to swim and keeps laying in a corner. Please let me know what I need to treat it with.

Sorry - the photos are too blue to see anything clearly.

Cloudy eyes could be flukes. You could try a 5 minute freshwater dip, but if it is very weak, that could kill it.

 

[pnchowdary]

Sorry - the photos are too blue to see anything clearly.

Cloudy eyes could be flukes. You could try a 5 minute freshwater dip, but if it is very weak, that could kill it.

The fish is very weak. Instead of freshwater dip, can I try prazi pro treatment?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The fish is very weak. Instead of freshwater dip, can I try prazi pro treatment?

Yes, but the dip needs to be double the dose for an hour. 4 ppm. Some people go with 10 ppm for an hour.

 

[pnchowdary]

Yes, but the dip needs to be double the dose for an hour. 4 ppm. Some people go with 10 ppm for an hour.

For 10 ppm prazi pro. How many ml do I need to add per gallon?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

For 10 ppm prazi pro. How many ml do I need to add per gallon?

I don’t have a bottle in front of me - but the regular dose is 2.5 ppm. So a dose 4 times that will give you 10 ppm. Watch for adverse reactions at that high dose though.

 

[pnchowdary]

I don’t have a bottle in front of me - but the regular dose is 2.5 ppm. So a dose 4 times that will give you 10 ppm. Watch for adverse reactions at that high dose though.

Thank you very much for all your help so far. The fish is in prazi pro dip as I am posting this. I was able to get some better photos of it. Hopefully you see something that will help direct its treatment. Please let me know.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you very much for all your help so far. The fish is in prazi pro dip as I am posting this. I was able to get some better photos of it. Hopefully you see something that will help direct its treatment. Please let me know.

So the dorsal, anal and caudal fins all have bites in them. I’d be suspicious that another fish has been chasing and biting it and made it hole up and hide.

 

[pnchowdary]

So the dorsal, anal and caudal fins all have bites in them. I’d be suspicious that another fish has been chasing and biting it and made it hole up and hide.

You are correct. The whole ordeal started when the trigger fish started fighting back the aggressive convict tang for a couple of weeks. One day suddenly it started hiding and stopped eating. I removed the convict tang and rehomed him. Unfortunately, the trigger fish still refuses to eat. It’s been about 10 days he ate anything. I don’t know what to do now. He will die soon if he doesn’t start eating. I was wondering whether he got a bacterial infection. Not sure what to do.

 

[DanP-SD]

It’s been through a lot of stress - the bullying from the tang, you catching it, the treatment. It won’t start eating until it feels safe. Best bet is to move it to a quarantine tank (or your display if you’re confident there’s nothing in there that will bully it) with good water quality and plenty of hiding places. Then offer it a variety of light feedings until it eats.

It doesn’t show obvious signs of an infection or parasite so I’d stop treating and focus on giving it a comfortable environment. It needs to feel safe so it can eat.

I find with fish that are reluctant to eat, one of the best ways to coax them is to sandwich a mix of thawed frozen foods (mysis, spirulina brine, plankton) between two sheets of nori in one of the mesh grazing feeders. I use the Innovative Marine Gourmet Grazer but two sheets of mesh in a nori clip will work. If you can do this in a QT with no competition, it’ll give him time to find the food. But remove uneaten food once it starts dissolving into the tank.

I don’t have a video of setting up my feeder but here you can see the reaction of my fish:



Ultimately, either the trigger or tang needs to be rehomed.

 

[pnchowdary]

It’s been through a lot of stress - the bullying from the tang, you catching it, the treatment. It won’t start eating until it feels safe. Best bet is to move it to a quarantine tank (or your display if you’re confident there’s nothing in there that will bully it) with good water quality and plenty of hiding places. Then offer it a variety of light feedings until it eats.

It doesn’t show obvious signs of an infection or parasite so I’d stop treating and focus on giving it a comfortable environment. It needs to feel safe so it can eat.

I find with fish that are reluctant to eat, one of the best ways to coax them is to sandwich a mix of thawed frozen foods (mysis, spirulina brine, plankton) between two sheets of nori in one of the mesh grazing feeders. I use the Innovative Marine Gourmet Grazer but two sheets of mesh in a nori clip will work. If you can do this in a QT with no competition, it’ll give him time to find the food. But remove uneaten food once it starts dissolving into the tank.

I don’t have a video of setting up my feeder but here you can see the reaction of my fish:



Ultimately, either the trigger or tang needs to be rehomed.

Thank you very much for the advice. I had caught the trigger and treated it with methylene blue, for the injuries 4 days back. I caught the convict tang and moved him to a different tank. Then I put the trigger back in the original tank. He still refused to eat and I noticed yesterday that the yellow tail damsel was trying to bite the triggers tail. So, I immediately moved the trigger to an acclimation box. Today morning I moved him to a 10 gal QT and treated him with prazipro for an hour, as his eyes seemed a little cloudy. Now he is in a fresh 10 gal QT tank. I will try the method you suggested and see if it works. How long can he survive without eating?

 

[DanP-SD]

I’m not aware of any definitive data on how long they can survive but there’s plenty of anecdotal experience of even more finicky fish going a couple weeks without visibly eating and making a comeback. I’ve had fish I suspected hadn’t eaten the entire time they were shipped and for days upon arrival do just fine. It’s a hardy species and it sounds like it was well nourished before the bullying took a turn. It doesn’t look emaciated. So I think you still have time to turn it around but you should do everything you reasonably can to remove the stressors and offer a variety of foods. Sounds like you’re doing that.

With a 10g QT, be sure to diligently remove uneaten food, so water changes and keep the water quality good. I’d get an ammonia badge or test kit and keep a close eye on it.

One other food to consider is masstick. It has some good attractants and won’t float away as quickly. You could also try live brine if you can source it or grow it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you very much for the advice. I had caught the trigger and treated it with methylene blue, for the injuries 4 days back. I caught the convict tang and moved him to a different tank. Then I put the trigger back in the original tank. He still refused to eat and I noticed yesterday that the yellow tail damsel was trying to bite the triggers tail. So, I immediately moved the trigger to an acclimation box. Today morning I moved him to a 10 gal QT and treated him with prazipro for an hour, as his eyes seemed a little cloudy. Now he is in a fresh 10 gal QT tank. I will try the method you suggested and see if it works. How long can he survive without eating?

That was my worry - that another fish has begun bothering the trigger now that it is in a weakened state....

I've had fish go a month without eating, it doesn't look thin yet.

Fish can also be tube-fed:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/tube-force-feeding-fish.808/

 

[pnchowdary]

That was my worry - that another fish has begun bothering the trigger now that it is in a weakened state....

I've had fish go a month without eating, it doesn't look think yet.

Fish can also be tube-fed:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/tube-force-feeding-fish.808/

Thanks for confirming that at least the trigger is not suffering any infection. I will keep it isolated in a QT tank and keep trying to feed it.

Do you think it is better to leave it in a QT tank or move it to the sump of my display tank?. It’s going to be hard to keep the water quality up in the QT tank, especially if it needs to be kept for a little while.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for confirming that at least the trigger is not suffering any infection. I will keep it isolated in a QT tank and keep trying to feed it.

Do you think it is better to leave it in a QT tank or move it to the sump of my display tank?. It’s going to be hard to keep the water quality up in the QT tank, especially if it needs to be kept for a little while.

The sump may be a better choice if you can’t keep the water quality up in a QT. That said, it also depends on the volume of your sump, if it allows lateral viewing, not too many bubbles in it, etc.