Durgeon Trigger not eating for a long time

[hrdneglcry]

My Niger Triggers formed a pair or made the tank theirs killing a larger Clown Trigger and eventually causing my Black Durgeon to hide. I caught him and put him in a 40 but he never came out or ate. I moved him into the last chamber of my 120 sump and incorrectly assumed that he was eating as he was hard to see when I fed him, but he was always moving. So I went on vacation and when I got back one Niger was dead and one was blind. All the other fish (both Groupers and a damsel) fine. Also the Black Durgeon was alive. So I out him back in the 180 and can now see that his stomach is very flat. He has not eaten in 3 or 4 weeks. The Damsel harrasses him a little but the Niger is blind and doesn't not go after him. I have had him for a few years. He swims back and forths alot. Like normal. But he is going to have to start eating or he is going to die. But I do not know what to do for him. He was in a different tank an different system and still it was like this. If anyone has anything that might be useful information please state it here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My Niger Triggers formed a pair or made the tank theirs killing a larger Clown Trigger and eventually causing my Black Durgeon to hide. I caught him and put him in a 40 but he never came out or ate. I moved him into the last chamber of my 120 sump and incorrectly assumed that he was eating as he was hard to see when I fed him, but he was always moving. So I went on vacation and when I got back one Niger was dead and one was blind. All the other fish (both Groupers and a damsel) fine. Also the Black Durgeon was alive. So I out him back in the 180 and can now see that his stomach is very flat. He has not eaten in 3 or 4 weeks. The Damsel harrasses him a little but the Niger is blind and doesn't not go after him. I have had him for a few years. He swims back and forths alot. Like normal. But he is going to have to start eating or he is going to die. But I do not know what to do for him. He was in a different tank an different system and still it was like this. If anyone has anything that might be useful information please state it here.

I suspect either a gill disease or water quality issue. How are you testing water?
Please pot a video using bright whit light intensity, no blue lighting for about 3o seconds

 

[hrdneglcry]

No ammonia. Salt level correct. This is all I test for. I have a 120 sump with 180 tank. Tank is full of live rock. Established for years. Sump has live rock and chaetomorpha algae. Skimmer is offline is as I have to clean the pump.

 

[Seansea]

No skimmer with these big messy eaters can lead to water quality issues. Would test your phos and nitrates. Could be at toxic levels

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

No ammonia. Salt level correct. This is all I test for. I have a 120 sump with 180 tank. Tank is full of live rock. Established for years. Sump has live rock and chaetomorpha algae. Skimmer is offline is as I have to clean the pump.

It’s unlikely to be a water quality issue, but do you have any clue what happened to the Niger triggers?

Can you get a clear video under white lights of the blind Niger and the durgeon?

I have an article here on force feeding fish:

Article 'Tube / Force Feeding Fish'

Tube Feeding Techniques for Fish Jay Hemdal c. 2021 Syringe with catheter attached. Here is an all too familiar scenario: an aquarist faced with trying to care for a new, expensive fish that tragically refuses to accept any food. Common sense dictates that fish need food in order to...

• Jay Hemdal
• Jul 30, 2021
• 10 min read
• 5.00 star(s) 2 ratings
• Reaction score: 8
• Category: Fish Disease and Treatment
• force feeding medicated food

 

[MnFish1]

Do you think it's possible that the triggers were 'pairing up', and then had a fight? This would seem to be likely especially if you're sure that they killed the other fish.

 

[hrdneglcry]

So I thought the Triggers had paired. They killed all the other Triggers or kicked them out. They killed my Clown Trigger which was bigget than
them. They whopped the Dugeon until I had to separate him. He never ate again after that. I thought maybe on Niger killed the other but the one remaining is blind and was not before. I have two groupers and a damsel and they were ok. The black durgeon was in the sump from the eviction a month before and was the same. No blindness and obviously not dead. Ironically alot of bad things seemed to happen when I cut the lighting down to a few hours only. Thats when the Niger's killed the Clown. And it seemed to bring out the worst in them.