Firefish not himself

[RafaReef]

Firefish help!

Hi all,

I’ve had my firefish for 4 months and he’s always been super active and happy, eating no problems!

But I have been away for last 3 days over Xmas and I have come back and he is just Lying in the corner of the tank and refusing to move or eat (not a normal spot for him as he has a divot at front of tank or a cave he’ll normally relax in) normally he’s swimming about during the day .

They were being fed whilst I was away by a friend , but only once a day instead of twice, this is only thing I can think has caused this but seems pretty extreme for 3 days of this

There are no visual signs of anything wrong and my salinity is bang on and my parameters seem fine and I’ve been doing regular water changes

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Firefish help!

Hi all,

I’ve had my firefish for 4 months and he’s always been super active and happy, eating no problems!

But I have been away for last 3 days over Xmas and I have come back and he is just Lying in the corner of the tank and refusing to move or eat (not a normal spot for him as he has a divot at front of tank or a cave he’ll normally relax in) normally he’s swimming about during the day .

They were being fed whilst I was away by a friend , but only once a day instead of twice, this is only thing I can think has caused this but seems pretty extreme for 3 days of this

There are no visual signs of anything wrong and my salinity is bang on and my parameters seem fine and I’ve been doing regular water changes

Sorry, there just isn't much to go on here. Being fed less for a few days wouldn't be an issue, if anything else, the fish would be more hungry.

Are there any other fish in the tank? Do they show any symptoms?
How do the invertebrates look?
I see some algae coating the sand, could that be dinoflagellates? I've heard some reports of those causing problems with fish.

Jay

 

[RafaReef]

Sorry, there just isn't much to go on here. Being fed less for a few days wouldn't be an issue, if anything else, the fish would be more hungry.

Are there any other fish in the tank? Do they show any symptoms?
How do the invertebrates look?
I see some algae coating the sand, could that be dinoflagellates? I've heard some reports of those causing problems with fish.

Jay

Royal Gramma and cardinal

then there is an emerald crab and cleaner shrimp and a couple turbo and nassarius snails

all seem completely fine

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Royal Gramma and cardinal

then there is an emerald crab and cleaner shrimp and a couple turbo and nassarius snails

all seem completely fine

O.K., since the other animals are fine, that means you can typically rule out toxins in the water and most external fish diseases. Trouble is, internal diseases are VERY difficult, if not impossible, to diagnose and treat.

I neglected to ask - it isn't breathing deep/fast is it?

Jay

 

[RafaReef]

O.K., since the other animals are fine, that means you can typically rule out toxins in the water and most external fish diseases. Trouble is, internal diseases are VERY difficult, if not impossible, to diagnose and treat.

I neglected to ask - it isn't breathing deep/fast is it?

Jay

Yes sorry it does seem to be breathing in and out quickly

 

[vetteguy53081]

Firefish help!

Hi all,

I’ve had my firefish for 4 months and he’s always been super active and happy, eating no problems!

But I have been away for last 3 days over Xmas and I have come back and he is just Lying in the corner of the tank and refusing to move or eat (not a normal spot for him as he has a divot at front of tank or a cave he’ll normally relax in) normally he’s swimming about during the day .

They were being fed whilst I was away by a friend , but only once a day instead of twice, this is only thing I can think has caused this but seems pretty extreme for 3 days of this

There are no visual signs of anything wrong and my salinity is bang on and my parameters seem fine and I’ve been doing regular water changes

Could your friend have overfed? Im not familiar with whilst but these fish fare best with small frozen foods such as brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, small plankton.
The tank shows diatoms which is not cause for alarm but unsightly.
Has your ammonia and nitrate climbed while you were away for your trip ?

 

[RafaReef]

Could your friend have overfed? Im not familiar with whilst but these fish fare best with small frozen foods such as brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, small plankton.
The tank shows diatoms which is not cause for alarm but unsightly.
Has your ammonia and nitrate climbed while you were away for your trip ?

Nope I pre cut the cubes of brine shrimp and they went from two quarter cubes to one over that time

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes sorry it does seem to be breathing in and out quickly

That can be a sign of a systemic infection, possibly flukes or internal parasites. Often, fish diseases spread among different fish, but not all at the same time, so your other fish *might* be affected later on.

If all of the fish are breathing fast, that would point more to something in the water.

Sorry - I still don't have a direction to go in regards to a treatment.

Jay

 

[RafaReef]

That can be a sign of a systemic infection, possibly flukes or internal parasites. Often, fish diseases spread among different fish, but not all at the same time, so your other fish *might* be affected later on.

If all of the fish are breathing fast, that would point more to something in the water.

Sorry - I still don't have a direction to go in regards to a treatment.

Jay

All other fish are fine for now, but havnt introduced anything new into the tank recently so I’m really surprised at that, is there anything I can do as a catch all so to speak?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

All other fish are fine for now, but havnt introduced anything new into the tank recently so I’m really surprised at that, is there anything I can do as a catch all so to speak?

No, not really. Some diseases take time to really show (flukes for example). I just don't have enough symptoms to say if it could be flukes or not. You could try Prazipro, it is reef safe and so you wouldn't have to move the fish out. You would dose it 2x, 8 days apart with good aeration and no carbon filtration.

Jay