Fish Injured, Swimming Weakly

[OceanTeacher]

Today, one of my favorite fish was caught by the intake of the protein skimmer. When I found him, it looked like the suction of the intake had caught his tail fin. I turned off the protein skimmer, and he swam away, but he is swimming weakly, and being pushed to the top and bottom of the tank, half floating. I'm really worried about him, but I don't know what to do. Is there anything I can do to help him recover? Will he be okay?

 

[oceaninabox12345]

Today, one of my favorite fish was caught by the intake of the protein skimmer. When I found him, it looked like the suction of the intake had caught his tail fin. I turned off the protein skimmer, and he swam away, but he is swimming weakly, and being pushed to the top and bottom of the tank, half floating. I'm really worried about him, but I don't know what to do. Is there anything I can do to help him recover? Will he be okay?

What kind of fish was it? Pictures?

 

[OceanTeacher]

It's a sailfin tang. I turned off the current-maker and the protein skimmer because he seemed to be having trouble swimming, but now he's mostly just floating.

 

[srusso]

It's a sailfin tang. I turned off the current-maker and the protein skimmer because he seemed to be having trouble swimming, but now he's mostly just floating.

Was the fish in good health before this happened? How long have you had this tang?

 

[HotRocks]

Was the fish in good health before this happened? How long have you had this tang?

This^^^

Was this fish QTd?

I don't know if it's the picture angle, but the fish looks emaciated to me. Was it eating well prior to this? A fish stuck to an intake or power head is a dying fish IME.

 

[OceanTeacher]

I don't know how old the tang is. The tank is at the school where I work, and I inherited it a year ago. I received no information or history of the tank when I got it, and all I know is that it has been through at least 2 teachers before me (but that could be anywhere between 3-10 years). This is my first fish-care experience ever, and I kind of was thrown into it with no information or training.

I think he's been in good health, but I'm definitely not an expert in fish. My students have been feeding the fish for the most part lately. I trained them to feed them enough and feed them slowly , but I haven't been checking their work as well as I should have, so maybe he hasn't been eating enough lately. I also have a domino damselfish who gets slightly aggressive about food, but I've never really had problems with them competing for food in the past.

I'm not sure what QT'd means... quarantined? If so, no. I don't have a spare tank, but one of my students keeps fish at home, and he said he would bring a little floating box to keep him separate. ​

 

[srusso]

You need to measure the water levels asap. Do the students normally feed the fish? They are likely overfeeding. You need to get a baseline of the water chemistry Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Salinity and pH. Do you know when the last water change was? Have you ever mixed saltwater before?

 

[OceanTeacher]

I can check water levels now. Students normally feed the fish. I tell them to use the recommended amount, but I should watch them more closely because they really like feeding the fish, and there's definitely a chance of overfeeding.
I try to change 20% of the water monthly. I mix saltwater from a bagged mix to do this. I try to use only RO water in the tank.

 

[srusso]

Good, the thing we want to help you understand. The fish likely didn't get sucked into the filter, a healthly fish that size could easily free itself from any intake and are generally intelligent enough to stay away from it after that. However its WAY more common for a sick fish to be unable to fight the current and be unable to stay out of the filters intakes.

 

[OceanTeacher]

I only have test for nitrates, phosphates, pH, and salinity. The phosphates are <0.02ppm, the nitrates are closer to 0 mg/L than 10mg/L on their little chart thing, pH is between 7 and 8, and the salinity is really stupid high, like 38 ppt. I shouldn't have entrusted so much to the students... :'(

 

[HotRocks]

I only have test for nitrates, phosphates, pH, and salinity. The phosphates are <0.02ppm, the nitrates are closer to 0 mg/L than 10mg/L on their little chart thing, pH is between 7 and 8, and the salinity is really stupid high, like 38 ppt. I shouldn't have entrusted so much to the students... :'(

You will definitely want to test for ammonia. If the kids are feeding more than necessary, you could be having an ammonia spike. Which could be in line with the behaviors this fish is displaying.

As far as the salinity, How many gallons is the tank? Just remove some tank water and add back fresh RO water. This will lower the salinity.

 

[OceanTeacher]

The fish store is closed for the night, but I can grab an ammonia test kit tomorrow.
It's about 60 gallons. How much water can I safely replace? Is it dangerous to lower the salinity too quickly, or more dangerous to leave it high?

 

[srusso]

I only have test for nitrates, phosphates, pH, and salinity. The phosphates are <0.02ppm, the nitrates are closer to 0 mg/L than 10mg/L on their little chart thing, pH is between 7 and 8, and the salinity is really stupid high, like 38 ppt. I shouldn't have entrusted so much to the students... :'(

How old are your test kits? They should have an expiration on them.

 

[OceanTeacher]

I'll check. They very well may be out of date, as it's something I hadn't even considered.

 

[HotRocks]

The fish store is closed for the night, but I can grab an ammonia test kit tomorrow.
It's about 60 gallons. How much water can I safely replace? Is it dangerous to lower the salinity too quickly, or more dangerous to leave it high?

You can easily replace 6 gallons of salt with fresh. This will lower the salinity 10%. Which should get you alot closer to the 1.026 or 35ppt (max you should keep it at). You may have to take out another gallon or two.

The fish aren't sensitive to lowering the salinity quickly. Raising salinity is another story it has to be done slowly.

 

[Captain Quint]

I'm sorry to read of this.

You mentioned feeding. What do the students feed? Is the tang offered strips of seaweed as part of its diet and important that they are offered plenty of marine based seaweed and algae?

 

[ScooterV]

How old are the students? Mostly just curious. You did mention one kid who has an acclimation box. If like many of us here who started young he/she could be a little hidden expert for you for basic testing, maybe even borrowing parent's test kit

Also, what area are you in? Any local reef clubs you know of? Reef clubs tend to love classroom tanks and you could possibly find some volunteers, as well as donations for testing or upgrades if lucky.

 

[OceanTeacher]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm in Asia, which explains my weird posting times. The student loves fish and is quite an expert in freshwater fish, with multiple tanks at home. He was actually the first person I talked to when I discovered the problem. Because I'm in Asia, and don't speak the language very well, it's very difficult for me to find information about reef clubs. The school also prefers I go to a specific store for supplies, and it's a general pet store, not specifically a fish store...
The students are junior high and high schoolers.
The fish food is supposed to be a general food for all fish, and includes seaweed, but I haven't been supplementing with extra seaweed. The tang eats algae when I clean the tank, but that's probably not enough for it. (I have an algae problem after a summer of a now-retired secretary taking care of the tank.)
This is maybe a dumb question, but would seaweed meant for human consumption be safe for fish? Eating seaweed is much more common here than keeping fish, and it'd probably be easier for me to find.

 

[OceanTeacher]

Update:
I bought new tests and used them. Ammonia is 0mg/L, and so are Nitrates. I asked the students who have been here longest if they remembered when the fish was bought, and they said that the tang was bought 4 years ago.
I also remembered a piece of information that might be relevant. The health department sprayed insecticide inside of our school a week ago to kill mosquitos. I don't know what pesticide it was, but they told us it would kill freshwater fish, so to cover our tanks. I covered my tank with plastic sheeting pretty well, and taped the sides down, but maybe some seeped in? How sensitive are saltwater fish to insecticide?

 

[Maritimer]

So long as it's just dried seaweed, with no extras or additives, the stuff available at the local food market should be fine. Many aquarists in the U.S. use Asian-market nori to feed tangs.

The insecticide could very well have weakened the fish - water changes should help there, by diluting any toxins.

~Bruce