Foxface dying or extremely stressed?

[lba4590]

I have a 3.5” or so foxface that has been in copper for 3 weeks, just transferred to a sterile quarantine. Prior to the transfer, he was acting very lethargic, almost always spotty camo colored, but still eating so I didn’t worry too much. He hid 95% of the time, came out to pick at algae when no one was around and still has some fat on him.

I have him in an unmedicated 10g tank, which I know is very small but it’s all I have and wanted him out of the copper as quickly as possible since he seemed to be declining.

Now, he looks terrible. Laying on his side, breathing heavily. Lights are off, algae available in the tank, temp and salinity matched perfectly to the tank he was in before. It’s been about 14 hrs since transfer.

I do not see anything on him externally, but I wanted to keep him for observation and another round of prazi for one additional week.

Any chance he can recover from this? Wondering if I put him in the DT and hope for the best?

 

[code4]

Do not put him in your display tank. I know it is hard, but if there is some parasite causing this you will have an even larger problem if you do that. Check alkalinity. Wish I could be more help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have a 3.5” or so foxface that has been in copper for 3 weeks, just transferred to a sterile quarantine. Prior to the transfer, he was acting very lethargic, almost always spotty camo colored, but still eating so I didn’t worry too much. He hid 95% of the time, came out to pick at algae when no one was around and still has some fat on him.

I have him in an unmedicated 10g tank, which I know is very small but it’s all I have and wanted him out of the copper as quickly as possible since he seemed to be declining.

Now, he looks terrible. Laying on his side, breathing heavily. Lights are off, algae available in the tank, temp and salinity matched perfectly to the tank he was in before. It’s been about 14 hrs since transfer.

I do not see anything on him externally, but I wanted to keep him for observation and another round of prazi for one additional week.

Any chance he can recover from this? Wondering if I put him in the DT and hope for the best?

What @code4 said - do NOT put it in your DT. Do you know the ammonia level of the QT? Can you post a pic?

Jay

 

[lba4590]

What @code4 said - do NOT put it in your DT. Do you know the ammonia level of the QT? Can you post a pic?

Jay

Unfortunately he died about an hour ago. I did not take a picture, but I noticed some really odd redness around the gills, base of pectoral fins, anal fins. Ammonia badge was not reading anything. No idea what happened. but thank you both for your time!

 

[code4]

Ammonia could have been an issue. Or just a lot of things adding up. I have started quarantine for fish now mainly in a tank that has been set up and stable for a bit. Then only treat for what needs treating. More watching and seeing if treatment is needed. I am patient. They can hang out in such tank for months. I have thought about getting a fox face for awhile. Let me know if you try again. Sorry the little guy didn’t make it.

 

[lba4590]

Ammonia could have been an issue. Or just a lot of things adding up. I have started quarantine for fish now mainly in a tank that has been set up and stable for a bit. Then only treat for what needs treating. More watching and seeing if treatment is needed. I am patient. They can hang out in such tank for months. I have thought about getting a fox face for awhile. Let me know if you try again. Sorry the little guy didn’t make it.

Thank you! I loved this guy, foxfaces are so cool! So sad to watch him decline and feel so helpless without anything external going on. I had him in a tank with a blue hippo tang that had ich and a bacterial infection, and the foxface had a little ich as well, so I wonder if it was all the meds I’ve been throwing at the hippo tang. He cleared up very quickly and never showed any other issues other than his behavior. I will probably be buying another at some point, but will definitely quarantine him alone this time.

 

[code4]

I hope you the best. I once ordered a medium regal Angel fish. The large ones have more trouble eating in captivity. An almost 6 inch fish arrived. I tried feeding it a dozen different foods. Only thing it would eat was my sponges. Those soon were depleted. Poor guy wasted away until I ended its suffering. So sad.