Foxface hasn't eaten in 4 weeks

[Medici]

Hi,

I have a sick fox face rabbitfish who I'm pretty sure hasn't eaten anthything in over a month. I've had him and all other fish for about 3 years without any problems. He used to be the biggest eater in my tank and would go crazy when I put food in, now I can't get him to eat anything. He just sits under a rock all day. He also does a small body twitch sometimes which is weird. I don't see any current spots or anything on him, although a week or 2 ago under the blue lights he had some weird spots or scratches, but never visible in light. Salinity is 1.026, 78-80 degrees, nitrates always been high around 40. I've tried feeding him every mysis, nori, algae, but nothing is working. Other fish in the tank include 2 angels, 2 clowns, 1 damsel, 1 filefish, and 1 yellow tank - 90 gallon. Sometimes the other fish seem to be pushing him lately because I think they know he is sick. I do not have a quarantine tank, and it would be pretty impossible for me to catch him with where he hides in the rocks, I think I would end up causing more stress.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi, sorry for the delay in my response, and sorry to bring you bad news:
Fish can’t really metabolize stored fat like mammals do, so when a fish goes this long without food (a few exceptions like eels) they use their liver for energy. This means that even if you can get the fish feeding again, it’s liver may be damaged. Combine this with no ability to really change the fish’s environment to try to get it feeding again, and I just don’t see any way to fix this. The only “good” from this is that given the time frame, whatever the fox face has isn’t likely to carry over to the other fish.
Jay

 

[JGT]

Hi,

I have a sick fox face rabbitfish who I'm pretty sure hasn't eaten anthything in over a month. I've had him and all other fish for about 3 years without any problems. He used to be the biggest eater in my tank and would go crazy when I put food in, now I can't get him to eat anything. He just sits under a rock all day. He also does a small body twitch sometimes which is weird. I don't see any current spots or anything on him, although a week or 2 ago under the blue lights he had some weird spots or scratches, but never visible in light. Salinity is 1.026, 78-80 degrees, nitrates always been high around 40. I've tried feeding him every mysis, nori, algae, but nothing is working. Other fish in the tank include 2 angels, 2 clowns, 1 damsel, 1 filefish, and 1 yellow tank - 90 gallon. Sometimes the other fish seem to be pushing him lately because I think they know he is sick. I do not have a quarantine tank, and it would be pretty impossible for me to catch him with where he hides in the rocks, I think I would end up causing more stress.

Any help is appreciated.

Unless you can get him out of the tank to treat, not much can be done. Don’t see spots but do see fin erosion which can be a sign of a bacterial infection.

 

[gaki]

Yeah it sounds like bad news .But there is always the possibility that he’s been getting bits of food from any algae in your tank. I’m not sure how long foxface usually live in captivity (or how old he was when you got him) but maybe it’s just getting close to his time and he’s winding down. I hope he gets better.

 

[Medici]

Thank you all for the responses.

I have had him for over 3 years now, his name is "Kit," short for "Kitsune." I woke up this morning and he is still here. I am hoping for the best, and trying to tell myself I think he could still pull through. I am going to try and find a seaweed clip I have, and put it next to where he hangs out with some Nori. I feel that my parameters are not the problem, as I use my acropora colonies to tell if anything might be wrong. Whenever something has been off, the acros are the first to show it. I haven't added any invertebrates or made any changes to the tank in over a year, only a couple small frags here and there, which I know can be just as responsible to carry a problem. I will keep the thread updated, if even just for future reference for someone searching for similar problems in the future.

Jay:
It's "good" to hear that it is not likely to spread to the other fish, this has become my main concern aside from losing Kit. I was under the same impression that because none of the other guys have shown any sign of anything for a month now, I don't see why it would randomly spread to them now.

JGT:
His fins just started getting like that the past couple days, its been hard watching it happen.

GAK:
I've had him for over 3 years, as with all the other fish in the tank. They have always got along and overly ate, specially Kit.

 

[gentlefish]

Pending on rockwork, pending size of the tank, you can use a piece of egg crate (Home Depot 2x4) to separate the tank in two. It may allow for decreased stress and unopposed feeding.

 

[Medici]

small update:

Kit is still alive, still haven't seen him eat. His tail seems to be deteriorating more. He isn't hiding anymore, he kind of hangs out in the middle of the tank, and looks like he wants to eat, but won't. It seems like his mouth is stuck open now, and he has a small cloudy substance hanging off his tail. I was scraping algae off the tank a couple days ago, and did see him catch a small piece and eat it. I don't think he can last very much longer based on his looks though. Still hoping for the best.

 

[Medici]

Update:

Last night I found Kit stuck on the side of my biggest pump. I turned it off for the night, and didn't think he was gonna make it through the night. I woke up and he was still going. He seems to have one or two lumps on each side of his stomach, they are not small bumps, but more so his stomach looks bloated on each side, no discoloration. I told myself that if he made it through the night I was gonna make an attempt to catch him and move him into a different "tank." I was able to catch him, and I currently have him in one of my water changing buckets with tank water, and a small pump.

Now that I have him separated from the main tank and by himself, are there any recommendations for immediate action to possibly save this guy? I'm thinking about overnighting some sort of medication/treatment, I just don't know which one to get.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[gentlefish]

I don’t think that there are many if any options. All medications will increase stress, may decrease O2. Is I were to pick any....erythromycin or kanamycin. But antibiotics need time to kill sensitive to it bakteria. Usually one looks at 36h before anything could turn. I am not sure we have the time with the little buddy of yours.

 

[Zionas]

How big is he? If he’s full size he might just be old.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Update:

Last night I found Kit stuck on the side of my biggest pump. I turned it off for the night, and didn't think he was gonna make it through the night. I woke up and he was still going. He seems to have one or two lumps on each side of his stomach, they are not small bumps, but more so his stomach looks bloated on each side, no discoloration. I told myself that if he made it through the night I was gonna make an attempt to catch him and move him into a different "tank." I was able to catch him, and I currently have him in one of my water changing buckets with tank water, and a small pump.

Now that I have him separated from the main tank and by himself, are there any recommendations for immediate action to possibly save this guy? I'm thinking about overnighting some sort of medication/treatment, I just don't know which one to get.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Without seeing Kit I can't say for certain, but one of the symptoms of the liver failure I mentioned is ascites, a build-up of fluid in the abdominal cavity. That could result in the swelling you are seeing. If so, there is nothing to be done for it....sorry!

Jay

 

[Medici]

Hi all,

Thank you for all the responses. As I kind of expected, Kit didn't make it through the night. Pretty sad, I look at all my "pets" as family, and it was hard to watch him go. I stayed up most the night checking on him, and I plan on burying him at the church next door with my kids tonight, I know, its a little much for a fish, but he was family.

My only other question is - he has a large white spot on the side of him right now, and I am curious if I was to post pictures would this in any way help figure out what might have happened to him? I would like to help prevent this from possibly happening to someone else if I could maybe put cause/reasoning behind his death where the information might help someone else in the future.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[gentlefish]

It is more likely that a white area would be a secondary reason only for his passing. It is well possible that bacteria naturally occurring in the gut permeated the gut into the abdominal cavity, as part of the immune system shutting down. Loss of a loved pet is a difficult time for the family and kids. Bringing sone closure, as you had explained, is an important aspect of saying final good byes.