GUYS I NEED HELP MY WASPFISH IS DYING

MantisShrimpMan

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My red rooster waspfish has been in my tank for 2-3 weeks now and he’s been doing fine. That is… until tonight. He’s on his side, still breathing but otherwise looking as if he’s already in rigor morris.

what the heck could have happened and is there anything I can do to save him if he’s still breathing and alive?
 

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If a fish is seemingly healthy, eating, and appeared fine but suddenly takes a turn for the worst, it is likely the collection method used. The collectors will place drops of various chemicals near the fish to sedate and or incapacitate the fish. Unfortunately this sometimes ends up badly.
 
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MantisShrimpMan

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lion king

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A little background please. I never check because I assume the basics have been covered, that the water quality is good and ammonia is not an issue. What have you been feeding and how often. Hopefully no rosies as it can cause bloat. Overfeeding can also cause bloat.

If water quality checks and you haven't overfed him then this kind of reaction is most likely some sort of chemical poisoning. Exposure from cyanide to copper to antibiotics to tank cleaners can be the culprit in these cases.

Did you use copper or know if your source ran copper in their system, copper exposure can cause liver failure. Have you used any tank cleaners or pest eradicators; like vibrant, chemiclean, flatworm exit, etc. If this is the case it's a sign of some internal organ failure and sadly there is no remedy.
 

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I remember now, you were having a hard time getting him to eat. Did he ever start taking food. If you did not establish him eating well by now, there could have been an issue from the start. Have you used any medications.
 
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MantisShrimpMan

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No meds. He was eating blackworms happily!

had a couple odd bouts of heavy breathing for an hour at a time over the past week but I assumed it must have been normal. My tank is young but healthy. My ammonia, at its highest point, was only around 0.2 ppm.
 

lion king

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If you had got him regularly eating then that rules out internal parasites. Ammonia at any level is toxic and should always be zero, I can't answer to exactly what level it could become dangerous. If you overfed him with black worms they will recover just fine. Any chemical exposure previously will likely be unknown to you, unless you know if the lfs you got him from runs copper. Copper will kill fish from the Scorpaenidae family. The only thing you can do is not overfeed and make sure ammonia is zero.
 
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MantisShrimpMan

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If you had got him regularly eating then that rules out internal parasites. Ammonia at any level is toxic and should always be zero, I can't answer to exactly what level it could become dangerous. If you overfed him with black worms they will recover just fine. Any chemical exposure previously will likely be unknown to you, unless you know if the lfs you got him from runs copper. Copper will kill fish from the Scorpaenidae family. The only thing you can do is not overfeed and make sure ammonia is zero.
He can be doing this poorly due to over feeding????
 

lion king

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He can be doing this poorly due to over feeding???

I'm trying to offer all the possibilities. These fish can overeat and get bloat or constipation, and as simple as it sounds, yes overfeeding can kill these fish. It usually comes from feeding too large of items, but if feeding black worms exclusively too often, this may cause an issue. These fish do need time between feeding and a variety, not to be fed every day. Give a least a day between the last feeding and offer brine shrimp. Brine shrimp helps with digestion, I always try and holdout for the chance of recovery, at this stage to hope you overfed and make sure ammonia is zero, and hope for the best. If it's internal organ damage due to a chemical poisoning, there is no recovery.
 
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MantisShrimpMan

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I'm trying to offer all the possibilities. These fish can overeat and get bloat or constipation, and as simple as it sounds, yes overfeeding can kill these fish. It usually comes from feeding too large of items, but if feeding black worms exclusively too often, this may cause an issue. These fish do need time between feeding and a variety, not to be fed every day. Give a least a day between the last feeding and offer brine shrimp. Brine shrimp helps with digestion, I always try and holdout for the chance of recovery, at this stage to hope you overfed and make sure ammonia is zero, and hope for the best. If it's internal organ damage due to a chemical poisoning, there is no recovery.
I was feeding him blackworms 1-2 times a day. That being said, he was eating 2-3 small blackworms at a time, so not a particularly large meal. I did this mainly because my clownfish would race towards him and steal some of the blackworms so I tried to make sure he never went without a meal long term.

I did everything I could to try to save that lil dude. I picked him up bare handed, intubated him with a pipette, and tried to force water over his gills. I also did the same thing by holding him up to the return nozzle. Since he was still breathing, I left him in the tank overnight and prayed for a recovery. Sadly, when I woke up this morning he was in the exact same state. Removed him from the tank before he could poison my other fish with extra breakdown ammonia.
 

lion king

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I think you mentioned the lfs had another one you were interested in. Ask lfs if they have copper in their system, if they do, do not get the fish. I mention this because it is very common and will usually cause liver damage that will end in liver failure.

Sorry to a about the loss, sadly for one reason or another these fish don't make it many times.
 
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