Help! Black cap basslet is dying

[Steve1500]

i just finished TTM on my black cap and two tangs (yellow and blue hippo). They are in all in a QT for observation. Black cap is lethargic and when he does swim, it is kind of erratic. While in TTM, I dosed w praz. I have not dosed w metro yet. I have coppersafe, praz, metro and kanaplex on hand.

No heavy breathing. Not sure, but his tail fin my be tattered and there seems to be a narrow white streak on the forward part of his dorsal fin. See pics for tail fin and dorsal. He does move around a little when I put food in the tank, but I did not see him eat.

Tangs look ok so far.

Please help!

 

[Brew12]

I don't see anything obviously wrong, but if this were my system I would add metroplex and kanaplex to the system.

Are there any aggression issues between him and the tangs?

 

[Steve1500]

I started metro this morning and will add Kanaplex tonight. He did seem to be a little more responsive when I left for work. He did eat a few bites of mysis mixed with metroplex. Are you suspecting gram negative bacteria?

The tangs swim by him and even hover around him, but never act aggressive. The blackcap is the one who nips at the tangs but they don’t seem to care.

Thanks Brew!

Steve

 

[Brew12]

I started metro this morning and will add Kanaplex tonight. He did seem to be a little more responsive when I left for work. He did eat a few bites of mysis mixed with metroplex. Are you suspecting gram negative bacteria?

The tangs swim by him and even hover around him, but never act aggressive. The blackcap is the one who nips at the tangs but they don’t seem to care.

Thanks Brew!

Steve

I do not expect gram negative. It could be gram positive which wouldn't be as bad.

I suspect it is either stress or an internal parasite/damage. It is possible he finds the tangs swimming around him to be threatening and he is nipping at them to chase them away. Hopefully now that you are done with the TTM he will settle in nicely.

 

[Steve1500]

I thought about the TTM stress impacts also. Of all three fish, the black cap took the transitions the worst (curled up in a corner and ticked off). Hopefully, when I get home from work he will be doing better. I will keep R2R posted!

Steve

 

[Deinonych]

IME basslets don't like TTM, always hiding constantly and only venturing out to eat when I wasn't in the room. My specific experience was with Royal Grammas, but as a related species, I suspect Black Caps would have similar reactions. Once they got to the DT, they were perfectly fine.

 

[Humblefish]

Is there a bulge forming in his swim bladder? In the first two pics that area doesn’t look as flat as in your last two photos.

Another thing that struck me as odd are those marbles in your QT. Does he sleep/hide amongst them? If so, they could be rolling on him as he sleeps and doing some damage.

 

[Steve1500]

I will have to check to see if there is a bulge when I get home from work. I saw that article on black cap swim bladder surgery and scares the daylights out of me.

On the marbles, Dr Fosters Bacteria in a bottle instructions said to use marbles on bare bottom QTs during cycling. This is to increase the surface area for bacteria to cling to. I just put the fish in the QT (w marbles) yesterday morning so I don't know if they are rolling on him or not. Easy to take them out.

I have one last set of fish to QT and I will post some questions on the best way to QT them. I do appreciate everybody's inputs and guidance...makes things a lot easier for me and the fish!

Thanks again,
Steve

 

[Steve1500]

IME basslets don't like TTM, always hiding constantly and only venturing out to eat when I wasn't in the room. My specific experience was with Royal Grammas, but as a related species, I suspect Black Caps would have similar reactions. Once they got to the DT, they were perfectly fine.

Yes, this is one of the lessons I am learning....each fish reacts to different methods of QT (copper vs TTM). In hindsight, I would have done things differently. My next thread will address those questions for a different set of fish.

 

[Brew12]

On the marbles, Dr Fosters Bacteria in a bottle instructions said to use marbles on bare bottom QTs during cycling. This is to increase the surface area for bacteria to cling to. I just put the fish in the QT (w marbles) yesterday morning so I don't know if they are rolling on him or not. Easy to take them out.

Hmm.... not sure how much I'm buying this. Compared to the surface area of a sponge or filter floss I'm not thinking it is necessary. But hey, maybe they do have a good reason for it.

 

[Steve1500]

I thought about this also, but at that time I was having a really tough time getting my QT to cycle and so I followed their advice. But, in hindsight, I do know that the biofilter carries the majority of the bacteria...not the glass, or the glass marbles.

For the next set of fish, I will probably take them out because of the potential hazards Humble mentioned. Also, when I do water changes, I think the "clinking" of the marbles hitting each other scares the fish. Not sure if they can hear, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Deinonych]

Yes, this is one of the lessons I am learning....each fish reacts to different methods of QT (copper vs TTM). In hindsight, I would have done things differently. My next thread will address those questions for a different set of fish.

Agreed. That said, I've never lost a fish due to the TTM methodology itself.