Help! Blurred color and sluggishness!

[Scaggs1117]

So I have the Red Sea reefer 525…I have a rabbitfish and a Red Sea sailfin currently. I recently took a blue hippo tang out and quarantined him for mucus cones. The sailfin was fine and all of a sudden yesterday when the lights were off, his color was faded dull looking. Didn’t really look like ich. Today, just before the lights went out, same appearance. I didn’t see him in between during the day. Just now I tapped him with a rake and he’s not scurrying away. He’s spitting out pellets he normally eats as well. Water quality is perfect. Could it be sickness? Stress? Maybe sleeping? Could it be too much flow. I haven’t noticed that before so it’s concerning. Rabbitfish still seems fine, eating and all. I attached photos.

 

[mcarroll]

Just to make sure it's not the answer:

Is he just trying to go to sleep at lights-out? They become very in-tune with the lighting scedule.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have the Red Sea reefer 525…I have a rabbitfish and a Red Sea sailfin currently. I recently took a blue hippo tang out and quarantined him for mucus cones. The sailfin was fine and all of a sudden yesterday when the lights were off, his color was faded dull looking. Didn’t really look like ich. Today, just before the lights went out, same appearance. I didn’t see him in between during the day. Just now I tapped him with a rake and he’s not scurrying away. He’s spitting out pellets he normally eats as well. Water quality is perfect. Could it be sickness? Stress? Maybe sleeping? Could it be too much flow. I haven’t noticed that before so it’s concerning. Rabbitfish still seems fine, eating and all. I attached photos.

Being exposed to mucus cones often mixed in with ich, I would Quarantine this fish also

 

[Scaggs1117]

Just to make sure it's not the answer:

Is he just trying to go to sleep at lights-out? They become very in-tune with the lighting scedule.

I was thinking that because I work during the lighting schedule , so I see them when they’re out but I’ve never noticed it before

 

[mcarroll]

If you can, I'd switch the lighting scedule on the tank so it's on while you're around. Darken the room as much as you can to extend night conditions into the daytime for them.

Otherwise, don't mess with them further and just keep a close eye on them. If it's a problem, something will change in their behavior to give you a clue.

Until then (or some other evidence), IMO this seems like "sleepy" behavior. Natural.

 

[W31Olds]

Your Sailfin most likely has whatever is bothering your Hippo. Lighting should not be a factor and when heathy, they a very active voracious feeders and should grazing on your rocks. What are you treating your Hippos for. Ich or Flukes?

 

[Scaggs1117]

Your Sailfin most likely has whatever is bothering your Hippo. Lighting should not be a factor and when heathy, they a very active voracious feeders and should grazing on your rocks. What are you treating your Hippos for. Ich or Flukes?

I treated him with copper for ich in the quarantine tank but I’m currently phasing out the copper with water changes everyday …th nitrites are rising so they have to be daily, he was good everything’s clearing up except 1 spot is almost gone, and he’s spitting out pellets now but I think that’s the water quality

 

[W31Olds]

How long have you been treating him with Copper? Nitrates are not a huge problem. Ammonia is what we typically monitor during QT.

 

[MnFish1]

How long have you been treating him with Copper? Nitrates are not a huge problem. Ammonia is what we typically monitor during QT.

Not really - we typically measure copper as well:)

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I have the Red Sea reefer 525…I have a rabbitfish and a Red Sea sailfin currently. I recently took a blue hippo tang out and quarantined him for mucus cones. The sailfin was fine and all of a sudden yesterday when the lights were off, his color was faded dull looking. Didn’t really look like ich. Today, just before the lights went out, same appearance. I didn’t see him in between during the day. Just now I tapped him with a rake and he’s not scurrying away. He’s spitting out pellets he normally eats as well. Water quality is perfect. Could it be sickness? Stress? Maybe sleeping? Could it be too much flow. I haven’t noticed that before so it’s concerning. Rabbitfish still seems fine, eating and all. I attached photos.

Is the sailfin eating today? If not, can you post a video so that I can see its breathing rate?

 

[Scaggs1117]

Is the sailfin eating today? If not, can you post a video so that I can see its breathing rate?

Believe it or not he ate a couple of pellets this morning, a little lethargic but I don’t thing that’s a concern. However, the condition looks like blackish spots now. I attached video and pics.

 

[Scaggs1117]

How long have you been treating him with Copper? Nitrates are not a huge problem. Ammonia is what we typically monitor during QT.

*Nitrites

 

[W31Olds]

Nitrates are what you should be measuring. Nitrites are more of a concern in FW Tanks. Is your sailfin breathing fast? Any scratching, flashing? Flukes usually don't suppress appetite. How is your Hippo doing?

 

[Scaggs1117]

Ahh I see, the hippo is doing alright, everything pretty much cleared up except a spot above his eye, recently he started spitting pellets out but I’m gonna do another water change and see what happens, I’ve been feeding him a lot. Don’t really see heavy breathing in the sailfin

 

[lyo333]

确诊白点病？坚持使用治疗性休克疗法（TTM）。如果鱼已经奄奄一息，再用药无异于判死刑——药物很可能比疾病本身更快地杀死鱼。TTM 是最安全的选择，因为它既能避免铜的毒性，又能破坏寄生虫的生命周期。

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ahh I see, the hippo is doing alright, everything pretty much cleared up except a spot above his eye, recently he started spitting pellets out but I’m gonna do another water change and see what happens, I’ve been feeding him a lot. Don’t really see heavy breathing in the sailfin

The spots on the sailfin could be from skin flukes. Gill flukes will cause rapid breathing, but body flukes don't.

Treating with praziquantel is something you might consider - that drug is mostly reef-safe and it could help with this issue.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

 

[Scaggs1117]

The spots on the sailfin could be from skin flukes. Gill flukes will cause rapid breathing, but body flukes don't.

Treating with praziquantel is something you might consider - that drug is mostly reef-safe and it could help with this issue.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/[

Oh ok cool. Reef safe as in disp...or the info, I thought maybe it was black ich

 

[Scaggs1117]

The spots on the sailfin could be from skin flukes. Gill flukes will cause rapid breathing, but body flukes don't.

Treating with praziquantel is something you might consider - that drug is mostly reef-safe and it could help with this issue.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

Reef safe as in display tank? Or quarantine still. And thank you for the info. I thought maybe it was black ich.

 

[lyo333]

Reef safe as in display tank? Or quarantine still. And thank you for the info. I thought maybe it was black ich.

You can use a freshwater dip to determine if it's skin flukes or Black Ich. Regardless of which one it is, both respond well to Prazipro
While Prazi is generally considered reef-safe and shouldn't affect corals, I personally prefer to treat the fish in a quarantine tank (QT) rather than the display. It’s always safer to avoid dosing the main system whenever possible to minimize any risks to the biological balance or sensitive inverts.

 

[Scaggs1117]

确诊白点病？坚持使用治疗性休克疗法（TTM）。如果鱼已经奄奄一息，再用药无异于判死刑——药物很可能比疾病本身更快地杀死鱼。TTM 是最安全的选择，因为它既能避免铜的毒性，又能破坏寄生虫的生命周期。

谢谢