Hewbie is swimming upside down!

[BloopFish]

imo if a fish medic isn't sure what to do in this case, no reason not to contact other fish experts out there or even a local vet specialized in exotic fish

 

[Fish Fan]

What is wrong with posting on other places in addition to here? Time is of the essence here and its not like there aren't disease experts outside of R2R. So far only one "Fish Medic" has responded and all they said was to wait for a "Fish Medic."

And what makes you think that "the other forum" is alive and kicking at 2am Eastern when R2R is not?

R2R has some of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to fish diseases and treatments. Not all of them have insomnia like me, you might have to wait until tomorrow when they wake up to get a full diagnosis, but they will be here to help, I assure you

 

[BloopFish]

And what makes you think that "the other forum" is alive and kicking at 2am Eastern when R2R is not?

R2R has some of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to fish diseases and treatments. Not all of them have insomnia like me, you might have to wait until tomorrow when they wake up to get a full diagnosis, but they will be here to help, I assure you

imo i bet you $100 they would get a response on at least one of those forums right now. Not everyone is 2am Eastern time. Right now in Canberra, Australia is 4:00pm. Not everyone is on one time zone! Its good to keep that in mind.

If they don't respond immediately, so what? What hurt did it do? imo if it was my fish I would do anything to get it help, and that includes posting at 2am Eastern time on places other than R2R. I don't understand why that is baffling.

 

[BloopFish]

So for the past few weeks/days I have noticed Hewbie swimming head down in the water. I thought he was just being quirky. But then in the past few days I noticed him eating less. I saw a fluke on the angelfish and dosed half expired prazipro and then new prazi but may have slightly overdosed by two capfuls over because I panicked when I saw the first fluke. I have a 120 with sump. This was on Thursday/Friday and soon after a water change when he got worse. Hewbie was swimming upside a few days/weeks prior to all of this but now he won’t eat anything and was eating the bubbles from the air stone. I thought maybe the prazipro was not helping his situation so I decided to run my reactors with new carbon. I also decided to try and burp him to see if he had any air. Well the result was an unhappy half puffed Hewbie that spit in my face. He is also still upside down and swimming lopsided. I’m not sure how to help him because I’m not sure the exact cause. This was happening prior to the prazipro dose and I thought flukes were a factor…but only the angelfish has a fluke I can see and I think overdosing prazipro made it worse. I’m so worried he is dying and I don’t know what to do. Again note this had been going on prior to all of this for over a week but gotten way worse. He is breathing normally, is not flashing, etc. @Jay Hemdal Please help!

PraziPro has organics inside of it that can breakdown from bacteria in the tank, causing a bacterial bloom and thereby decreasing the oxygen content in the tank. Just in case, I would recommend you to aerate this tank more and point powerheads to the surface. Fish can act quite weird when they have oxygen deprivation.

 

[Fish Fan]

I might be a little slow, but I was just confused on this part.

If you're calling me out for having the "Fish Medic" badge, but not offering immediate advice, then please know that I'm a newly minted part of the Fish Medic crew, and I am not as knowledgeable as the other guys on the team, so I defer to the rest of the guys, who will be along soon.

If you'd like to argue with me, then please message me directly. Please do not talk over this member's thread, she is a well known member of this community, as is her fish, and we all want what's best for Hewbie at this point

 

[BloopFish]

If you're calling me out for having the "Fish Medic" badge, but not offering immediate advice, then please know that I'm a newly minted part of the Fish Medic crew, and I am not as knowledgeable as the other guys on the team, so I defer to the rest of the guys, who will be along soon.

If you'd like to argue with me, then please message me directly. Please do not talk over this member's thread, she is a well known member of this community, as is her fish, and we all want what's best for Hewbie at this point

imo a water change should be done if OP thinks they overdosed PraziPro. I think that should be clear, but I am no Fish Medic badge holder.

 

[Fish Fan]

imo a water change should be done if OP thinks they overdosed PraziPro. I think that should be clear, but I am no Fish Medic badge holder.

@AydenLincoln asked for help here at R2R because she's a valued community member, with a very well known and well loved fish, and she respects the input of the team here at R2R, who's very good with these questions. I'd ask you to let her get the help she's asking for here at R2R.

If you'd prefer "the other forum", that's fine, but this is not your thread. This fish has a history on this forum, many of us are familiar with the OP and her fish, and want to help her as best as we can

 

[BloopFish]

@AydenLincoln asked for help here at R2R because she's a valued community member, with a very well known and well loved fish, and she respects the input of the team here at R2R, who's very good with these questions. I'd ask you to let her get the help she's asking for here at R2R.

If you'd prefer "the other forum", that's fine, but this is not your thread. This fish has a history on this forum, many of us are familiar with the OP and her fish, and want to help her as best as we can

Fish Fan I did not say they have to do it, it was merely a suggestion. No one is being forced here. I am not sure why you are so defensive against it? Do you get paid commission every time a post is made here? I think you are being a bit dramatic... they can choose to post elsewhere or choose to just post here. They have the final say. They were open to getting help on this public forum. No need to be so defensive, I mean no harm.

 

[Fish Fan]

Fish Fan I did not say they have to do it, it was merely a suggestion. No one is being forced here. I am not sure why you are so defensive against it? Do you get paid commission every time a post is made here? I think you are being a bit dramatic... they can choose to post elsewhere or choose to just post here. They have the final say. They were open to getting help on this public forum. No need to be so defensive, I mean no harm.

I think what you're missing is that this is a very well known and well liked fish, from a very well known and well liked R2R member. Many of us know the history of this fish, and how well cared for he is, and that he's had 'scares' before. I'd again ask you to let the R2R Fish Medic team address this as they have a history with this fish and this poster

 

[BloopFish]

I think what you're missing is that this is a very well known and well liked fish, from a very well known and well liked R2R member. Many of us know the history of this fish, and how well cared for he is, and that he's had 'scares' before. I'd again ask you to let the R2R Fish Medic team address this as they have a history with this fish and this poster

I don't understand why that prevents them from asking for other people's help...?

 

[Fish Fan]

I don't understand why that prevents them from asking for other people's help...?

Because here at R2R we have a different paradigm, and this poster is asking for help here at R2R.

@AydenLincoln I'm so sorry, you know I only want what's best for Hewbie

 

[commod0re]

I don't understand why that prevents them from asking for other people's help...?

Please stop derailing the thread with this side argument, having to dig through all of that will not help OP get the information they really need

 

[BloopFish]

Please stop derailing the thread with this side argument, having to dig through all of that will not help OP get the information they really need

FYI I did offer advice and fish fan kept replying to me even after they told me to not derail the conversation... https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hewbie-is-swimming-upside-down.1165714/post-14459482

I still believe a water change would help if the most immediate thing that happened before the fish started acting weird is overdosing PraziPro...

 

[winxp_man]

Swim bladder issues can arise from quite a few reasons.

I have seen many posts about Hewie. But lately have not been reading any of you have posted. Either way.

What diet a fish is being fed can cause swim bladder issues. If a fish eats or gets too much food it can press on the air bladder and create such issues.
Bacterial issues can cause swim bladder issues.

A fish running to it the glass or rock head on can cause swim bladder issues.

So this issue with Herbie swimming upside down was taking place over a span of some days? As in it progressed over time slowly?


The other thing I can think of is water quality?

Has the fish shown signs of stress?

How was it eating? And is it still eating?


Edit:

Porcupine fish are somewhat know to have swim bladder issues, diet of fiber is possibly needed. What type of foods are you feeding?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Swim bladder issues can arise from quite a few reasons.

I have seen many posts about Hewie. But lately have not been reading any of you have posted. Either way.

What diet a fish is being fed can cause swim bladder issues. If a fish eats or gets too much food it can press on the air bladder and create such issues.
Bacterial issues can cause swim bladder issues.

A fish running to it the glass or rock head on can cause swim bladder issues.

So this issue with Herbie swimming upside down was taking place over a span of some days? As in it progressed over time slowly?


The other thing I can think of is water quality?

Has the fish shown signs of stress?

How was it eating? And is it still eating?


Edit:

Porcupine fish are somewhat know to have swim bladder issues, diet of fiber is possibly needed. What type of foods are you feeding?

Over a week or so. He was eating fine a few days ago. He gets whole mussels, frozen gulf shrimp, and the mysis/seaweed cuisine the other fish get. I also soak them daily in Vitachem and garlic. I tried to burp him and he got mad at me and spit at me. I think that just stressed him.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Praying for you and Hewbie, you mentioned no labored breathing and no flashing? Is it swimming normally or having trouble swimming? Also did it eat normal? I pray for you!

Not swimming normally no labored breathing. He is upside down. He was eating fine up until a day or two ago.

 

[AydenLincoln]

PraziPro has organics inside of it that can breakdown from bacteria in the tank, causing a bacterial bloom and thereby decreasing the oxygen content in the tank. Just in case, I would recommend you to aerate this tank more and point powerheads to the surface. Fish can act quite weird when they have oxygen deprivation.

I did this. And he kept eating the bubbles which I don’t think was helping his situation so now it is in the overflow area.

 

[Reef Jedi]

It sounds like a swim bladder issue to me, being upside down being the key words. I know puffers can be somewhat susceptible to it. Have you tried to gently hold the fish upright and gently massage the belly to see if there’s trapped air, help burp it? I can’t quite tell from the photos but is his belly enlarged in any way? If not it’s possible it’s a bacterial infection in the stomach. I think a puffer could go through a metronidazole treatment. @Jay Hemdal would know way more and hopefully he can chime in her soon to help confirm. I’m not an expert in this department, my experience comes from 20 years ago working at my LFS triaging fish as they came in. #fishmedic#fishmedics

 

[keagan]

.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I might be a little slow, but I was just confused on this part.

Fish Fan is a brand new Fish Medic, they are still learning the process and act as a triage.

We have a pretty good process in place…..