Long term QT fish have developed an itch

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nldemo

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Here's a quick couple videos showing off the tusk's behavior. IMO, it looks like he went blind. Just bobbing around near the surface, bumping into things, and not showing any interest in food. Saw lots of similar posts from years past, but no solutions or causes.



 

Jay Hemdal

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Oh - in your first post you said the harlequin had a "decent appetite". I didn't realize it wasn't eating. In the video, it is bobbing at the surface, but into water flow. When you see that, it is a symptom of either gill disease, low oxygen or high carbon dioxide. First thing to do is drop a good air stone in the tank. Then, you need to judge the fish's respiration - if it is elevated, then I'm concerned this could be Amyloodinium, velvet. That is touch to treat in the copper takes a few days to work, and velvet can be fatal in 3 days. I don't use TTM due to issues I have with it, but *maybe* a modified TTM, where you move the fish and then dose with copper would work?

Now - I'm not 100% that this is velvet, the respiration rate is the key symptom for that. There are also other gill disease - bacterial and viral.

Jay
 
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Oh - in your first post you said the harlequin had a "decent appetite". I didn't realize it wasn't eating. In the video, it is bobbing at the surface, but into water flow.
Indeed, he had a decent appetite but once he started acting as if he was blind, no longer chases the food. I've seen him bobbing around all over the place, but last night he was pretty stuck in that area. I've also seen him open his mouth awkwardly, looks almost like a painful yawn. Not sure what that could mean. I've left the air stone since on since doing the Maracyn treatment. I'm not sure if maybe the Maracyn caused the issue while the tank was cloudy, but I'm afraid I may be the death of this poor fish in applying the wrong treatment.
 

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I used to do observation only but felt like the fish would be great… until they weren’t. Then I was chasing sickness around. Now I do hybrid TTM immediately and observation tank after and my success went way up. Just something to think about.
 
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I used to do observation only but felt like the fish would be great… until they weren’t. Then I was chasing sickness around. Now I do hybrid TTM immediately and observation tank after and my success went way up. Just something to think about.
Yes, I'm willing to change. Especially now that Hannah has a copper checker. I've been in the hobby long enough to see tides change. I know some fish still aren't very copper friendly ... I've heard lionfish , wrasse , mandarins not very tolerant. I'm not sure about the science behind any of it though, wish that sort of paper was more common in the hobby.
 

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Indeed, he had a decent appetite but once he started acting as if he was blind, no longer chases the food. I've seen him bobbing around all over the place, but last night he was pretty stuck in that area. I've also seen him open his mouth awkwardly, looks almost like a painful yawn. Not sure what that could mean. I've left the air stone since on since doing the Maracyn treatment. I'm not sure if maybe the Maracyn caused the issue while the tank was cloudy, but I'm afraid I may be the death of this poor fish in applying the wrong treatment.
I've never had Maracyn cause a delayed issue, but it will kill off some percentage of the nitrifying bacteria. have you checked the ammonia?

Jay
 
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I've never had Maracyn cause a delayed issue, but it will kill off some percentage of the nitrifying bacteria. have you checked the ammonia?

Jay
Was relying on the ammonia badge but apparently that was a bad idea. Just did a test with API kit and it was somewhere in the .25-.5 range . I'm prepping more water for a bigger water change now.
 

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Was relying on the ammonia badge but apparently that was a bad idea. Just did a test with API kit and it was somewhere in the .25-.5 range . I'm prepping more water for a bigger water change now.
Ammonia is tough to test for. I've not had good luck with API or the ammonia badges. I use a Hach salicylate kit. If you have any freshly mixed seawater, run a test on it with your API kit - compare that to your tank's test. Any color development in the tank test means ammonia.

Jay
 
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Ammonia is tough to test for. I've not had good luck with API or the ammonia badges. I use a Hach salicylate kit. If you have any freshly mixed seawater, run a test on it with your API kit - compare that to your tank's test. Any color development in the tank test means ammonia.

Jay
I will do a quick compare. Tried looking up that hach, but not finding an exact match. Looks to be $$$$ though :)
 
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@Jay Hemdal I was finally able to get this behavior on film. Fish is still not eating, but often acts like this during feeding time. I have never seen anything like it, and have no idea what is going on. Any ideas? It will expand it's jaw as if it isn't working properly, then thrash at the surface, sometimes repeating a few times.

The only other thing I noticed is he is starting to shed some of his slime coat. Possibly related, or from the copper treatment. I should also mention he's still not eating, although when I first got him he was eating great every meal.

 

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@Jay Hemdal I was finally able to get this behavior on film. Fish is still not eating, but often acts like this during feeding time. I have never seen anything like it, and have no idea what is going on. Any ideas? It will expand it's jaw as if it isn't working properly, then thrash at the surface, sometimes repeating a few times.

The only other thing I noticed is he is starting to shed some of his slime coat. Possibly related, or from the copper treatment. I should also mention he's still not eating, although when I first got him he was eating great every meal.


The fish seems to be breathing really fast. The head shaking combined with that could be a symptom of gill flukes. Is it still acting like it is blind?
Jay
 
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The fish seems to be breathing really fast. The head shaking combined with that could be a symptom of gill flukes. Is it still acting like it is blind?
Jay
Yes. For example, when I wipe the glass clean - no response. It seems to be able to sense a hand in the water when close (something like warmth or movement), but does not react overly negative to nets. Does not chase down food.

As of right now it is swimming around normally. This odd behavior I filmed is usually during feeding time. If it is flukes, it should be improving from the copper right? Treatment is almost at two weeks of copper at this point.
 

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