Longnose Hawkfish red gills

KeepSwimming12

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Hi,
I finished a 75 day fallow period following a velvet outbreak in early November and have had a longnose Hawkfish in this tank for the past 2 weeks. All of a sudden, about 30 minutes ago as of this post being published, has red gills and has started flashing. I really hope it isn’t velvet. When I dealt with it last time, I do not recall especially red gills. Also other fish exhibited swimming in front of the power head which this one isn’t. Hoping for good-ish news. Every other fish in the tank is fine and showing no obvious symptoms. Btw, his other gill is not red at all, only the one side. Thank you.

A84A703C-7AC4-46D8-986B-3E130D6BCF4A.jpeg 354CB8CC-2783-4C66-A330-DA38B82AC787.jpeg
 
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Jay Hemdal

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Hi,
I finished a 75 day fallow period following a velvet outbreak in early November and have had a longnose Hawkfish in this tank for the past 2 weeks. All of a sudden, about 30 minutes ago as of this post being published, has red gills and has started flashing. I really hope it isn’t velvet. When I dealt with it last time, I do not recall especially red gills. Also other fish exhibited swimming in front of the power head which this one isn’t. Hoping for good-ish news. Every other fish in the tank is fine and showing no obvious symptoms. Btw, his other gill is not red at all, only the one side. Thank you.

A84A703C-7AC4-46D8-986B-3E130D6BCF4A.jpeg 354CB8CC-2783-4C66-A330-DA38B82AC787.jpeg
Well, I was about to suggest gill flukes, but then I read that it is only on one side of the fish. Gill flukes would literally always infect both gills about equally. Could the right side be just a bit red? The scratching and redness cries out gill flukes to me....I don't see any overt signs of velvet.

Has this fish been treated for anything yet?
Is it still eating well?
Is it breathing fast/hard?
Do you have praziquantel available to you in Australia?

Jay Hemdal
 
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KeepSwimming12

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Well, I was about to suggest gill flukes, but then I read that it is only on one side of the fish. Gill flukes would literally always infect both gills about equally. Could the right side be just a bit red? The scratching and redness cries out gill flukes to me....I don't see any overt signs of velvet.

Has this fish been treated for anything yet?
Is it still eating well?
Is it breathing fast/hard?
Do you have praziquantel available to you in Australia?

Jay Hemdal
Hi Jay,
I just realised that this fish has been exhibiting symptoms so I haven’t treated for anything just yet. He is a very new fish so didn’t eat for days and just now he’s started to eat and I haven’t seen his appetite get any worse. For me it’s always so hard to tell with Hawkfish if they’re breathing fast because they always look like they’re out of breath after swimming. It doesn’t seem like anything too unusual. I have some Praziquantel on hand which is great.
 

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Hi Jay,
I just realised that this fish has been exhibiting symptoms so I haven’t treated for anything just yet. He is a very new fish so didn’t eat for days and just now he’s started to eat and I haven’t seen his appetite get any worse. For me it’s always so hard to tell with Hawkfish if they’re breathing fast because they always look like they’re out of breath after swimming. It doesn’t seem like anything too unusual. I have some Praziquantel on hand which is great.
Watch the fish's breathing rate, if it stays normal and the fish still eats, then velvet isn't an issue. I would treat with prazi as a matter of principle if the flashing continues. Good luck!

jay
 
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Watch the fish's breathing rate, if it stays normal and the fish still eats, then velvet isn't an issue. I would treat with prazi as a matter of principle if the flashing continues. Good luck!

jay
Hi Jay, the longnose Hawkfish hasn’t scratched once since I raised this issue. However, he isn’t eating. Is there anything I can do to entice him? I’m currently feeding mysis and lobster eggs in the tank which my other fish love. (Lobster eggs are mainly for my Mandarin Dragonet when I’m not dosing copepods)
 

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Hi Jay, the longnose Hawkfish hasn’t scratched once since I raised this issue. However, he isn’t eating. Is there anything I can do to entice him? I’m currently feeding mysis and lobster eggs in the tank which my other fish love. (Lobster eggs are mainly for my Mandarin Dragonet when I’m not dosing copepods)
So - it was eating and now it has stopped? That isn't a good sign at all. That means that the food that you were feeding was suitable, and now the fish doesn't have the drive to feed. That often implies a systemic infection.

I wonder if a short video might help me see more of wthat's going on?

Jay
 
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So - it was eating and now it has stopped? That isn't a good sign at all. That means that the food that you were feeding was suitable, and now the fish doesn't have the drive to feed. That often implies a systemic infection.

I wonder if a short video might help me see more of wthat's going on?

Jay
Hi Jay,
Here are two videos attached of the Longnose Hawkfish. The second one demonstrates his breathing pattern at rest and the first, once he has stopped swimming. To my eye, I can’t find any outward signs of distress.

edit: I tried to upload the videos but once the progress bar reaches 100%, the video simply doesn’t upload. I recorded it from my iPhone and it is a mov file so perhaps that is the reason.

edit 2: I’ve managed to upload them to Vimeo as 2 separate links instead. I assume it’s because I recorded it in 4K which is an enormous file type.


 
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Jay Hemdal

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Hi Jay,
Here are two videos attached of the Longnose Hawkfish. The second one demonstrates his breathing pattern at rest and the first, once he has stopped swimming. To my eye, I can’t find any outward signs of distress.

edit: I tried to upload the videos but once the progress bar reaches 100%, the video simply doesn’t upload. I recorded it from my iPhone and it is a mov file so perhaps that is the reason.

edit 2: I’ve managed to upload them to Vimeo as 2 separate links instead. I assume it’s because I recorded it in 4K which is an enormous file type.




Thanks for the videos. Unfortunately, all they show is a seemingly healthy LNH.

Can you get access to live adult brine shrimp? That might work as a food enticer.
I would still try the praziquantel.

There is another possible issue - I don't know the supply chain for fish in Australia, but some of these fish in the US come from the Philippines and Indonesia where they are often collected with cyanide. One of the traits those fish sometimes show is feeding o.k. to start with, and then, as that food is metabolized, they stop feeding. If your fish was collected along the GBR, then of course, that wouldn't be a problem.

Jay
 
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Thanks for the videos. Unfortunately, all they show is a seemingly healthy LNH.

Can you get access to live adult brine shrimp? That might work as a food enticer.
I would still try the praziquantel.

There is another possible issue - I don't know the supply chain for fish in Australia, but some of these fish in the US come from the Philippines and Indonesia where they are often collected with cyanide. One of the traits those fish sometimes show is feeding o.k. to start with, and then, as that food is metabolized, they stop feeding. If your fish was collected along the GBR, then of course, that wouldn't be a problem.

Jay
Hi Jay,
Thank you for your reply. He ate one piece of mysis today which is an improvement but is by no means ideal as you can imagine. I’ll definitely take up your advice and use Praziquantel because I have some on hand and it’s so easy to deal with.

the fish store I buy my fish say they get it from Cairns Marine in Queensland who is apparently one of 2 proveyers able to legally take fish from the GBR for the aquarium trade but they do get some from other parts of the word so that is definitely a possibility. Australia is extremely strict in terms of what animals are allowed to be imported so I suspect there is a much higher probability that it has come from the GBR but once again, there is definitely that chance.
 

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Hi Jay,
Thank you for your reply. He ate one piece of mysis today which is an improvement but is by no means ideal as you can imagine. I’ll definitely take up your advice and use Praziquantel because I have some on hand and it’s so easy to deal with.

the fish store I buy my fish say they get it from Cairns Marine in Queensland who is apparently one of 2 proveyers able to legally take fish from the GBR for the aquarium trade but they do get some from other parts of the word so that is definitely a possibility. Australia is extremely strict in terms of what animals are allowed to be imported so I suspect there is a much higher probability that it has come from the GBR but once again, there is definitely that chance.
Yep - I know Lyle at Cairns. They never use cyanide, and they handle their fish very carefully. As far as I know, they do NOT transship from other regions - that is a huge issue in Hong Kong though. I got a big shipment from Cairns back in 2015 when we opened our new aquarium and all of the fish were great.

jay
 
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Yep - I know Lyle at Cairns. They never use cyanide, and they handle their fish very carefully. As far as I know, they do NOT transship from other regions - that is a huge issue in Hong Kong though. I got a big shipment from Cairns back in 2015 when we opened our new aquarium and all of the fish were great.

jay
Hi Jay,
I just wanted to say that my Longnose Hawkfish is now eating like a pig and acting the way a Hawkfish should which makes me unbelievably happy. I hope he will continue down this track and I appreciate all your help in attempting to get him back to relative normality again.
 
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