PLEASE HELP. MATTED FILE FISH SUDDENLY DYING

[Shipyard]

Hi all! I'm desperate for help. I have had my filefish for a month. He has been thriving. Fed clam-on-a-half-shell, Silverback, squid, clam, shrimp and marine flakes, on a rotating basis depending on what he was interested in (bit of a shy eater).

FOWLR Tank info:
Size- 25gal
Temp- 78
PH- 8.1
Nitrites/Nitrates - 0
Filtration- mechanical, protein skimmer and liver rock
Salinity- 1.024
Tankmates- 1 x cleaner shrimp, 2 x small turbo snails, 1 x small starfish, 1 x clownfish
No reefs, FOWLR
Substrate- aragonite sand

He was doing totally fine, no issues. Eating normally, swimming around. Really thriving. 2 days ago he started hiding among the rocks. I finally found him on his side. Thought maybe he ate too much. This morning, stuck on powerhead. Got him off and did an emergency fresh water bath. Now he is barely moving on his side again. Please help how can I save him and what could cause this sudden drastic health crisis?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all! I'm desperate for help. I have had my filefish for a month. He has been thriving. Fed clam-on-a-half-shell, Silverback, squid, clam, shrimp and marine flakes, on a rotating basis depending on what he was interested in (bit of a shy eater).

FOWLR Tank info:
Size- 25gal
Temp- 78
PH- 8.1
Nitrites/Nitrates - 0
Filtration- mechanical, protein skimmer and liver rock
Salinity- 1.024
Tankmates- 1 x cleaner shrimp, 2 x small turbo snails, 1 x small starfish, 1 x clownfish
No reefs, FOWLR
Substrate- aragonite sand

He was doing totally fine, no issues. Eating normally, swimming around. Really thriving. 2 days ago he started hiding among the rocks. I finally found him on his side. Thought maybe he ate too much. This morning, stuck on powerhead. Got him off and did an emergency fresh water bath. Now he is barely moving on his side again. Please help how can I save him and what could cause this sudden drastic health crisis?

Hi, welcome to Reef2Reef!

What you are describing with your filefish is a general symptom of a severe issue, it is termed being "moribund". I'm really sorry, but fish typically cannot be brought back from that point. What I usually focus on is damage control - in this case, trying to ensure that whatever happened, the clownfish doesn't succumb to the same issue.

Is the filefish breathing fast?
Are there any symptoms at ALL with the clownfish?
Although I doubt it is the issue, have you tested for ammonia?

Jay Hemdal

 

[Shipyard]

Hi, welcome to Reef2Reef!

What you are describing with your filefish is a general symptom of a severe issue, it is termed being "moribund". I'm really sorry, but fish typically cannot be brought back from that point. What I usually focus on is damage control - in this case, trying to ensure that whatever happened, the clownfish doesn't succumb to the same issue.

Is the filefish breathing fast?
Are there any symptoms at ALL with the clownfish?
Although I doubt it is the issue, have you tested for ammonia?

Jay Hemdal

Thank you for the reply. Clownfish is not having issues. He is eating and swimming around as usual.

Unfortunately the filefish was ambushed and savaged by my starfish a few hours ago. Now I'm worried about something spreading, but they all lived together for a month so I'm not sure. I'm really afraid for the rest of my tank.

There were no symptoms with the filefish other then he started swimming at the bottom. In his final moments his color was darkening. No gasping, no noticeable labored breathing, nothing. I'm sad about it and have no idea what happened. I tested ammonia this morning and it is zero. I did a small water change yesterday as well thinking it could have been an ammonia spike but everything is testing ideal.

any ideas or advice?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you for the reply. Clownfish is not having issues. He is eating and swimming around as usual.

Unfortunately the filefish was ambushed and savaged by my starfish a few hours ago. Now I'm worried about something spreading, but they all lived together for a month so I'm not sure. I'm really afraid for the rest of my tank.

There were no symptoms with the filefish other then he started swimming at the bottom. In his final moments his color was darkening. No gasping, no noticeable labored breathing, nothing. I'm sad about it and have no idea what happened. I tested ammonia this morning and it is zero. I did a small water change yesterday as well thinking it could have been an ammonia spike but everything is testing ideal.

any ideas or advice?

Sorry to hear. Without any definitive symptoms, I can’t really suggest any treatment for the clown….rapid breathing in the filefish was one symptom I wanted to rule out. There are a variety of problems that may only affect an single fish and may not be highly contagious - viral and internal bacterial diseases mainly….
Jay