Porcupinefish not doing well

[jasonrusso]

A few days ago I noticed my porcupinefish Spike wasn't coming out to eat, which is very unusual. He was in the rocks and his breathing was a bit labored. I couldn't get a good look at him at the time.

The next morning he had a fresh cockle (his favorite), but at night he wasn't too interested, but I noticed that he was a bit skinny and I saw some spots in (not on) his eye. The sunken belly was a bit weird as well.

He ate alot that night (not with the usual vigor) , but he was interested in eating. He had squid, cockle, and uncleaned shrimp.

Today he isn't eating again. He goes up to food, but turns away.

Other than his eye, I don't see ANY physical problems. No spots or red sores. None of the other tank mates are affected.

Whatever this is came on acutely. Last weekend he was attacking clams and spitting water at me.

I did renew the cleanup crew recently, could he have swallowed a snail or crab and has a blockage?

He's in the tank with a small lionfish and foxface, could he have been accidentally stuck? I would have thought I would see a wound if that was the case.

 

[tzabor10]

Sorry for your troubles. How big of a tank? Any aggression seen? Did you use an acclimation box?

 

[jasonrusso]

Sorry for your troubles. How big of a tank? Any aggression seen? Did you use an acclimation box?

It's a 220, he's been in there for almost 2 years.

No aggression that I've seen. I have a Chainlink eel also that might accidentally bite during feeding time, but an eel bite would be very obvious.

 

[vetteguy53081]

A few days ago I noticed my porcupinefish Spike wasn't coming out to eat, which is very unusual. He was in the rocks and his breathing was a bit labored. I couldn't get a good look at him at the time.

The next morning he had a fresh cockle (his favorite), but at night he wasn't too interested, but I noticed that he was a bit skinny and I saw some spots in (not on) his eye. The sunken belly was a bit weird as well.

He ate alot that night (not with the usual vigor) , but he was interested in eating. He had squid, cockle, and uncleaned shrimp.

Today he isn't eating again. He goes up to food, but turns away.

Other than his eye, I don't see ANY physical problems. No spots or red sores. None of the other tank mates are affected.

Whatever this is came on acutely. Last weekend he was attacking clams and spitting water at me.

I did renew the cleanup crew recently, could he have swallowed a snail or crab and has a blockage?

He's in the tank with a small lionfish and foxface, could he have been accidentally stuck? I would have thought I would see a wound if that was the case.

Aggression will often not be an issue with these fish. Please post a video of the whole fish under bright white light intensity ... no blue for at least 25 seconds and Is fish breathing normal or labored?

 

[jasonrusso]

Aggression will often not be an issue with these fish. Please post a video of the whole fish under bright white light intensity ... no blue for at least 25 seconds and Is fish breathing normal or labored?

It's nighttime now so I'm not going to stress them out. I'll try to get it tomorrow. My video shows a good deal I thought.

His breathing is a bit more labored than I think is usual. Not huffing and puffing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It's nighttime now so I'm not going to stress them out. I'll try to get it tomorrow. My video shows a good deal I thought.

His breathing is a bit more labored than I think is usual. Not huffing and puffing.

Video not playing. Try you tube version

 

[jasonrusso]

Video not playing. Try you tube version

Really? When I look at my post I can see it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Really? When I look at my post I can see it.

Not seeing anything out of the ordinary and breathing not elevated. There is a possibility it ate inverts including crabs and trying to digest shells, etc especially id those inverts are missing

 

[jasonrusso]

Not seeing anything out of the ordinary and breathing not elevated. There is a possibility it ate inverts including crabs and trying to digest shells, etc especially id those inverts are missing

I'm not sure if anything is missing. I buy bulk cleanup crews so he, my eel, and tusk can hunt them naturally. I believe it helps with their natural instinct and teeth.

You don't think that eye thing is anything to worry about? He did get spooked recently and swam into the glass pretty hard.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm not sure if anything is missing. I buy bulk cleanup crews so he, my eel, and tusk can hunt them naturally. I believe it helps with their natural instinct and teeth.

You don't think that eye thing is anything to worry about? He did get spooked recently and swam into the glass pretty hard.

The crystalization on eyes is normal as in pics below

 

[jasonrusso]

The crystalization on eyes is normal as in pics below

Not the blue, this cluster here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not the blue, this cluster here.

I missed that. Possible flukes. Any signs of this and other fish itching, scratching, yawning, sudden darting as examples?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Not the blue, this cluster here.

Those are odd looking. None of them are in the other eye?

These look more like some encysted parasite, but those have multiple hosts and would not be expected to show up in a long term captive.

Could the fish have developed an intestinal blockage, That could cause symptoms like you are seeing.

 

[jasonrusso]

Those are odd looking. None of them are in the other eye?

These look more like some encysted parasite, but those have multiple hosts and would not be expected to show up in a long term captive.

Could the fish have developed an intestinal blockage, That could cause symptoms like you are seeing.

Nope, just one eye.

If it's a blockage, hopefully he can pass it. He does eat the clean up crew and it would explain why it came on so acutely.

 

[jasonrusso]

I missed that. Possible flukes. Any signs of this and other fish itching, scratching, yawning, sudden darting as examples?

No one else seems affected. He's not even scratching. I DID put in some prazipro as I thought it could be flukes as well, and prazi is relatively safe.

 

[jasonrusso]

So Spike seems to have made a full recovery. He is back to aggressively attacking his food, spitting water at me, and just acting normal again. He's also regained his pleasing blimp shape. The spots/deposits in his eye are still there, which is weird. It doesn't seem to bother him.

I'll never know exactly what happened. My feeling is that he swallowed a small snail/crab and had a hard time passing it (I had just restocked the CUC). Perhaps it injured his stomach. I fed him only soft foods like clams and squid for a few weeks so his digestive tract can heal.

Either way, finally a happy story.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So Spike seems to have made a full recovery. He is back to aggressively attacking his food, spitting water at me, and just acting normal again. He's also regained his pleasing blimp shape. The spots/deposits in his eye are still there, which is weird. It doesn't seem to bother him.

I'll never know exactly what happened. My feeling is that he swallowed a small snail/crab and had a hard time passing it (I had just restocked the CUC). Perhaps it injured his stomach. I fed him only soft foods like clams and squid for a few weeks so his digestive tract can heal.

Either way, finally a happy story.

Thanks for the follow-up report. I do think that the eye lesions are from some digenetic trematode or some other parasite that has multiple hosts. I think these will linger, but without a secondary host, I don't think they will spread.