Purple tilefish acting off

[Brah02]

I’ve had this purple tile in QT for about two weeks now. He’s been pretty active, always hanging middle/top of the tank. The last two days he will swim around, twitch, then sink down and rest at the bottom for a bit then do it again. Is there something wrong? Just did a water change too. There’s 3 other fish in there qt’ing with him (white tail bristle tooth, dottyback, and a purple firefish) that are all acting normal. He still eats like a pig. Threw in boiled peas today just in case he needs some fiber but just wanted to ask the community.

 

[Brah02]

Here’s a pretty good video of him twitching

 

[Brah02]

Here’s a pretty good video of him twitching

 

[bluemon]

Could not give you a diagnosis but you should not feed boiled peas.

Doesn’t work like it does for freshwater fish

 

[Idech]

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here’s a pretty good video of him twitching

Dont see any video. What you describe may be flukes and a video under bright white light intensity, no blue and at least 20 seconds will be of help for assessment. As for peas, its a remedy for freshwater fish, particularly goldfish and is of no value in a marine setting.

 

[Idech]

Dont see any video

That’s strange. There was a video; I saw it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s strange. There was a video; I saw it.

I see a still pic only

 

[Brah02]

For some reason it didn’t post the video here it is again

 

[Brah02]

Ok, I believe It posted correctly now.

I see a still pic only

 

[Brah02]

Shoot that was the wrong one, that was just him sinking. This one he's twitching.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Shoot that was the wrong one, that was just him sinking. This one he's twitching.

Overall fish appears normal. I see sporadic head movement, typical of the behavior of a tilefish and even dartfish. The water appears cloudy. Are the sponge units the primary filter in this tank?
Are you medicating tank with anything?

 

[Brah02]

Overall fish appears normal. I see sporadic head movement, typical of the behavior of a tilefish and even dartfish. The water appears cloudy. Are the sponge units the primary filter in this tank?
Are you medicating tank with anything?

Yeah I have the sponge filter, and a hob aquaclear 50 in the tank (20G long). The water is always cloudy no matter what I try, I have even done two water changes today, still cloudy 5 minutes after. I have been putting seachem stability and Microbe Lift Special Blend to get some bacteria in there. I had dosed with copper but the last couple of water changes I have stopped adding copper. I am adding Kanaplex and Metroplex in their food daily as well. I think it is a bacterial bloom causing the cloudy water since this was an uncycled qt tank.

So are you thinking not flukes? Should I treat for that just to be safe?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’ve had this purple tile in QT for about two weeks now. He’s been pretty active, always hanging middle/top of the tank. The last two days he will swim around, twitch, then sink down and rest at the bottom for a bit then do it again. Is there something wrong? Just did a water change too. There’s 3 other fish in there qt’ing with him (white tail bristle tooth, dottyback, and a purple firefish) that are all acting normal. He still eats like a pig. Threw in boiled peas today just in case he needs some fiber but just wanted to ask the community.

No video is available. Some people find that hosting a video on Youtube works best.

I'm concerned about the water quality, it looks murky and what is the black material on the bottom?
Have you treated with anything yet? Holding fish in a QT without treatment is not recommended.
Purple tilefish can be pretty delicate and will try to jump out of a tank (possibly succeeding, but also possibly hitting the lid in the attempt).

+1 on not feeding boiled peas, that's an old goldfish remedy, useless in marine tanks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah I have the sponge filter, and a hob aquaclear 50 in the tank (20G long). The water is always cloudy no matter what I try, I have even done two water changes today, still cloudy 5 minutes after. I have been putting seachem stability and Microbe Lift Special Blend to get some bacteria in there. I had dosed with copper but the last couple of water changes I have stopped adding copper. I am adding Kanaplex and Metroplex in their food daily as well. I think it is a bacterial bloom causing the cloudy water since this was an uncycled qt tank.

So are you thinking not flukes? Should I treat for that just to be safe?

Stop the Metroplex unless absolutely necessary as it must be used precisely and makes food taste bitter. Noth metro and kanaplex have been known to make water temporarily cloudy. As for copper, you have to stick with it and not stop and go for 30 days consecutively and do not ramp up. It appears meds are being applied at Random and will take this delicate fish right down.
Microbe lift particularly will make water hazy and best for pond use. I used to sell this product and also saw this. Before treating for flukes assure the behavior is sporadic and not continuous as I suspect this may be an effect from using an array of meds in a short span of time as again, this is a delicate fish with low tolerance to a variety of changes.
You changed water twice- Did you use RODI water to mix salt or Tap water with dechlorinator?
What salinity are you running the tank at?

 

[Brah02]

Stop the Metroplex unless absolutely necessary as it must be used precisely and makes food taste bitter. Noth metro and kanaplex have been known to make water temporarily cloudy. As for copper, you have to stick with it and not stop and go for 30 days consecutively and do not ramp up. It appears meds are being applied at Random and will take this delicate fish right down.
Microbe lift particularly will make water hazy and best for pond use. I used to sell this product and also saw this. Before treating for flukes assure the behavior is sporadic and not continuous as I suspect this may be an effect from using an array of meds in a short span of time as again, this is a delicate fish with low tolerance to a variety of changes.
You changed water twice- Did you use RODI water to mix salt or Tap water with dechlorinator?
What salinity are you running the tank at?

Oh ok! Yeah I stopped the copper after 14 days as my LFS said if I don't see any spots or anything to discontinue use. Would you suggest I start back up and do a full 30 days or wait until something arises that needs it? I'll stop using microbe lift special blend if its better for pond use. Would you suggest I continue the Seachem stability?
I use RODI water to mix all my salt. Its a 6 stage system. I am at 1.024-1.025. I have been doing water changes of 30-50% every couple of days as my seachem alert badge seems to not change at all so I dont trust it, and other tests were reading high due to copper.

 

[Brah02]

No video is available. Some people find that hosting a video on Youtube works best.

I'm concerned about the water quality, it looks murky and what is the black material on the bottom?
Have you treated with anything yet? Holding fish in a QT without treatment is not recommended.
Purple tilefish can be pretty delicate and will try to jump out of a tank (possibly succeeding, but also possibly hitting the lid in the attempt).

+1 on not feeding boiled peas, that's an old goldfish remedy, useless in marine tanks.

The black material is black sand, I had that yellow corris wrasse in this tank, but he got UNWD and didnt make it unfortunately. So far I treated with Coppersafe for 14 days then discontinued per the suggestion of my LFS but Vetteguy said I shouldnt have discontinued so early... Also was using metroplex/kanaplex but i'll stop those as well per vetteguy's suggestion.

 

[Brah02]

Just an update, I did a freshwater dip last night, a bunch of "sesame seed" looking white things came off in 5 minutes. We dipped the other three fish and nothing. I'll grab some API general cure today and treat the whole tank. I'll keep an eye on all three. The purple tile did immediately look way better so I am sure that it is Flukes now.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oh ok! Yeah I stopped the copper after 14 days as my LFS said if I don't see any spots or anything to discontinue use. Would you suggest I start back up and do a full 30 days or wait until something arises that needs it? I'll stop using microbe lift special blend if its better for pond use. Would you suggest I continue the Seachem stability?
I use RODI water to mix all my salt. Its a 6 stage system. I am at 1.024-1.025. I have been doing water changes of 30-50% every couple of days as my seachem alert badge seems to not change at all so I dont trust it, and other tests were reading high due to copper.

I too Do Not trust the alert badge also designed for freshwater use and less reliable once in medication. Its like using test strips. There has been enough medication administered that you can hold off coppersafe for now and stability is ok to use as its also a water conditioner although I favor Amquel which reduces nitrates. If a disease is present , its cycle is active for at least 21 days and we recommend 30 days- not good recommendation by LFS. Observe fish for now and add stability to power filter on a sponge or filter pad. Assure carbon is removed from filter pad which will remove copper and other medications.
Is fish eating today?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Just an update, I did a freshwater dip last night, a bunch of "sesame seed" looking white things came off in 5 minutes. We dipped the other three fish and nothing. I'll grab some API general cure today and treat the whole tank. I'll keep an eye on all three. The purple tile did immediately look way better so I am sure that it is Flukes now.

You are likely seeing flukes which often affect gills, increase breathing rate and reduces appetite. In this case, I recommend Prazi Pro (ONLY) - no other meds and apply the dose at 85% of recommended and apply initial dosage known as an interval for 8 days, do a water change and do one more 8 day dose interval
Use airstone with prazi as it does reduce both oxygen and appetite.