Sick Foxface

[reeferjack]

My magnificent foxface has been doing incredible for 4+ months and all of a sudden I came home today to find it laying in the sand with its face in the corner. It has no external signs of any disease and refuses to eat. I got it to get up and it swam around the tank very slowly while letting itself be pushed by the power heads and then just found another corner to lay in.

What is happening?
Is there anything I can do to save it’s life?

 

[Mjrenz]

There are a lot of possibilities but I think we should call in the experts @ngoodermuth @HotRocks @4FordFamily. #mods can we also get this moved to the fish disease and treatment forum?

 

[reeferjack]

how do i get them to see this post

 

[dbl]

I'm certainly no expert to help, but I did move this over to the proper forum to get some eyes on it.

A picture may help along with your parameters. Any new additions since adding the fox?

 

[Mjrenz]

I'm certainly no expert to help, but I did move this over to the proper forum.

Thank you!

 

[Mjrenz]

how do i get them to see this post

I tagged them, they'll see that I did that and should hopefully be here shortly

 

[reeferjack]

Thank you @Mjrenz and thank you @dbl I realized after posting and couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

 

[Mjrenz]

Thank you @Mjrenz and thank you @dbl I realized after posting and couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

Glad to help!

 

[dbl]

Thank you @Mjrenz and thank you @dbl I realized after posting and couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

Glad to help. I did add a couple suggestions after I posted. Might be a good idea to post a picture if you can get one. Also, let the experts know if you've added any livestock, of any kind, since the Fox was introduced. They may also ask for parameters.

 

[Mjrenz]

Just some questions to help things along, have you noticed any white stringy poop, rapid breathing, spots that come and go, or anything else?

 

[reeferjack]

Tank: Red Sea Reefer 350
73 gallon display
18 gallon sump
(massive snail breeding issue ended up killing all fish but no coral in December 2018 and the tank re-cycled)

Levels:
Ammonia-0.15 and has been coming down from 0.25 for the past week as several new fish were added.
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0.5 has come down from 1 after K increased dose of NOPoX by 3ml which was 3 days ago

Fish:

(I apologize in going back through my records of purchase it has been just over 3 months since the foxface was purchased not 4)

Bangai Cardinal- 6 months
4” orange diamond goby- 4.5 months
3” zebra barred dart fish- 4.5 months
2” ||
1” ||
long nose hawkfish- 4.5 months
Magnificent Foxface (dying fish)- 3 months
12” zebra eel- 3 months
2.5” fairy wrass- 2.5 months
1.5” leopard wrasse- 2.5 months
3” clown tang- 1.5 months
5” yellowbanded pipefish- 1 week
3” mystery wrasse- 1 week
4” powder blue tang- 1 week
5.5” blonde naso tang- 1 week

-Every fish is happy and they all eat very aggressively with the clown tang and hawkfish being the best.
-The blond naso doesn’t care much for frozen food but if i put seaweed on a clip he goes to town.

(after the 2 additional tangs were added there has been zero aggression between them or any other fish)

(the only issues i have had with aggression is the hawkfish consistently killing any and every peppermint shrimp I add to the tank no matter the size)

-No white string poop
-No spots
-No rapid breathing, even now as he lays in the back corner his breathing is fairly normal maybe only slightly faster than usual.

 

[Mjrenz]

Tank: Red Sea Reefer 350
73 gallon display
18 gallon sump
(massive snail breeding issue ended up killing all fish but no coral in December 2018 and the tank re-cycled)

Levels:
Ammonia-0.15 and has been coming down from 0.25 for the past week as several new fish were added.
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0.5 has come down from 1 after K increased dose of NOPoX by 3ml which was 3 days ago

Fish:

(I apologize in going back through my records of purchase it has been just over 3 months since the foxface was purchased not 4)

Bangai Cardinal- 6 months
4” orange diamond goby- 4.5 months
3” zebra barred dart fish- 4.5 months
2” ||
1” ||
long nose hawkfish- 4.5 months
Magnificent Foxface (dying fish)- 3 months
12” zebra eel- 3 months
2.5” fairy wrass- 2.5 months
1.5” leopard wrasse- 2.5 months
3” clown tang- 1.5 months
5” yellowbanded pipefish- 1 week
3” mystery wrasse- 1 week
4” powder blue tang- 1 week
5.5” blonde naso tang- 1 week

-Every fish is happy and they all eat very aggressively with the clown tang and hawkfish being the best.
-The blond naso doesn’t care much for frozen food but if i put seaweed on a clip he goes to town.

(after the 2 additional tangs were added there has been zero aggression between them or any other fish)

(the only issues i have had with aggression is the hawkfish consistently killing any and every peppermint shrimp I add to the tank no matter the size)

-No white string poop
-No spots
-No rapid breathing, even now as he lays in the back corner his breathing is fairly normal maybe only slightly faster than usual.

Since the experts haven't responded yet it's likely they are in bed and may not see this until the morning. I'm not an expert but I do have a little experience dealing with a very sick fish so I'll try to help.

The first thing is that any ammonia in the tank is very very bad and can kill quick. Based on the reading you have it sounds like you may be using an api test kit and they are known for reading ammonia when there's none present. If you do have ammonia then a product like biospira is going to be an important thing to add immediately to get it down to zero.

It's also very possible that a parasite was introduced to your tank that is causing an issue and just isn't showing any other physical symptoms yet. I would recommend a freshwater dip to check for flukes and to offer some relief if there are other parasites. Here's how to do it properly.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

I would then move the foxface to a sterile QT and if you follow the guidelines here you may be able to get him through the night
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/alprazos-salvage-protocol.213599/

 

[reeferjack]

okay I understand the parasite but wouldn’t ammonia be affecting every fish in the tank

 

[Mjrenz]

okay I understand the parasite but wouldn’t ammonia be affecting every fish in the tank

If his gills are damaged it's possible he may be affected worse than the other fish, did he make it through the night? We still need some expert advice here though, are @ngoodermuth @HotRocks or @4FordFamily around yet this morning to help?

 

[ngoodermuth]

I agree, that if the tank was recently re-cycled some bio-spira or Dr. Tim’s or similar would be helpful to manage any ammonia that creeps up with new additions.

But, are you CERTAIN he’s not being badgered by any tangs? Maybe at night after lights off? Is he normal coloration or have stress colors? Can you get a video clip of him now?

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree, that if the tank was recently re-cycled some bio-spira or Dr. Tim’s or similar would be helpful to manage any ammonia that creeps up with new additions.

But, are you CERTAIN he’s not being badgered by any tangs? Maybe at night after lights off? Is he normal coloration or have stress colors? Can you get a video clip of him now?

I am also curious. It's possible that fish suddenly succumb to something, often internal parasites, after seemingly being fine for months. Does the fish have a pinched stomach? White, stringy poop?

Photos would aid us here

 

[Mjrenz]

I am also curious. It's possible that fish suddenly succumb to something, often internal parasites, after seemingly being fine for months. Does the fish have a pinched stomach? White, stringy poop?

Photos would aid us here

It's a lot to read but I did ask about the white poop and he said he hasn't seen any, I didn't ask about the pinched stomach though

 

[reeferjack]

ammonia is at 0 fish is still barley clinging to life. the owner at my lfs came by and he thinks the powder blue may have beat him up.

 

[reeferjack]

the foxface is dead and removed from the tank. now it seems there are some whit spots on my powder blue is it possible he contracted something that killed the foxface?

 

[reeferjack]