Sick longnose hawk fish

[Stuckita]

hey everyone, I have a long nose hawkfish that isn't doing well and looking for some advice.

I had a tank that recently completed a move about a month ago, everything seemed stable.

I've been struggling with low nutrients/some dinos/cyano so I decided to turn the UV back on (Ostreopsis) immediately after turning the UV on some of my acros had a really strange reaction and put out a lot of filaments. The next morning my clown goby was missing, the other tank mates behavior was off, and the long nose hawkfish was on the tank bottom not really responsive with heavy breathing.

I didn't think about the UV connection at the time and assumed there was aggression over night causing the goby to go missing and longnose to be stressed. That evening the goby was around, but long nose had cloudy eyes and was hardly moving. I removed the UV and added activated carbon. Within 20m all of the fish behavior became normal, except for the long nose. The next morning the long nose eyes were less cloudy some strength seems to be back, but the longnose just sits motionless and won't eat.

Unfortunately I had to go on a work trip and my wife is monitoring the situation.

Any one know what could cause this? Heavy metals from the UV or pump? Some of the toxins released from killing the dinos? Any way to best care for the longnose?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

hey everyone, I have a long nose hawkfish that isn't doing well and looking for some advice.

I had a tank that recently completed a move about a month ago, everything seemed stable.

I've been struggling with low nutrients/some dinos/cyano so I decided to turn the UV back on (Ostreopsis) immediately after turning the UV on some of my acros had a really strange reaction and put out a lot of filaments. The next morning my clown goby was missing, the other tank mates behavior was off, and the long nose hawkfish was on the tank bottom not really responsive with heavy breathing.

I didn't think about the UV connection at the time and assumed there was aggression over night causing the goby to go missing and longnose to be stressed. That evening the goby was around, but long nose had cloudy eyes and was hardly moving. I removed the UV and added activated carbon. Within 20m all of the fish behavior became normal, except for the long nose. The next morning the long nose eyes were less cloudy some strength seems to be back, but the longnose just sits motionless and won't eat.

Unfortunately I had to go on a work trip and my wife is monitoring the situation.

Any one know what could cause this? Heavy metals from the UV or pump? Some of the toxins released from killing the dinos? Any way to best care for the longnose?

Thanks in advance!

What other fish are in the tank and how were they affected?
Are the corals acting better now?

While toxins from dinoflagellates are something I think is under reported, unless you had a free-living species, I don't see how they could have gotten exposed to the UV.

Could the UV chamber gone anoxic? Was water still flowing through the unit, but just with the light itself off, or did you close water flow through the unit?

 

[Stuckita]

What other fish are in the tank and how were they affected?
Are the corals acting better now?

While toxins from dinoflagellates are something I think is under reported, unless you had a free-living species, I don't see how they could have gotten exposed to the UV.

Could the UV chamber gone anoxic? Was water still flowing through the unit, but just with the light itself off, or did you close water flow through the unit?

So currently the tank is pretty full from a bioload perspective and a week earlier there was a new addition but everyone got a long fine and had plenty of territory to claim. Waterbox 35.2.
-2 clowns (3 years)
-1 royal gramma (2.5 years)
-1 long nose hawkfish (2 years)
-1 clown goby (1 year)
-1 sharknose goby (8m)
-1 midas blenny (1 week)

All corals show good color and polyp extension including all acros.

When the UV was in the shark nose goby (normally front and center on the glass) was missing, the royal gramma wouldn't come out for food and was hidden even though lights were on. The clowns unphased per usual. Midas blenny seemed normal in his cave watching but less active. The clown goby lives in a stylo and is a rare sight on a good day - as soon as the UV came out and the carbon was in all fish besides the long nose came back to the water column.

Can you explain anoxic? One other theory I have is since the UV was removed during my move that something rusted and introduced heavy metals? An additional detail was although the UV bulb was turning on, when I removed it I pulled the light out and there was a piece of meal moving in it (i've thrown the bulb out now) could it be copper or aluminum leeching?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So currently the tank is pretty full from a bioload perspective and a week earlier there was a new addition but everyone got a long fine and had plenty of territory to claim. Waterbox 35.2.
-2 clowns (3 years)
-1 royal gramma (2.5 years)
-1 long nose hawkfish (2 years)
-1 clown goby (1 year)
-1 sharknose goby (8m)
-1 midas blenny (1 week)

All corals show good color and polyp extension including all acros.

When the UV was in the shark nose goby (normally front and center on the glass) was missing, the royal gramma wouldn't come out for food and was hidden even though lights were on. The clowns unphased per usual. Midas blenny seemed normal in his cave watching but less active. The clown goby lives in a stylo and is a rare sight on a good day - as soon as the UV came out and the carbon was in all fish besides the long nose came back to the water column.

Can you explain anoxic? One other theory I have is since the UV was removed during my move that something rusted and introduced heavy metals? An additional detail was although the UV bulb was turning on, when I removed it I pulled the light out and there was a piece of meal moving in it (i've thrown the bulb out now) could it be copper or aluminum leeching?

Anoxic means without oxygen. If water was trapped inside the UV chamber, bacterial growth would have used up all of the oxygen. Under low to no oxygen conditions, anaerobic bacteria then can grow that produce hydrogen sulfide. Then, if that water is flushed into a tank, it can become toxic to the animals. Exposure to oxygen rapidly changes the sulfide to sulfate and that isn't toxic. That probably wasn't the case here, but I wanted to rule that out.

What did the piece of metal look like? Was it corroded? I can't imagine how a piece of metal could have gotten inside the water chamber of a UV unit.....

 

[Stuckita]

Anoxic means without oxygen. If water was trapped inside the UV chamber, bacterial growth would have used up all of the oxygen. Under low to no oxygen conditions, anaerobic bacteria then can grow that produce hydrogen sulfide. Then, if that water is flushed into a tank, it can become toxic to the animals. Exposure to oxygen rapidly changes the sulfide to sulfate and that isn't toxic. That probably wasn't the case here, but I wanted to rule that out.

What did the piece of metal look like? Was it corroded? I can't imagine how a piece of metal could have gotten inside the water chamber of a UV unit.....

You know that could have happened... I removed the UV put it in a box, than travelled, there could have been water trapped inside?

The metal was still in the bulb not exposed. When you shook the bulb you could hear it move, kind of like a dead house hold light bulb.

 

[W31Olds]

UV's are typcally all plastic with a quartz tube in the center. The only metal would be at the bulb connections or the housing connector and if those are getting wet you need to pull the plug ASAP and inspect the unit as you'd have a shock hazard.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You know that could have happened... I removed the UV put it in a box, than travelled, there could have been water trapped inside?

The metal was still in the bulb not exposed. When you shook the bulb you could hear it move, kind of like a dead house hold light bulb.

Likely you have a broken tube within chamber. Take unit apart and inspect