Sick Snowflake eel

[Jeffc1527]

Hello, I have had my snowflake eel for a little over 2 years now and he’s done absolutely amazing. Recently tho he’s been showing some odd behavior. I recently have had trouble with nitrates in his tank and have aggressively been combating them. I have now gotten them down to 5ppm. However my eel is now sitting out in the open, not moving much, being very skidish when any fish comes near and has stop accepting any and all food which is extremely concerning cause he would eat anything any day up until this point. I have noticed a clue to this mysterious illness and that is that along with not eating and being skidish he is breathing very fast and the out and inside of his mouth is bright red. Any suggestions?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello, I have had my snowflake eel for a little over 2 years now and he’s done absolutely amazing. Recently tho he’s been showing some odd behavior. I recently have had trouble with nitrates in his tank and have aggressively been combating them. I have now gotten them down to 5ppm. However my eel is now sitting out in the open, not moving much, being very skidish when any fish comes near and has stop accepting any and all food which is extremely concerning cause he would eat anything any day up until this point. I have noticed a clue to this mysterious illness and that is that along with not eating and being skidish he is breathing very fast and the out and inside of his mouth is bright red. Any suggestions?

Are you sure you are not getting false readings on nitrate which is eels are sensitive to?
I would look at filtration to assure no restrictions or waste in the filters. Snowflakes are known to go on hunger strikes, so the lack of feeding no concern right now.
are eyes clear? Are you able to add airstone to increase oxygen?
Has water temperature increased or salinity decreased?

 

[Jeffc1527]

Are you sure you are not getting false readings on nitrate which is eels are sensitive to?
I would look at filtration to assure no restrictions or waste in the filters. Snowflakes are known to go on hunger strikes, so the lack of feeding no concern right now.
are eyes clear? Are you able to add airstone to increase oxygen?
Has water temperature increased or salinity decreased?

The salinity is at 1.021
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 5ppm
Temperature 77F

i will take apart filters today to clean them and do another water change.
as for the redness in the mouth I believe that may be a bacterial infection but I’m not sure?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello, I have had my snowflake eel for a little over 2 years now and he’s done absolutely amazing. Recently tho he’s been showing some odd behavior. I recently have had trouble with nitrates in his tank and have aggressively been combating them. I have now gotten them down to 5ppm. However my eel is now sitting out in the open, not moving much, being very skidish when any fish comes near and has stop accepting any and all food which is extremely concerning cause he would eat anything any day up until this point. I have noticed a clue to this mysterious illness and that is that along with not eating and being skidish he is breathing very fast and the out and inside of his mouth is bright red. Any suggestions?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

How did you "combat nitrates" - water changes, absorbing materials, liquids?
Can you post a short video of the eel?

Jay

 

[Jeffc1527]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

How did you "combat nitrates" - water changes, absorbing materials, liquids?
Can you post a short video of the eel?

Jay

I did 10-20% water changes and added some nitrate pads, not sure if they will do anything, as well as new bags of chemi pure. I will post of video of him shortly

 

[vetteguy53081]

The salinity is at 1.021
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 5ppm
Temperature 77F

i will take apart filters today to clean them and do another water change.
as for the redness in the mouth I believe that may be a bacterial infection but I’m not sure?

What test kits are you using?
Salinity is on low end of their requirement 1.021- 1.026 with 1.024 ideal. Temp 74 to 78 76 is medium and ph 8.2-8.3. If you are not using a skimmer- I would to remove dissolverd inorganics due to their messy houekeeping and need for good water quality which contributes to their overall health

 

[Jeffc1527]

What test kits are you using?
Salinity is on low end of their requirement 1.021- 1.026 with 1.024 ideal. Temp 74 to 78 76 is medium and ph 8.2-8.3. If you are not using a skimmer- I would to remove dissolverd inorganics due to their messy houekeeping and need for good water quality which contributes to their overall health

The only test kits I have right now are the api master test kits for saltwater, and a automatic spinner. The temp is 76 now, salinity is still 1.021 and ph is 8.2. I do have a very large skimmer running as well.

 

[Jeffc1527]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

How did you "combat nitrates" - water changes, absorbing materials, liquids?
Can you post a short video of the eel?

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

yes, labored breathing. I see a bit of suspended sediment. I would highly recommend taking a good size water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use Api kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours. I have Low confidence from experience and based on many reefers who failed using API kits notorious for false reading often showing numbers lower and I personally will Not trust a $7 badge or $25 master kit to properly sustain several hundreds of dollars of livestock.

 

[Jeffc1527]

yes, labored breathing. I see a bit of suspended sediment. I would highly recommend taking a good size water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use Api kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours. I have Low confidence from experience and based on many reefers who failed using API kits notorious for false reading often showing numbers lower and I personally will Not trust a $7 badge or $25 master kit to properly sustain several hundreds of dollars of livestock.

I will definitely do that. I never was a fan of the api kits but to be completely honest I don't know what testing to get that's any better without spending a lot of money. Do you have any suggestions. I've heard good things about the hanna testers

 

[vetteguy53081]

I will definitely do that. I never was a fan of the api kits but to be completely honest I don't know what testing to get that's any better without spending a lot of money. Do you have any suggestions. I've heard good things about the hanna testers

Its worth the money and accuracy and Hanna is all on sale for black Friday sales

Salifert or Hanna

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The eel is breathing very deep and fast, that combined with not eating shows it has a serious problem.

What other fish and invertebrates are in this tank, are they showing any signs of having issues?

Jay

 

[Jeffc1527]

The eel is breathing very deep and fast, that combined with not eating shows it has a serious problem.

What other fish and invertebrates are in this tank, are they showing any signs of having issues?

Jay

There is a porcupine puffer and a panther grouper. Both breathing normally and eating very good. I did notice my porcupine puffer seems a little swollen in the stomach area almost like she didn’t deflate all the way after puffing up. I’ve been giving her peas thinking it could be constipation but now looking at her closely it looks as if there is a white spot on her, not like ich or velvet it’s almost as if she has a birth mark on her that I’ve never seen before and it’s white her skin in that one area is white. The area is little less than a penny size. As for the snowflake his mouth seems more red. To my knowledge these are a sign of bacterial infection? Could the nitrates cause a bacterial infection

 

[Jwise]

Yes api is Garbage to use for testing i use the red sea test kits which are much better and a lot more accurate than api. I highly recommend Red Sea for testing.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There is a porcupine puffer and a panther grouper. Both breathing normally and eating very good. I did notice my porcupine puffer seems a little swollen in the stomach area almost like she didn’t deflate all the way after puffing up. I’ve been giving her peas thinking it could be constipation but now looking at her closely it looks as if there is a white spot on her, not like ich or velvet it’s almost as if she has a birth mark on her that I’ve never seen before and it’s white her skin in that one area is white. The area is little less than a penny size. As for the snowflake his mouth seems more red. To my knowledge these are a sign of bacterial infection? Could the nitrates cause a bacterial infection

Nitrates won’t cause bacterial infections and really aren’t that toxic to fish, not to the point of causing this rapid breathing in the eel.
The other fish acting ok helps rule out velvet, a common cause of rapid breathing.
I don’t know if this is a bacterial infection or not, but it could be. However, you would need a treatment tank to use antibiotics, do you have one?
Jay

 

[Jeffc1527]

Nitrates won’t cause bacterial infections and really aren’t that toxic to fish, not to the point of causing this rapid breathing in the eel.
The other fish acting ok helps rule out velvet, a common cause of rapid breathing.
I don’t know if this is a bacterial infection or not, but it could be. However, you would need a treatment tank to use antibiotics, do you have one?
Jay

yes i do. Unfortunately the only medications I currently have on hand are coppersafe, copper power, maracyn oxy, melafix, prazi pro, ich x, and metro plex and focus. I dont believe any of these would be helpful in this situation, especially not the copper. Ive heard good things about seachems Kanaplex, should I try it?

 

[Jeffc1527]

yes i do. Unfortunately the only medications I currently have on hand are coppersafe, copper power, maracyn oxy, melafix, prazi pro, ich x, and metro plex and focus. I dont believe any of these would be helpful in this situation, especially not the copper. Ive heard good things about seachems Kanaplex, should I try it?

this is my porcupine puffer, about 3 years old. Abdomen looks a little swollen to me. She's been like this for about a week now. Gave her some peas as I thought it was constipation and the swelling did go down a bit but definitely not Normal. She is acting normal and eating still. Doesn't have labored breathing and seems to be swimming ok. She seems to be a little less active than normal but slowly coming back to normal. As for the eel, he is still breathing rapidly.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

yes i do. Unfortunately the only medications I currently have on hand are coppersafe, copper power, maracyn oxy, melafix, prazi pro, ich x, and metro plex and focus. I dont believe any of these would be helpful in this situation, especially not the copper. Ive heard good things about seachems Kanaplex, should I try it?

Yes - eels don't like copper. Kanaplex is a good antibiotic.

Jay