Sickly Bluejaw

[Cetus]

Trying to figure out how he passed. He was fine a few days ago but I noticed he looked incredibly dreary today and his condition worsened up until now. Wondering if maybe he wasn’t eating because his insides look kinda sunken but I’m not sure if it was a parasite cause his feces looked fairly average instead of white. The discoloration makes me wonder of my ammonia reader was outdated and that’s what killed him. Any thoughts?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

More history about the fish and tank would be needed, but trying to figure out why a fish died after the fact can be tough. Here is a link to the type of information that we need to know:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Cetus]

More history about the fish and tank would be needed, but trying to figure out why a fish died after the fact can be tough. Here is a link to the type of information that we need to know:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

He was in quarantine for three weeks. Copper was around 2.1 and metronidazole was being dosed every two days. He was in those conditions for around a week before he showed signs of deterioration. I never saw him eating but food did disappear and I would catch glimpses of him pecking around at stuff. I wonder if he did starve to death though. But his health only took a rapid downfall in the past three or so days so I’m not sure.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

He was in quarantine for three weeks. Copper was around 2.1 and metronidazole was being dosed every two days. He was in those conditions for around a week before he showed signs of deterioration. I never saw him eating but food did disappear and I would catch glimpses of him pecking around at stuff. I wonder if he did starve to death though. But his health only took a rapid downfall in the past three or so days so I’m not sure.

The fish doesn't look overly thin.
You can test ammonia after-the-fact, that would at least give your some assurance about the issue.
Did you see rapid breathing prior to death?
Did you ever give it a FW dip?
Any other fish in that same tank now?

I prefer not to use metronidazole, and when I do, it is as an oral med at 5000 ppt in gel diet, and not while dosing copper. I don't have any stats to base this on, just a preference not to hit fish with multiple meds at one time.

Jay

 

[Cetus]

The fish doesn't look overly thin.
You can test ammonia after-the-fact, that would at least give your some assurance about the issue.
Did you see rapid breathing prior to death?
Did you ever give it a FW dip?
Any other fish in that same tank now?

I prefer not to use metronidazole, and when I do, it is as an oral med at 5000 ppt in gel diet, and not while dosing copper. I don't have any stats to base this on, just a preference not to hit fish with multiple meds at one time.

Jay

Just checked and the Ammonia reads 0 with the test kit. I didn't really get a good look at the breathing but it didn't seem too out of the ordinary. I never gave a freshwater dip. There are also no other fish in the QT tank. It was 20 gallons and the triggerfish was the only one in it. It had a plastic cup and PVC tube it hid in.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Just checked and the Ammonia reads 0 with the test kit. I didn't really get a good look at the breathing but it didn't seem too out of the ordinary. I never gave a freshwater dip. There are also no other fish in the QT tank. It was 20 gallons and the triggerfish was the only one in it. It had a plastic cup and PVC tube it hid in.

O.K. - tough to say then. In the first picture, was the trigger still alive? It has some blotchiness to its skin, that could indicate a bacterial infection, or velvet (but velvet wo7uld have also have had really fast breathing).

At this point, all I can suggest is to strip the tank down and start over....sorry.

jay

 

[Cetus]

O.K. - tough to say then. In the first picture, was the trigger still alive? It has some blotchiness to its skin, that could indicate a bacterial infection, or velvet (but velvet wo7uld have also have had really fast breathing).

At this point, all I can suggest is to strip the tank down and start over....sorry.

jay

Interesting. Would velvet be able to spread like that after a week or so in therapeutic copper conditions?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Interesting. Would velvet be able to spread like that after a week or so in therapeutic copper conditions?

Velvet can be tough to eliminate and it takes time, it often kills faster than the time it takes to control it.

What copper were you using?

Jay

 

[Cetus]

Velvet can be tough to eliminate and it takes time, it often kills faster than the time it takes to control it.

What copper were you using?

Jay

Copper power and its been at therapeutic levels for around two or so weeks until it died. About 2.0 or something.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Copper power and its been at therapeutic levels for around two or so weeks until it died. About 2.0 or something.

I keep hearing rumors that copper power sometimes needs to be at 2.5 to control velvet, but I can’t confirm that for you.
Jay

 

[Cetus]

I keep hearing rumors that copper power sometimes needs to be at 2.5 to control velvet, but I can’t confirm that for you.
Jay

I thought the rumor was 1.75 being the new height? I'm not sure so... I think I'll just need to try again and hope for the best. I'm starting to think it wasn't velvet because images of velvet show them covered in this sort of sickly film with white dots everywhere while my trigger really didn't have that. I'll try again soon but yeah I'll try not dosing at the same time and watch more carefully after I clean the tank out of course. He could've also starved which was what I thought. It's a bit difficult to see but the stomach was somewhat sunken in and I'm worried that might've been the cause. I'm not sure what prevented him from eating but I did never see him eat so... Maybe.