kaiboshi
09/08/2008, 05:12 PM
I'm trying to figure out whether my bannerfish has an illness of some nature or is being harassed at night to an extreme degree.
I purchased said bannerfish about a month ago in beautiful condition, about 3 inches in length with a dorsal almost 6 inches long. After about a week I noticed some very small holes in the fish's pelvic fins, upon closer inspection I noticed that there were small patches of missing scales. I went to my LFS guy that I usually consult and he suggested that it was probably some kind of agression at night that I was missing. I decided to try treating the tank with melafix marine just in case and after a week he was mostly healed up, the biggest patch of missing scales was growing back. After almost a week I went on vacation for a few days as was planned. Upon my return the patches of missing scales were back and the dorsal fin was literally half the length it was when I had left. The evening I returned I was watching my tank after the lights had gone out for a while and I noticed one of my clowns nipping at the dorsal. I also noticed that the bannerfish now had some sorta splotchy things on his tail (and only his tail) and was shimmying and itching himself a lot more than normal.
I decided to observe for a while to try to figure out what the heck was going on and I noticed that over time the veins/arteries at the base of it's tail are becoming more and more pronounced. I also noticed that the bannerfish has decided that my dwarf lionfish (both of them) are scratching posts. It keeps swimming very close to the lionfish and tries to itch himself on them. I thought that that was signing his own death warrant but he's been at it for like a week and a half now.
The bannerfish has remained active, hungry and curious the entire time. I'm not really sure what is going on or what I should do. I figure the lack of scales in some places is from the increased itching and the dorsal thing from the nasty little clowns. I've got no clue what the splotches on his tail or the veins/arteries are about. No one else in the tank has been effected thus far aside from the fuel to the lionfish's silent rage (they have been very good at protecting the bannerfish from their spines). Any thoughts would be great, I'd love to take care of whatever is plaguing the bannerfish and protect the rest of my inhabitants.
I purchased said bannerfish about a month ago in beautiful condition, about 3 inches in length with a dorsal almost 6 inches long. After about a week I noticed some very small holes in the fish's pelvic fins, upon closer inspection I noticed that there were small patches of missing scales. I went to my LFS guy that I usually consult and he suggested that it was probably some kind of agression at night that I was missing. I decided to try treating the tank with melafix marine just in case and after a week he was mostly healed up, the biggest patch of missing scales was growing back. After almost a week I went on vacation for a few days as was planned. Upon my return the patches of missing scales were back and the dorsal fin was literally half the length it was when I had left. The evening I returned I was watching my tank after the lights had gone out for a while and I noticed one of my clowns nipping at the dorsal. I also noticed that the bannerfish now had some sorta splotchy things on his tail (and only his tail) and was shimmying and itching himself a lot more than normal.
I decided to observe for a while to try to figure out what the heck was going on and I noticed that over time the veins/arteries at the base of it's tail are becoming more and more pronounced. I also noticed that the bannerfish has decided that my dwarf lionfish (both of them) are scratching posts. It keeps swimming very close to the lionfish and tries to itch himself on them. I thought that that was signing his own death warrant but he's been at it for like a week and a half now.
The bannerfish has remained active, hungry and curious the entire time. I'm not really sure what is going on or what I should do. I figure the lack of scales in some places is from the increased itching and the dorsal thing from the nasty little clowns. I've got no clue what the splotches on his tail or the veins/arteries are about. No one else in the tank has been effected thus far aside from the fuel to the lionfish's silent rage (they have been very good at protecting the bannerfish from their spines). Any thoughts would be great, I'd love to take care of whatever is plaguing the bannerfish and protect the rest of my inhabitants.