Firefish starving to death

[isis.aphrodite.]

About 2 months ago my firefish started hiding all the time. About a month ago it stopped coming out to eat. I moved the rocks and got it today. It cannot swim, its fins look tattered and its not much more than bones now. I have offered it food but it wont eat.....what might it eat or want....is there anything I can do to save it or is it just so sick its going to die now?

[xxmindgamesxx]

About 2 months ago my firefish started hiding all the time. About a month ago it stopped coming out to eat. I moved the rocks and got it today. It cannot swim, its fins look tattered and its not much more than bones now. I have offered it food but it wont eat.....what might it eat or want....is there anything I can do to save it or is it just so sick its going to die now?
I had a damsel that did the same thing, it didnt make it... but good luck!

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[isis.aphrodite.]

Thank you for your reply. I dont even know why it started hiding. I have had it almost a year.

[xxmindgamesxx]

Thank you for your reply. I dont even know why it started hiding. I have had it almost a year.
Oh wow, ive had mine for like 2 weeks only.

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[isis.aphrodite.]

Honestly the only thing I have come up with is that it was scared or my kids or my clownfish and hid until it got too weak to come out anymore

[xxmindgamesxx]

Honestly the only thing I have come up with is that it was scared or my kids or my clownfish and hid until it got too weak to come out anymore
My damsel was like in the rocks for a day or two but whencit came out, i could tell that it was guna die..

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[CindyK]

What were you feeding it? Mine is picky and will only eat frozen. No pellets or flakes. Any chance the clown or another fish was bullying it? Maybe move it to a hospital tank if you have one to rule out bullying, and offer foods you've observed him eat?

I'm new, so that's just my thoughts...

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[isis.aphrodite.]

I feed pellet food and he/she was eating it fine for 6-7 months. I had caught the clowns chasing it once or twice but nothing really serious

[Fiver]

I'd move it to a bare bottom hospital tank with some PVC pipes to hide in. Try frozen and/or start hatching live brine shrimp to see if it'll eat those.

[Sk8r]

Could be age. When fish are wild-caught as adults we don't know how old they are.

[TauntingBeef]

i had one do the same and now I'm battleing ick or flukes so that could be something

[2smokes]

Could be age and firefish have a short lifespan of 2 years maximum the N Decora and 3-4 years N magnifica.

[JMorris271]

I have a firefish that had a very damaged top fin to the degree that it broke off. The fish has always hidden but comes out at least once in awhile and eats. After a bit, i noticed that its' fin has completely regenerated itself and now I see it swimming about much more often.
Perhaps yours is just injured.

[g_langley]

My money is on the clownfish being the issue, I had the same happen to me.

[isis.aphrodite.]

I still have it in a separate area, it cant see any of the other fish. It will not eat....it kinda seems like its trying to die

[g_langley]

I do not think this is going to be a happy ending unless you get the FF out of the tank and isolate in another tank with a hiding place - you can then spot feed live food (pods, gut loaded brine shrimp - thaw out some frozen rotifers and put the cube in with the brine shrimp).

[Timfish]

Could be age. When fish are wild-caught as adults we don't know how old they are.

+1 Additionally we are still pretty much in the dark ages when it comes to medical science for our fish. There is not a lot of data available on the life expectancies of individual species but what is available on fish in aquaria suggests they may be capable of outliving their wild counterparts. I've had dwarf angels live as long or slightly longer than the 10 year maximum recorded for wild Coral Beauties. 2-5 years is good for a lot of gobies/blennies. Some of the wrasses the supermales only live months in the wild. Tangs should live 3-4 decades & Clowns live 2 1/2 decades (I'm still working on those :) ).