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View Full Version : Fish haven't eaten for a week and a half.


Reefer1991
04/11/2017, 06:46 PM
Hey guys, I'm new to the site so I'm not sure if I should post this hear, but on 4/2 I got a coral beauty and a pink watchman goby in the mail. I have them in a 20 gallon quarantine with some pvc pipes, an airstone, and a hob filter which I seeded with my display tank (3 month old 75 gallon mixed reef). The coral beauty has awesome colors and looks very healthy. He is always pecking at the pvc pipes like he's hungry but will not eat anything I offer. I've tried frozen mysis, blood worms, rods fish eggs, brine shrimp, Omega one garlic flakes, ocean nutrition formula 2 flakes, new life spectrum pellets, and also tried all of them with garlic juice. Neither the coral beauty or the watchman goby shown any interest. They act link I didn't even put food in the tank. At this point I'm pretty worried they're going to starve even thought they look healthy. The goby looks a little thin. How long can fish go without eating? Any advice to get them eating? I really like this coral beauty so Id like to get him eating. Thanks!

Reefer1991
04/11/2017, 06:47 PM
I have also tried ocean nutrition algae sheets. Ammonia and nitrites 0 and nitrates are 2-5 ppm

jam.jo
04/12/2017, 12:41 AM
Try feeding your coral beauty Spirulina or Spirulina brine shrimp, tangs and angels are known for pecking at rocks for algae so you have to make sure they are getting plenty of algae in their diet. I use Julian Sprung's sea veggies, attach to clip and put on inside of glass. You can try feeding your little goby plankton, small Mysis, and other carnivorous frozen foods. Your fish likely will not eat pellet or flake food while in QT especially if they were wild collected and not accustomed to eating pellets or flakes. After they are settled into the display you can try feeding both to see if they will start to accept pellets, but I only feed my fish Seaweed Extreme pellets or Thera A Life Spectrum Pellets for my tangs (the pellets are too big for small fish). Pellets or flakes are very nutrient dense and can throw off your phosphate and nitrate balance in the tank and cause an algae problem if overfed which is easy to do with pellets. I typically mix Mysis, spirulina brine shrimp, plankton, and Cyclops with a tad bit of saltwater to thaw the food, mix, and then feed about a tablespoon each feeding three times a day. Then also Julian Sprungs Sea Veggies once a day (take it out after several hours before it starts to decay) I have 2 tangs, yellow watchman goby, 2 clownfish, lawnmower blenny, and 2 firefish.

scooter31707
04/12/2017, 09:14 AM
have you seen any symptoms of parasites. Especially with the angel, could possibly have flukes.

Reefer1991
04/12/2017, 11:14 AM
The angel seemed less shy today and actually ate a peice of brine shrimp. But now I notice a little white blemish on the side of his face. It doesn't look that much like ich. There is only one of them, it is a grayish white color, and it protrudes a little bit so it's on the surface. It definitely wasn't there yesterday. The picture makes it look a lot more like ich than it does in person. Should I start treating them with hypo? Of course I get happy that the fish is eating then this happens.

Reefer1991
04/12/2017, 11:39 AM
There's some stuff on the ground that looks somewhat like the dot so I'm just hoping a piece got stuck to him haha.

scooter31707
04/12/2017, 12:12 PM
I would probably treat with Prazi-Pro.

Reefer1991
04/12/2017, 02:04 PM
I would probably treat with Prazi-Pro.

The dots gone so I guess it was just something stuck to him. I'm not going to treat him with prazi pro yet because he doesn't seem stressed or anything and he finally started eating. The goby hasn't tho. They don't scratch against anything like they are irritated either.

scooter31707
04/13/2017, 08:01 AM
The dots gone so I guess it was just something stuck to him. I'm not going to treat him with prazi pro yet because he doesn't seem stressed or anything and he finally started eating. The goby hasn't tho. They don't scratch against anything like they are irritated either.

Ok. Is it any head twitching or their fins flicker?

luislimon
04/13/2017, 10:54 PM
Most fish specially tangs and Dwarf angles that like to eat poo arrive with worms. You should treat with prazi-pro. Is very well tolerated by fish.

You get internal worms and flukes in one shoot.


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Reefer1991
04/14/2017, 08:46 AM
The fish isn't flashing or anything. He's behaving totally normal. Only problem is he sucks the food in then spits it out like he doesn't like it. He used to not even acknowledge the food so he must be getting more comfortable. I don't have prazi so I would have to go out and get some which I wouldn't be able to do till tomorrow.
Would hypo kill flukes and worms? I am probably going to give them hypo for 5 weeks for a precaution. I wasn't going to but after seeing the dot on the fish which most likely wasn't ich, it got my paranoid haha. Prazi doesn't kill ich, correct?

Reefer1991
04/14/2017, 08:48 AM
I also noticed there are a lot of copepods in the qt since I used some water and a seeded pad from my display. The coral beauty is always pecking at the glass so I'm assuming he's atleast eating some pods.

luislimon
04/14/2017, 08:58 AM
Hypo salinity does not cure flukes or worms.
One thing that works for me is adding a fish that is eating like a mollie. He will show them the stuff is food. Wild fish don't know any better.


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Reefer1991
04/20/2017, 06:48 PM
So I started the prazi treatment 2 days ago. Was it stupid that I did that without giving the angel a fw dip to know for sure if he had flukes?

FishN00b83
04/21/2017, 08:08 AM
So I started the prazi treatment 2 days ago. Was it stupid that I did that without giving the angel a fw dip to know for sure if he had flukes?

No I put every fish through prazipro. It's easy on the fish and it gets rid of a bunch of parasites. Most of the time two rounds is all you need. If you need an other round or two it's not that big of a deal.

Reefer1991
04/24/2017, 08:14 AM
I'm about to start the second round of treatment. The coral beauty seems to be kind of twitchy in the way it moves. Sometimes he'll swim around calmly and other times he'll have real rapid movements(not sure how to explain it exactly lol). So I'm not sure if he is just stressed, the prazi isn't working, or he has ich. I still haven't seen any white dots except for the one I mentioned a while back but it was only there for a couple hours so it was most likely just sometching stuck to him. Could this just be the lack of space in the 20g qt stressing him out?

Reefer1991
04/25/2017, 09:01 AM
Welp the gobies stomach is shrunken in pretty bad. The coral beauty eats like a pig but I still haven't been able to get the goby to eat. If I decide to get another watchman, should I put sand in the qt?

Reefer1991
04/26/2017, 03:58 PM
I read that once gobies begin to starve, their body consumes their stomach. Is this true? There is a pretty good indent where his stomach is. I was going to go out and buy some more food but I would like to know if it is probably too late.
Here's some pics. You can see his bones on his sides. You can't tell from the angle, but where his stomach is there's a pretty deep indent. You can only see it when he is swimming and you look directly at his underside. Any advice? Is it too late? I really don't want him to die but I know he's probably too far gone. Just wanted to know if there is any hope for him. He is currently still not eating that I know of.

Reefer1991
04/26/2017, 08:14 PM
Any help please????My angelfish does not rub up against anything anymore but he is very skittish. Does this mean he still has flukes or has ich? Sometimes he will tilt his body at a angle and "flutter" his tail and left fin. He will also turn his head back and forth real quick a couple times almost like what you would do before crossing the street. Not quite a twitch, but almost like he is really skittish. or he will be swimming and then all of the sudden change direction real quick. I don't know if I am just paranoid, but I'm very hesitant to put this fish in my display. Any input please???? I would really appreciate it.

juanmanuelsanch
04/27/2017, 12:08 AM
A video and some pictures could help...

Reefer1991
04/27/2017, 06:28 AM
There is a picture of the coral beauty about 16 comments back. There are also pictures of my goby 2 comments back. I'll try to get a video posted soon. Here's the pictures again.

Reefer1991
04/27/2017, 06:47 AM
You can see the dent in the gobies stomach from this angle.(picture at the bottom)


The coral beauty seems to be swimming fine now but she doesn't swim weird all the time. Sometimes I'll go in my room and she is real twitchy in the way she moves, and will occasionally tilt her body to the side and flutters her tail fin and side fin. I am just trying to figure out what's wrong. They are on the last day of the 2nd prazi treatment so they should be fluke free. Do you think it's ich or I'm just paranoid? Like I said, no rubbing on the pvc anymore from what I can tell. Maybe he will brush up on the pvc while swimming every once in a while but I think it is more of an accidental thing. Before, he would repetitively rub his right gill. That hasn't happened since the prazi treatment.

reef cuber
04/28/2017, 06:17 AM
If he is wild caught, have you tried live brine shrimp?

Reefer1991
04/28/2017, 07:45 AM
If he is wild caught, have you tried live brine shrimp?

Last night he decided to actually eat after 3 weeks of starving himself. He is very skinny to the point you can see his spine but he devoured a bunch of mysis last night and the indent in his stomach isn't there since he is now full of food lol. He still isn't out of the red zone though just because of how skinny he is but I have hope. Do you have any idea what's up with the behavior with the coral beauty? When he tilts his body and flutters his left fin and tail it really puzzles me. It's almost like he becomes paralyzed for a few seconds and can only move those fins. I doubt he is actually paralyzed lol but it looks weird. I would try to get a video but it's hard to catch him doing it since it's not often. Other than that he seems healthy and is eating other than spastic movements every once in a while but that may be from stress. Can somebody please just give me input on what they think it may be? They are done with the 2 prazi doses so they are fluke free I'd assume. I'm going to observe for 2 or 3 more weeks. If the odd swimming is all I observe, I'm probably going to put the 2 fish into my dt. Just wanted to hear your guys 2 cents on what you would do.

Reefer1991
04/28/2017, 08:03 AM
I also saw the goby poop. At first it looked normal but then a yellowish brown string came out. Does this mean he still has an internal parasite? I figured two doses of prazi would take care of that. Or maybe it just looks weird since it's the first time he has eaten in a long time. What do you guys think?

Reefer1991
04/28/2017, 07:13 PM
Even though Noone is responding, I guess Ill keep posting updates/questions. Wow... I just witnessed my goby bite my coral beauty and whip him around till the angel got loose. I guess now that he is eating, he wants to be greedy and eat a whole fish lol. Is this a normal thing for gobies? I am now very hesitant to add him to my tank and I am also tempted to make another qt for the angel to get him away from the goby.

ginpang
04/29/2017, 04:04 AM
Sounds like territorial behaviour.

I would separate them for remainder of Qt and hunt down some ocean nutrition angel formula or their awesome variety pack.

Also if I felt like lack of space and stress were hindering qting process I would pick the one that's doing best and put him in Display ( continuing prazi in dt)
But not seeing your fish makes it hard to give proper advice... which is probably why you didn't get much feedback above [emoji1369].

Hope they pull through.




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Reefer1991
04/29/2017, 05:41 AM
Sounds like territorial behaviour.

But not seeing your fish makes it hard to give proper advice... which is probably why you didn't get much feedback above [emoji1369].





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Do the pictures not show up? When I say "here's a picture" or "pictures at the bottom" it's because I attatch a picture to my comment. It shows up for me but maybe not for everyone else. Since the second prazi treatment is done, I might just wait 2 more days to be a little more safe that he's healthy then possibly add him to my dt or make him his own qt.

Reefer1991
04/29/2017, 06:19 AM
https://plus.google.com/107054426560917985851/posts/3C29x5ofTbS
Hopefully that link works. The goby isn't as skinny as he is in that picture because he is now eating but I am still worried about the stringy poo. Both the coral beauty and goby have it but not all of the time. The angels is brown where as the gobies is yellowish brown. Is this normal since they have been eating a lot of mysis lately or do they have worms? If so what would you recommend to treat with because I already did 2 rounds of prazi.

Reefer1991
04/29/2017, 06:38 AM
I just watched them very closely for about 20 mins. The goby still had the indent in his stomach. Last night I could of sworn it wasn't there anymore. So I guess maybe his stomach might be too shrunken in to make a comeback.

Reefer1991
04/30/2017, 07:17 PM
The angel just rubbed his right gill again repetitively for a few minutes then stopped. Ughhhh I don't know what to do.

Reefer1991
04/30/2017, 07:32 PM
Here's a video of him I took 5 minutes ago.
https://plus.google.com/107054426560917985851/posts/2LYopipEk7Z
You can see him flash and near the end he kind of does the odd flutter with his fins. Just a reminder, this is after 2 rounds of prazi pro, and there haven't been any visual signs of any parasites. Just this gill rubbing which seems like it usually occurs later in the day. From seeing this video, what would you guys do if you were in my position. Please give me some feedback. I really don't know if I should treat for ich or what. He eats like a pig. Please, any suggestions?

Reefer1991
05/04/2017, 07:16 PM
OK well I dropped the salinity down 1.008. Is this ok to do instead of 1.009? The fish seem a little stressed and the goby is breathing heavy. My refractometer is calibrated with rodi. I read that it is better to use calibration fluid for higher sg, but for hypo it it better to calibrate with rodi. Is this true? My reason for having the sg at 1.008(really right in between 1.008 and 1.009) is so that when I am at work, the water doesn't evaporate and cause the water to go over 1.009. Will the fish be OK at this level or should I bring it up to 1.009 exactly?

Reefer1991
05/05/2017, 02:05 PM
Lol Thanks for the help guys. I really appreciate it. The ph is at 7.6 in hypo. I am thinking about raising it but a lot of people say not to worry about it. I'm going to leave it as is unless one of you guys tells me otherwise. The cb has stopped eating.

dweber618
05/05/2017, 02:44 PM
The coral beauty appears to be flashing...if I see a fish flashing, I wouldn't add them to the DT. I would try another round of prazi. If the goby is eating but his stomach is still indented internal parasites could be the reason he's not gaining wait.

Other than the flashing - the coral beauty looks good (weight wise). Given the flashing - I would put them through TTM, the lower salinity will also be good - but I always default to tank transfer for a preventative treatment of ich.

dweber618
05/05/2017, 02:46 PM
As far as not eating - I've purchased fish that have slowly died in QT and refuse to eat - if you've thrown the book at them food wise - there's only so much you can do. I would not worry about PH. I don't know about the exact levels for hypo salinity.

Reefer1991
05/05/2017, 03:13 PM
As far as not eating - I've purchased fish that have slowly died in QT and refuse to eat - if you've thrown the book at them food wise - there's only so much you can do. I would not worry about PH. I don't know about the exact levels for hypo salinity.
Thank you so much for the reply. The coral beauty has been eating like a pig for the past couple of weeks but yesterday I dropped the sg to 1.008 and he stopped eating. He sucks in the food but spits it right out. I brought the sg down over 24 hrs. I am not too worried yet since he may still be getting used to the new sg. The fact that he is trying to eat and doesn't swallow concerns me though. I haven't seen any visible ich spots, only him rubbing his gills. So maybe the ich in his gills is preventing him from swallowing? He may just need more time though. I'll try to feed him when I get home and I'll give you an update. Thanks for the tip on the ph, I won't worry about it.

Reefer1991
05/05/2017, 03:25 PM
The coral beauty appears to be flashing...if I see a fish flashing, I wouldn't add them to the DT. I would try another round of prazi. If the goby is eating but his stomach is still indented internal parasites could be the reason he's not gaining wait.

Other than the flashing - the coral beauty looks good (weight wise). Given the flashing - I would put them through TTM, the lower salinity will also be good - but I always default to tank transfer for a preventative treatment of ich.

The goby has been slowly gaining weight so I think he is fine as far as internal parasites go. I did do a 3rd dose of prazi to be safe and the angels flashing continued, so I am almost certain it's ich. I would do the ttm but I literally just got layed off today due to the company being sold so I don't have the money for all the equipment I would need until I find another job sadly. I plan on keeping them in hypo for 5 weeks and then slowly raise the sg over the course of a week. I just don't understand why the angel hasn't showed any visible signs of ich. I have been watching them in qt at 1.019 for 4 and a half weeks and haven't seen a single spot. Since ich only attaches to a fish for 3-7 days then drops and multiplies, wouldn't the fish have showed at least one spot? I understand that ich can reside in the gills but I find it odd that the ich got in his gills but nowhere else in his body over the course of 5 weeks.

dweber618
05/05/2017, 05:06 PM
While it does seem unusual I wouldn't rule out ich since you haven't seen it. If your fish is healthy enough - it may have some resistance and have a good enough immune system to fight it off. Your best option right now is to keep up with hypo and hope for the best. Ich does reside in the gills - so the flashing favoring the gills seems reasonable. Also - the severity of the infection can vary - fish can be completely covered and others can not show visible signs.

Given the issues with eating, I would advise against copper as it can cause fish to stop eating. Some people swear by garlic in that it helps boost fishes feeding response and helps boost the immune system. So you could try that as well.

Good luck!

dweber618
05/05/2017, 05:07 PM
Also - while frustrating, it's good you are QT'ing. Personal experience - I've rushed things and ended up with multiple sick/dying fish because of not making sure my fish were healthy before going into the DT.

So - keep up the good work!

jubei2006
05/05/2017, 06:55 PM
My first priority on quarantine would be to get the fish eating well. Without nutrition we can't expect y heir immune systems to help fight off disease. If there are no signs of disease, why treat instead of observe (coral beauty)? When everybody has recovered from shipping stress, then I would consider prophylactic parasiticides

Reefer1991
05/05/2017, 09:09 PM
Personal experience - I've rushed things and ended up with multiple sick/dying fish because of not making sure my fish were healthy before going into the DT.

So - keep up the good work!

Thanks I appreciate it. I plan on getting a purple tang eventually so I want to make sure my tank is ich free when I get him. I make sure the fish are healthy before going in. I'll keep these guys in hypo for anothereef 5-6 weeks. The angel ate tonight so I think he was just stressed from the sg change. Although I did notice him stretching his gills, fins and mouth a few minutes ago. Could that be from the hypo or low ph? My nitrates are also high 50+. I am about to do a 3 gallon water change. I know 3 gallons isn't much but I need to make more rodi which takes a while haha.

Reefer1991
05/05/2017, 09:14 PM
My first priority on quarantine would be to get the fish eating well. Without nutrition we can't expect y heir immune systems to help fight off disease. If there are no signs of disease, why treat instead of observe (coral beauty)? When everybody has recovered from shipping stress, then I would consider prophylactic parasiticides

The fish have been eating for a few weeks now and they are well recovered from shipping. The coral beauty is showing sings of ich such as scratching his gills against the pvc so that's why I have them in hypo now. I was thinking of doing hypo from the start but the fish looked so healthy that I didn't. Turns out if I did i could've cut their qt time in half.

dxdoan
05/06/2017, 07:21 AM
Awesome work with the QT but I just read that you wanted to introduce a purple tang in the future to your 75gallon.
I would not do this.

Reefer1991
05/06/2017, 10:54 AM
Awesome work with the QT but I just read that you wanted to introduce a purple tang in the future to your 75gallon.
I would not do this.

Its actually a 90 gallon. It was sold to me as a 75 but then I looked up the dimensions and it is a 90. 48x18x25. I understand that a 90 isn't the optimum environment for a purple tang, but I have done plenty of researich and they can definitely be happy in a 90g especially given the fact that I plan on lightly stocking this tank. The coral beauty, 2 clowns, the tang and the goby are all i plan on having. Eventually I am getting a 300g. That may be a couple years down the road though. Worst case scenario I will give him to my friend when he needs more space, but chances are he will be fine in my tank. I believe that a pb tang or a hippo wouldn't do good but they are much more active fish as they are Acanthurus, not zebrasoma which are grazers.

As far as my fish go, the quarantine was reading .25 ammonia this morning. I am currently out doing something so will the fish be fine at that level for another 10 hours before I can do a water change? They ate so they didn't seem too stressed. I am just worried that the little guys are gonna be dead when I get home.

Reefer1991
05/07/2017, 08:50 AM
Well the ammonia is up to 0.5- 1.0. I just did a 50% wc and the ammonia level didn't budge. Keep in mind this is a cycled qt and from my understanding hypo doesn't kill the bacteria. Did I possibly shift the sg too quick? I'm not sure how I am going to get these fish through 5 weeks of hypo if the ammonia is going to be this high. They don't seem stressed at all but I doubt that will last for long so I have more sw mixing as I type.