Fish becoming emaciated, Internal parasites??

ChrisIC · Mar 18, 2023

Hi guys. I have a seafighter wrasse that seems so be wasting away despite eating well. He doesn't seem stressed, he's always out and swimming around, none of the other fish are harassing him and he eats everything I feed but he's getting thinner by the day. I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to take him out of the tank for a few days and treat him with praziquantel for internal parasites? He's fairly "tame" and inquisitive so he's probably the only fish in the tank I could easily catch.
Thanks, Chris.

Jay Hemdal · Mar 18, 2023

ChrisIC said:
Hi guys. I have a seafighter wrasse that seems so be wasting away despite eating well. He doesn't seem stressed, he's always out and swimming around, none of the other fish are harassing him and he eats everything I feed but he's getting thinner by the day. I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to take him out of the tank for a few days and treat him with praziquantel for internal parasites? He's fairly "tame" and inquisitive so he's probably the only fish in the tank I could easily catch.
Thanks, Chris.

Can you post a video?

Praziquantel only treats one type of internal parasite - cestodes (tapeworms). The issue could also be nematodes or coccidia. However, with some care, you can treat your main tank with praziquantel.

Internal parasites do not want to starve your fish, since they would die if it does. Many parasites can be managed by just feeding the fish more nutritious foods, more often. Fish the wild rarely died from starvation due to parasites, they just eat more.

There are also some malabsorption issues seen in fish - these have nothing to do with parasites, or the amount of food being fed. The primary one is the fish having been collected with cyanide. In some of those fish, the cyanide destroyed their gut lining and they cannot absorb enough nutrients from the food and they starve. This is most often seen in fish that were collected less than 6 weeks prior. After that time, the issue either heals, or the fish has died.

Jay

ChrisIC · Mar 18, 2023

I have him since August-September last year as far as I remember. He was thin when he arrived but he did plump up and seemed in good condition until recently.
It is difficult to get a decent video

Jay Hemdal · Mar 18, 2023

ChrisIC said:
I have him since August-September last year as far as I remember. He was thin when he arrived but he did plump up and seemed in good condition until recently.
It is difficult to get a decent video

Well, with that length of time, you can rule out cyanide. IMO your sailfin is also thin, so I would have to conclude it is a nutritional problem - lack of calories. I think you should start by feeding more food, more often. You can also post the tank's overall diet and we can see if there is anything that can be improved upon in that regard.

Jay

ChrisIC · Mar 18, 2023

I feed frozen food one day and pellets the next. They get a full cube of mysis or brine shrimp at a time, one feed a day. I also give algae sheet two or three times a week.
Fish in the tank are:
Sailfin Tang
Two clownfish
Yellow wrasse
Peacock wrasse
Solorensis wrasse
Seafighter wrasse
Melanarus wrasse
Orchid dottyback
Blue spot goby
Bicolour blenny

Jay Hemdal · Mar 18, 2023

ChrisIC said:
I feed frozen food one day and pellets the next. They get a full cube of mysis or brine shrimp at a time, one feed a day. I also give algae sheet two or three times a week.
Fish in the tank are:
Sailfin Tang
Two clownfish
Yellow wrasse
Peacock wrasse
Solorensis wrasse
Seafighter wrasse
Melanarus wrasse
Orchid dottyback
Blue spot goby
Bicolour blenny

I think you should feed twice a day to see if that helps. Let the fish tell you how much they need - add some food, then as the fish eat that, add some more. When they start ignoring it, they are done. Later that day, repeat the process.
Jay

ChrisIC · Mar 18, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
I think you should feed twice a day to see if that helps. Let the fish tell you how much they need - add some food, then as the fish eat that, add some more. When they start ignoring it, they are done. Later that day, repeat the process.
Jay

OK, I'll give them frozen food at the usual time in the morning and pellets in the afternoon. I'm sure they'll appreciate it the extra food and I'm really hoping it will help the seafighter, he's one of my favourites!
Thanks for the advice

!

Nemo&Friends · Mar 18, 2023

you give only 1 cube per day for 11 fish, that is very little. I have 14 fish and they get 4.5 cube. the other half feed the tank the small tank.

Weeb · Mar 19, 2023

ChrisIC said:
OK, I'll give them frozen food at the usual time in the morning and pellets in the afternoon. I'm sure they'll appreciate it the extra food and I'm really hoping it will help the seafighter, he's one of my favourites!
Thanks for the advice !

I'd recommend reading through this Fish Nutrition post for some additional feeding ideas. The fishes should be getting supplements in their diet (see that post).

Have you provided seaweed and/or nori for the tang?

ChrisIC · Mar 19, 2023

Hmm, I didn't realise that brine shrimp weren't a good food. I just started feeding them regularly a couple of months ago when I couldn't get mysis and thought that they must be good because the fish would gobble them down so greedily.
The do get dried seaweed two or three times a week.

Tamberav · Mar 19, 2023

ChrisIC said:
Hmm, I didn't realise that brine shrimp weren't a good food. I just started feeding them regularly a couple of months ago when I couldn't get mysis and thought that they must be good because the fish would gobble them down so greedily.
The do get dried seaweed two or three times a week.

Frozen LRS fish frenzy is really amazing stuff. Just look at the ingredient list and realize your fish would be eating better than you do. I would choose that over brine or mysis any day (I actually never feed brine). Mysis is a lot of shell and a little meat as well so I agree that one cube is way too little.

Fish Frenzy

Reef Frenzy, Best Reef Food, Saltwater Aquarium Food, DIY Fish Food

www.larrysreefservices.com

ChrisIC · Mar 19, 2023

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm off to the aquarium store today so I'll see if they've got it, what we can get here is generally very limited though

Tamberav · Mar 19, 2023

ChrisIC said:
Thanks for the recommendation. I'm off to the aquarium store today so I'll see if they've got it, what we can get here is generally very limited though

If you end up ordering online, I recommend premium aquatics as they pack in dry ice instead of just cold packs.

Weeb · Mar 19, 2023

ChrisIC said:
brine shrimp weren't a good food

Yeah. Unfortunately the 'brine shrimp industry' pushes adult brine shrimp. Brine shrimp aren't very nutritious. There are so many frozen and freeze-dried foods to choose from that are better.

As mentioned previously, don't forget to get a vitamin supplement (and a fat supplement, too).