Fish quit eating then die next day

[JasonK84]

I've had a couple fish in the past few weeks in QT that have been eating great then all of a sudden don't eat a thing one day and are dead by the following morning. First was a Pakistan butterfly that was through 2 rounds of Prazi and on the 3rd week of chloroquine phosphate (eBay bought). Second was yesterday with a dispar anthias that I had for 13 days from Live Aquaria. Ate up until yesterday afternoon. Tried fresh water dip and was dead before bed time. Anthias had been in 1.75ppm (Hanna meter) copper power since there was an ich spot found after introduction to QT. Prazi hadn't been done yet. Other 2 inhabitants of the QT are still eating well and doing great. Copper levels were double checked and were still in range (1.86ppm).

If there is a fish that is eating well then all of a sudden stops what would you do to save the fish. Do you think it's a bacterial infection? Here is the pic I submitted to Live Aquaria since it was within the 14 day guarantee.

 

[HotRocks]

I would suspect a bacterial infection is a possibility. It of course could be just about anything going on inside the fish.

Sorry for your loss

 

[Big G]

There was already a problem with Velvet being rampant in the industry but now there is also a bad bacterial infection going around and seems to fit your experience with the fish suddenly dying 7-10 days after appearing to do well. The work around on this is that many of us are starting to use copper and an antibiotic immediately and the results have been good. The antibiotic that seems to be working the best is Spectrogram. It's a mix of Kanaplex + Furan2. But it's a bit easier to use than Kanaplex and Furan2. Either is recommended.

 

[JasonK84]

There was already a problem with Velvet being rampant in the industry but now there is also a bad bacterial infection going around and seems to fit your experience with the fish suddenly dying 7-10 days after appearing to do well. The work around on this is that many of us are starting to use copper and an antibiotic immediately and the results have been good. The antibiotic that seems to be working the best is Spectrogram. It's a mix of Kanaplex + Furan2. But it's a bit easier to use than Kanaplex and Furan2. Either is recommended.

I have kanaplex. Is it safe to dose the water while treating with copper power or is it recommended to bind with food?

 

[HotRocks]

I have kanaplex. Is it safe to dose the water while treating with copper power or is it recommended to bind with food?

I use Kanaplex frequently in combination with copper. Never had any issue.

 

[Maritimer]

Antibiotics and copper seem to work well together - you'll need to bump up your water changes, and whatever you can do (powerheads, airstones, etc...) to keep your O2 levels up would be appreciated by your fish.

~Bruce, who experienced the same issue with his last LA order

 

[JasonK84]

Antibiotics and copper seem to work well together - you'll need to bump up your water changes, and whatever you can do (powerheads, airstones, etc...) to keep your O2 levels up would be appreciated by your fish.

~Bruce, who experienced the same issue with his last LA order

Thanks Bruce. If bacterial infections are running so rampant I'll start treating during copper. I was under the impression that antibiotics should only be used for a fish needing them but if they are going to die that quickly then I don't see another way than to treat prophylactically. Is that the consensus?

 

[Maritimer]

At this point, given the condition of the reef fish supply chain, I think that antibiotics are as important as copper, prophylactically. Kind of sad, kind of a pain, but . . .

~Bruce