Is Niger Trigger sick

DaddyFish · Nov 24, 2020

I lost a Bullseye Puffer in this tank earlier this week. Both it and this Niger Trigger introduced to the DT at about the same time, but from different sources. The puffer had similar sunken look to it's abdomen and now I'm noticing the Niger looking the same.

Any help is appreciated because I don't know if or what may be happening.

ReefHog · Nov 25, 2020

Is he eating? And what, how much? How long have you had him? Triggers (and puffers) should be eating meaty foods like large mysis, clam, squid, krill or predator variety packs like LRS or Rods Food. If hes eating good and still has pinched stomach, he may have internal issue. See below:

Internal Issues

Internal Issues For simplicity’s sake, there are 6 basic problems a marine fish may experience on the inside: 1. Intestinal worms Symptoms: White stringy feces, pinched stomach, loss of color, fish eats voraciously but still seems to be losing weight. Treatment of choice: Praziquantel...

www.reef2reef.com

DaddyFish · Nov 25, 2020

Well, I lost him last night. Was doing some extensive maintenance and had the covers off for several hours. Kept hearing this "noise" from the other room and thought it was coming from another tank. Couple hours later I found him on the floor! Missed him in the mostly dark room. Hate that it just didn't occur to me he would jump.

ReefHog · Nov 25, 2020

Sorry to hear that. Nigers are typically tough fish. I actually have a niger in with a Porcupine puffer. He is the only fish of 12 that survived a bad Velvet outbreak two years ago. He went through a rough six week rehab with meds but recovered 100% And coincidentally, I had a Niger that this one replaced 8 years ago that also jumped out of the tank. I never thought a trigger would be a jumper either. Now I keep screen tops on all my tanks.

Jay Hemdal · Nov 25, 2020

Sorry to hear about the trigger. That fish had a severely sunken abdomen, but its color looks good and I don't see any external issues. I've never had one of those jump, but the common wisdom is any fish may jump out...

Jay