Leaf Fish Help

[awood0909]

tank mates are lawnmower blenny, striped damsel, and huma trigger. Leaf fish is the largest of them all.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

This is suspicious to me. This and the spots make me think velvet could be in play here as well. I'd defer to @Lionfish Lair though as she's much more knowledgeable in these fish than I.

Would you suspect velvet after having them for so long? If yes, then I may lean more that way than ich.

I do have fish that go to the powerheads as they are high up in the tank and they can look over their hunting grounds easier that way sometimes. When I see one trying to go there out of the blue, it pretty much means they are sick. Sometimes they are looking for more oxygen, sometimes they are "uncomfortable", as with ich, and are looking to leave the area and escape the discomfort. As you know, they can't swim very well and don't do so without a reason. Make sure your tank is covered, as he can jump.

Let's see what Mel says in regards to the velvet timeline.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

tank mates are lawnmower blenny, striped damsel, and huma trigger. Leaf fish is the largest of them all.

When did you add the last one? Is that trigger picking at all? Not necessarily in a "bad" way, but a "sampling the environment" kind of way.

 

[awood0909]

Last one was the blenny and it was a while ago. The trigger does pick things out of the sand all the time but I've never seen him pick on any of the fish

 

[melypr1985]

Would you suspect velvet after having them for so long? If yes, then I may lean more that way than ich.

I do have fish that go to the powerheads as they are high up in the tank and they can look over their hunting grounds easier that way sometimes. When I see one trying to go there out of the blue, it pretty much means they are sick. Sometimes they are looking for more oxygen, sometimes they are "uncomfortable", as with ich, and are looking to leave the area and escape the discomfort. As you know, they can't swim very well and don't do so without a reason. Make sure your tank is covered, as he can jump.

Let's see what Mel says in regards to the velvet timeline.

When he added that coral is the best source of it. So I'd say yes, it could be. I just don't know enough about these fish to be definite based on the pictures. His behavior, and the addition of the coral (whether it was dipped or not) without QT, would lead me to believe something could have been introduced to the tank that way and the timing could fit as well with the coral being the source.

 

[awood0909]

Do you think a freshwater dip would be the best bet right now?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I find it very very weird he's not shedding. I've never actually FW dipped a scorp that I can remember, so Mel would be able to answer whether or not that is an effective treatment.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The going toward the powerhead definitely seems to indicate velvet, but I am surprised he isn't sloughing off more, as I would think that would definitely be a relief.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Yes, they over-shed with any type of irritant, that's what is so odd. I'm actually wondering if he has "quietly" already done that. They can shed without us seeing it and if they were doing it frequently, the amount of material would get smaller and smaller. They wouldn't let that much algae settle on them, so maybe he has nothing left to shed.

 

[awood0909]

I went ahead and gave him a freshwater dip, no change in how he looks. I am going to start dosing metroplex, reduce sg to 1.019 or 1.020, and increase the temp. Im thinking that it is ich. Any other suggestions?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

If you suspect it is ich, I would roll with a hypo treatment of 1.008. I also love dosing Vitamin C to boost the immune system. When they're not eating, I dose the tank water with vitamin C as it can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream via the gills.