Lethargic Anthias - no other visible symptoms

[jeffberens]

My male Anthias went from completely normal after 3 months in my DT with 3 females to all of a sudden hiding on the bottom substrate in a cave and not coming out.
I tried feeding, but no response. I was able to easily catch him and get a quick hospital tank going with DT water and a sponge from my sump.
I can't see any visible symptoms and he seems to be breathing slightly fast, but not much different than normal. I can actually touch him before he will wriggle away to escape.
What should I attempt to save him. I have numerous medications on hand, but I don't have a good guess as to what is wrong.

 

[jeffberens]

A little more info:

Other fish include 3 female dispar anthias, midas blenny, yellow coris wrasse and 2 clownfish.
Other tank inhabitants include 2 cleaner shrimp, 4 peppermint shrimp, 1 fire shrimp, various hermits and snails for CUC.

Red Sea Reefer 525XL which is 108 gal plus sump.

The midas blenny and the male anthias in question did harass eachother a little at first about 10 days ago when the midas blenny and wrasse were added, but nothing really dramatic.

All fish went through complete QT with copper for 30 days before they went to the DT. The blenny and wrasse were added 10 days ago and the rest have been in the DT for 2 months.

 

[melypr1985]

You don't see any red marks, blotches or streaks on the anthias? Even just a darkening of their pink color anywhere? Did you treat with prazi during QT or only copper?

 

[jeffberens]

You don't see any red marks, blotches or streaks on the anthias? Even just a darkening of their pink color anywhere? Did you treat with prazi during QT or only copper?

I treated with prazi during TTM.

 

[jeffberens]

This morning he is exactly the same. He looks perfectly healthy in appearance, but is just in the bottom corner of the tank and doesn't move or eat.

 

[4FordFamily]

Is it thin? Can you post photos?

A common issue with Anthias is that in home aquaria they aren't fed frequently enough for their high metabolisms. To further exacerbate the issue, many of us don't feed the types of foods they need/want to thrive. So you can be feeding it and it still drop weight over time and become malnourished.

This is also true of moorish idol but access to nori fixes that in idols many times, is less helpful here.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ Good advice; is his breathing still normal or has it accelerated?

Also, have you added any new corals/inverts to the DT recently?

 

[jeffberens]

He seems plump enough. I feed 4 to 5 times a day and up until yesterday, he was one of the best eaters in the tank. No new inverts or corals for about 2 weeks. Those were some SPS frags that were dipped and rinsed 3 times in tank water before going into the DT.
Here is picture:

 

[jeffberens]

Breathing seems normal as far as I can tell

 

[Humblefish]

I think all you can do right now is wait & see. You don't want to start dosing medications without a possible diagnosis.

 

[jeffberens]

I think all you can do right now is wait & see. You don't want to start dosing medications without a possible diagnosis.

That is what I figured. When should I start being concerned that he is not eating? Should I try some live foods?

 

[Humblefish]

That is what I figured. When should I start being concerned that he is not eating? Should I try some live foods?

I would give it a few days before becoming too concerned. Can you get live blackworms?

 

[melypr1985]

I would give it a few days before becoming too concerned. Can you get live blackworms?

Or live brine. I find anthias like smaller foods that are moving in a current. They seem to react better to it.... though blackworms are surely healthier!

 

[4FordFamily]

X2 I'm no anthia expert but find that they find live brine irresistible when I've advised people to use it.

Or live brine. I find anthias like smaller foods that are moving in a current. They seem to react better to it.... though blackworms are surely healthier!

 

[jeffberens]

I will get both tomorrow and give them a try. This is strange considering he would eat frozen mysis, brine, etc. like a pig for 2 months and he is the male in a group with 3 females. They are all acting normal, but something happened with him.
I'm puzzled.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Could one of your females be challenging him? Was he male when you got him, or did you buy a group of females and let one turn male?

 

[melypr1985]

I'll say that if/when he recovers from this, he may have an issue once returned to the display. I had an issue with my male who developed a pretty severe infection. He fought it off, but when he returned to the group a new male had started changing. He was demoted and his colors dulled, but they let him hang with them anyway.

 

[jeffberens]

Could one of your females be challenging him? Was he male when you got him, or did you buy a group of females and let one turn male?

He was male when i got him and never saw any quarelling within the group of anthias.

 

[jeffberens]

He is still just laying in the bottom corner of the hospital tank and doesn't even acknowledge food.

 

[ngoodermuth]

There could be aggression happening, either overnight or when the house is quiet.

I think sometimes a male ends up in a group of females where he "under-ranks" the dominant female and there needs to a changing of the guards. Sometimes the new "male" will tolerate the former. Sometimes, they don't. I think that's why I've heard it's best to get all females and let them sort it out from the start [emoji15]

Do you have a female that is larger than the rest?