LiveAquaria Harlequin Tusk

[BigMax]

LiveAquaria has several Aussie Harlequin Tusks available at very reasonable prices.

I purchased an Aussie Tusk from a different supplier several months ago, and it did extremely well for about 3-1/2 weeks, then suddenly quit eating. It survived for another 7 weeks without eating a thing. I brought the fish to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostics Lab, and the cause of death was inconclusive; however, the fish did have liver lesions.

What I found interesting is that LiveAquaria lists the care as moderate but ships as "Expert Only." I wonder if tusks are currently not transitioning well to captivity. This is definitely a change by LiveAquaria.

 

[sc50964]

Did you QT the fish?

 

[BigMax]

Did you QT the fish?

Yes, it was in a 70-gallon QT tank all by itself.

I purchased a 6" emperor at the same time. It went into a separate 70-gallon tank. It quit eating after 2.5 weeks and didn't eat for 8 days. I treated it with PraziPro, and it began eating clams in the half shell. It has been doing very well for the last 3 months (it's still in the QT tank).

Based on the success with the emperor, I treated the tusk with Prazi as well, about 3 weeks after it stopped eating. (They were from the same supplier.) I know wrasses have a strong tendency not to feed when treated with Prazi, but I saw little downside at the time.

I believe tusks are a bit more hit or miss and demanding than others in the family.

 

[Doctorgori]

You might want to consider getting that particular species from a vendor offering them as “conditioned/quarantined”

 

[sc50964]

Yes, it was in a 70-gallon QT tank all by itself.

I purchased a 6" emperor at the same time. It went into a separate 70-gallon tank. It quit eating after 2.5 weeks and didn't eat for 8 days. I treated it with PraziPro, and it began eating clams in the half shell. It has been doing very well for the last 3 months (it's still in the QT tank).

Based on the success with the emperor, I treated the tusk with Prazi as well, about 3 weeks after it stopped eating. (They were from the same supplier.) I know wrasses have a strong tendency not to feed when treated with Prazi, but I saw little downside at the time.

I believe tusks are a but more hit or miss and demanding than others in the family.

Any other signs of illness or abnormality? Or was it just still acting normal without eating?

 

[BigMax]

You might want to consider getting that particular species from a vendor offering them as “conditioned/quarantined”

Actually, they were purchased as quarantined. They came in looking perfect and both did well for 3 weeks and more, so I can't blame the seller.

The QT tanks were newly set up, so no parasites or disease were present. I am extremely careful about cross-contamination. The tanks went through a 60-day bio load buildup with Dr. Tim's and ammonium chloride supplements. Ammonia and nitrite levels were monitored at zero during the entire time the fish were present.

I've been in the hobby for over 40 years. Everything in my display tank (360G FOWLR) has died of old age except for an extremely large male Naso, which is the youngest of the fish and I've had him for 12 years. I felt it was time to replenish. So I had the room and set up the QT tanks.

I have a friend who's been in the hobby as long as I have, with much larger tanks and more recent purchases. He claims that all suppliers are now disease-ridden and it is very difficult to find healthy fish. To me, it would take great discipline by a wholesaler or distributor to not have issues. They would constantly need to sterilize tanks, and I doubt very much that they do. Are there more drug-resistant bacteria and parasites? I'm not sure.

I also considered the possibility of cyanide poisoning, but based on the time window I don't believe that's the case as the wrasse would have been in captivity for over 90 days between me and the seller before death.

 

[BigMax]

Any other signs of illness or abnormality? Or was it just still acting normal without eating?

The emperor did shake its head now and then, hence the PraziPro. Outwardly, there were no signs on either fish. If I had it to do over again, I would have tried Kanaplex on the wrasse. But based on the lab pathology, I doubt it would have helped.

 

[sc50964]

The emperor did shake its head now and then, hence the PraziPro. Outwardly, there were no signs on either fish. If I had it to do over again, I would have tried Kanaplex on the wrasse. But based on the lab pathology, I doubt it would have helped.

Have you suspected cyanide poisoning?

I am starting to see Aussie tusks now on the market. I guess we will hear more from others.

 

[BigMax]

Have you suspected cyanide poisoning?

Funny you should mention that I just added it to my prior post before your response

I also considered the possibility of cyanide poisoning, but based on the time window I don't believe that's the case as the wrasse would have been in captivity for over 90 days between me and the seller before death.

I might add, I did ask the lab to look for cyanide, and there was no mention of it either way in the pathology report, so I'll assume it wasn't present?

 

[sc50964]

Funny you should mention that I just added it to my prior post before your response

I also considered the possibility of cyanide poisoning, but based on the time window I don't believe that's the case as the wrasse would have been in captivity for over 90 days between me and the seller before death.

Also, I did ask the lab to look for cyanide, and there was no mention of it either way in the pathology report, so I'll assume it wasn't present

Liver damage - I’ve read two causes. One is cyanide & the other is bad reaction to the mixture of many treatments. I wouldn’t rule out cyanide since fish do react differently to it & their mortality rate & speed differ. Unfortunately, there isn’t a definitive way to check it unless the lab is able to do some very sophisticated analysis from its waste. Some ppl swear by dipping new fish in M-Blue, especially the ones with cheaper than normal prices, upon receiving them as that method is believed to detoxify but you prob know that already.

I haven’t seen any ppl complaining about their new Aussie tusk purchases lately.

 

[BigMax]

Liver damage - I’ve read two causes. One is cyanide & the other is bad reaction to the mixture of many treatments. I wouldn’t rule out cyanide since fish do react differently to it & their mortality rate & speed differ. Unfortunately, there isn’t a definitive way to check it unless the lab is able to do some very sophisticated analysis from its waste. Some ppl swear by dipping new fish in M-Blue, especially the ones with cheaper than normal prices, upon receiving them as that method is believed to detoxify but you prob know that already.

I haven’t seen any ppl complaining about their new Aussie tusk purchases lately.

I had never heard of the M-Blue dip, interesting.

I bought some HydroPelx and I'm going to dip my next fish with it for the recommended 10 minutes prior to placing in QT. I'm not sure if it will help as the wide-ranging claims they make for HydroPlex feel a little bit like snake oil.

 

[sc50964]

I had never heard of the M-Blue dip, interesting.

I bought some HydroPelx and I'm going to dip my next fish with it for the recommended 10 minutes. I'm not sure if it will help as the wide-ranging claims they make feel a little bit like snake oil.

Humble fish talked about it before. It’s prob still on his site.

Interested to see if Jay has a different take on cyanide poisoning detox but that will derail your thread.

 

[BigMax]

Humble fish talked about it before. It’s prob still on his site.

Interested to see if Jay has a different take on cyanide poisoning detox but that will derail your thread.

I just looked at the Humblefish site. I too would be curious to hear Jays take. @jayhemdal

 

[MnFish1]

Liver damage - I’ve read two causes. One is cyanide & the other is bad reaction to the mixture of many treatments. I wouldn’t rule out cyanide since fish do react differently to it & their mortality rate & speed differ. Unfortunately, there isn’t a definitive way to check it unless the lab is able to do some very sophisticated analysis from its waste. Some ppl swear by dipping new fish in M-Blue, especially the ones with cheaper than normal prices, upon receiving them as that method is believed to detoxify but you prob know that already.

I haven’t seen any ppl complaining about their new Aussie tusk purchases lately.

Agree - but there are three - the other is misdiagnosis.... But as to liver damage, it would be odd to cause death without a clear cause that happened before (like a toxin exposure, etc). As to methylene blue - it can help detoxify cyanide. However, this is not done in a dip.

 

[jasonrusso]

Yes, it was in a 70-gallon QT tank all by itself.

I purchased a 6" emperor at the same time. It went into a separate 70-gallon tank. It quit eating after 2.5 weeks and didn't eat for 8 days. I treated it with PraziPro, and it began eating clams in the half shell. It has been doing very well for the last 3 months (it's still in the QT tank).

Based on the success with the emperor, I treated the tusk with Prazi as well, about 3 weeks after it stopped eating. (They were from the same supplier.) I know wrasses have a strong tendency not to feed when treated with Prazi, but I saw little downside at the time.

I believe tusks are a bit more hit or miss and demanding than others in the family.

Copper?

 

[BigMax]

Copper?

No copper. No external parasites were visible...fish looked perfect.