spookisfat
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- Joined
- Aug 24, 2017
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- What state or country do you live in
- North Carolina
I have 4 female lyretail anthias and a valentini puffer in qt and one of the anthias has been spending a lot of time at the surface to breathe over the last few days. I'm looking for some advice on likely causes and treatment.
Background:
The fish all arrived from Live Aquaria on Friday 3/22 and were put into a cycled fallow 29 gallon qt (holding ~15-20 gallons). All fish behaved/appeared completely normal until Sunday 3/31, I noticed the one anthias spending a lot of time at the surface. The next day (4/1) I started treating the tank with paraguard. I have had success with it in the past with mystery ailments on new fish and the fish seem to tolerate it well so I opted for this as a first step.
On 4/3 I did a freshwater dip (for just the one fish) which the fish seemed to respond well to. It seemed to be a bit improved the rest of the evening and the next day (4/4-yesterday). Today it seems worse yet. Still breathing at the surface a lot but acting a bit more lethargic and also spending some time just laying on the bottom. It also did not eat for the first time at the last feeding a couple hours ago. The other fish also seem to harass it more than each other.
None of the fish show ANY visible symptoms of disease or parasites. I have not seen a single ich spot, or lesion, or scratch, or anything. I realize that many parasites affect the gills first without visible symptoms but it's kind of surprising to see nothing at all for 2 weeks now. I also realize that visible symptoms also could take a bit longer than that to present.
I'm trying to keep this short, but other things to note... The bio-load was a bit too high for the tank at first and ammonia did start to creep up but I kept it under control with prime and frequent water changes. It has been reading 0 for several days now. I really don't think this is ammonia burn because I feel like I kept it well under control and have had paraguard in the water for a few days now, but I guess I can't completely rule it out. The fish does seem to continue to decline even as ammonia in the water has no longer been an issue.
I haven't been able to get any of the anthias to eat anything other than chopped up shrimp (human-grade seafood), but they eat it very enthusiastically. I've tried a wide range of quality frozen foods, but they just don't have any interest so far.
I would appreciate any insights on likely culprits and best course of action. If it is some disease or parasite I expect it will eventually spread to the other fish. One of the three others has also spent a bit of time breathing at the surface but not nearly to the extent of this first one. I have a number of medications on hand and the equipment to set up additional temporary tanks if needed. Thanks in advance. Sorry about the wall of text.
Background:
The fish all arrived from Live Aquaria on Friday 3/22 and were put into a cycled fallow 29 gallon qt (holding ~15-20 gallons). All fish behaved/appeared completely normal until Sunday 3/31, I noticed the one anthias spending a lot of time at the surface. The next day (4/1) I started treating the tank with paraguard. I have had success with it in the past with mystery ailments on new fish and the fish seem to tolerate it well so I opted for this as a first step.
On 4/3 I did a freshwater dip (for just the one fish) which the fish seemed to respond well to. It seemed to be a bit improved the rest of the evening and the next day (4/4-yesterday). Today it seems worse yet. Still breathing at the surface a lot but acting a bit more lethargic and also spending some time just laying on the bottom. It also did not eat for the first time at the last feeding a couple hours ago. The other fish also seem to harass it more than each other.
None of the fish show ANY visible symptoms of disease or parasites. I have not seen a single ich spot, or lesion, or scratch, or anything. I realize that many parasites affect the gills first without visible symptoms but it's kind of surprising to see nothing at all for 2 weeks now. I also realize that visible symptoms also could take a bit longer than that to present.
I'm trying to keep this short, but other things to note... The bio-load was a bit too high for the tank at first and ammonia did start to creep up but I kept it under control with prime and frequent water changes. It has been reading 0 for several days now. I really don't think this is ammonia burn because I feel like I kept it well under control and have had paraguard in the water for a few days now, but I guess I can't completely rule it out. The fish does seem to continue to decline even as ammonia in the water has no longer been an issue.
I haven't been able to get any of the anthias to eat anything other than chopped up shrimp (human-grade seafood), but they eat it very enthusiastically. I've tried a wide range of quality frozen foods, but they just don't have any interest so far.
I would appreciate any insights on likely culprits and best course of action. If it is some disease or parasite I expect it will eventually spread to the other fish. One of the three others has also spent a bit of time breathing at the surface but not nearly to the extent of this first one. I have a number of medications on hand and the equipment to set up additional temporary tanks if needed. Thanks in advance. Sorry about the wall of text.
