Rhinopias dying

Han · Jan 10, 2020

I have had a rhinopias frondosa for a couple months in a 75g tank with a small radiata lionfish. water parameters are as follows:
pH: 8.1
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Ammonia: 0
Calcium: 400
KH: 160 (9 dkh)
Phosphate: 0.15

I came home from a 2 week vacation on tuesday to find him lethargic and unresponsive to feedings, dead or live. On Wednesday he lost the ability to right himself and has been laying on his side laboring. Yesterday he did right himself for a few hours, but fell on his side again and has been like that since. He is still breathing and moving his fins, every once in a while he’ll try to right himself and fall over again. He’s still alert enough to shake the hermit crabs off him.

Overfeeding isnt a possibility, while I was away i prepackaged frozen food for my maintenance guy, who reported that he ate twice a week. This is my regular feeding schedule. He gets fed silversides, clam meat, ghost shrimp, are krill very sparingly.

He looks pretty normal with the exception of a small darkish area on each side of his body which is not normally there.

This fish was never exposed to copper or any medication in my care, and at the lfs he was kept in an invert tank for about 6 months before I bought him. I did quarantine him before adding him to the display, but did not treat as I did not observe any issues.

Honestly I expected him to be dead by Wednesday night, but he is somehow still alive. I considered moving him to qt but every time I’ve moved a fish in this condition it died shortly after. I did a 20% water change today. I hate watching him suffer and don’t know what I should do at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Big G · Jan 10, 2020

Many of the descriptors you used to describe your fish may indicate a bacterial infection. It's important to note that bacterial infections are usually a "secondary" issue caused by some other problem. Internal parasites/worms can weaken a fish enough for a bacterial infection to set in, for example.

If you think the fish is strong enough, moving it into a hospital tank and treating with a wide spectrum antibiotic would be in order. Kanaplex, Furan2, Maracyn2, NFG powder are all useful for treating bacterial infections.

Han · Jan 10, 2020

Big G said:
Many of the descriptors you used to describe your fish may indicate a bacterial infection. It's important to note that bacterial infections are usually a "secondary" issue caused by some other problem. Internal parasites/worms can weaken a fish enough for a bacterial infection to set in, for example.

If you think the fish is strong enough, moving it into a hospital tank and treating with a wide spectrum antibiotic would be in order. Kanaplex, Furan2, Maracyn2, NFG powder are all useful for treating bacterial infections.

I do have kanaplex and furan2 on hand but I really don’t think the fish is strong enough. Whenever I’ve attempted moving a fish in this bad of a condition it died. I’ve also had bad experiences with medication and lionfish, so I’m hesitant to medicate him.